BY CHARLES GUERIN, PRESIDENT OBDS
You can read about his extraordinary life, here...
Happily, Tom's vision of a safer, more organized flight deck shall continue to live on, to be realized by the expert staff at On-Board Data Systems with the help of our fantastic advisory board that includes Jean-Valiquette (Pilot, director of Nav Canada, EFB Manager at ACASS), Bruce Huffman (Pilot, CEO of Flight Assurance, former managing director of NetJets Europe) and Paul Handover (Pilot, Founder of AvBrief).
We shall continue to honour the legacy of Captain Murray by providing advanced technologies for the flight deck that meet his 5 basic human factor guidelines - clear, intuitive, functional, useful, and reliable.
In this issue of the EFB Alliance Newsletter, you'll read articles concerning:
- Why an electronic checklist on your EFB is a very good tool to have.
- What you need to do to get ready for the handling the new CO2 Emissions Trading System Directive
- Reducing your liability exposure and possibly reducing aircraft insurance rates by better compliance
- Can you use an iPad as your Electronic Flight Bag?
- A memorial to our founder, Captain Thomas Murray
- Our MFB "Tip of the Month"
The Concept
Many of you already know that our MFB™ electronic flight bag software is an integration platform that allows EFB software to be launched, managed and in many cases automatically installed on your EFB to entire fleets, from our central servers. This open platform approach has led us to seek new open alliances with those vendors of EFB software who would like to make their software available via our platform as well as hardware and service providers who seek to make your transition to EFB a smooth, positive experience.
So, why this newsletter?
With the aviation market in what we all hope is a temporarily slump, aircraft operators around the world are looking at EFBs to see if there's a way to "save a buck", "mitigate risk" and improve pilot situational awareness.
The problem they face is that shopping for an EFB solution for your aircraft or fleet can drive you crazy with details.
You need to know...
- Which computers are compliant, decompression and RF-tested?
- What software is available, and which will integrate properly with whatever hardware devices you intend to us -- such as GPS or AIRINC connections?
- How to ensure the documents, applications and data sent to the unit can be done in a secure, auditable manner?
Finally, there are all the regulations, updates to your GOM, MEL, checklists, pilot training etc... there's lots to think about!
A group of us, at different companies -- specifically On-Board Data Systems, Absolute Computer Solutions and Flight Assurance -- got together and talked.
We asked ourselves the core question - "How can we make EFB programs successful and easy-to-implement?"
The answer was to break down some of the walls between companies in the industry and start standardizing the way we all cooperate so that you -- the operator -- can get the utility your organization needs out of an EFB program.
Our company, OBDS, has been a leader in electronic flight bag technology since 1997. We created a core platform for EFBs called MFB™ from which you can launch all the other applications you use on your EFB and also keep your documents up-to-date.
While we have several EFB software products we sell, the point is - we are only one part of the solution, albeit a core component.
You need to piece together the various systems on your EFB to give your company it's particular "edge", and from now on, we and our partners will be cooperating to piece it together for you, so that implementing an EFB program will be much easier.
This monthly newsletter will introduce you to companies, products and services that integrate well with our platform and our vision, that we feel confident in recommending to you as sound purchasing choices for your EFB program.
Check in each month for exciting news as the project unfolds!