Posted for "Gary Wirrell" <gary@aerotronics.com>:

I have been reading the posts concerning the Blue Mountain EFIS. Although we
tend not to respond to things we read, we decided to because we are now
seeing our company (Aerotronics) and our people being discussed. It's
important to realize that whenever a person tries to repeat what another
person has said....well you know what can happen. So that there is no
misunderstanding from our point of view, let me provide you this
information.

One statement we read (BMA) ..Aerotronics has a complete unit...this is
partially true. Last year at Oshkosh I requested from Greg a system for a
week or two so that we could test the system and become more knowledable of
his product.  We could then better represent it correctly and was told I
could take one home after the show. This never took place. We were then told
that it would be brought here in person so that it could be demo'ed and that
hasn't materialized. The unit that is being referred to is a customer's unit
and it wouldn't be appropriate to use it for testing purpose.

 From (LML) "...Martin may have flown one of these yesterday, who knows but
only Blue Mountain and Martin." As I am Martin's partner I think I can
respond to this. We have never flown nor have we successfully tested this
product to date.

 From (LML) "...if you (Kirk Lancair) are going to criticize something and
use other people (Aerotronics) as a resource, ..." I read the post that Kirk
wrote 7/17/02 and saw nothing I would disagree with.

How should we view new products? Perhaps when it comes to EFIS we should be
cautious and prudent. We seldom know if a customer is a professional pilot
or a sport pilot that logs in 20 hours a year. Perhaps our customer has been
flying for many years but hasn't been current for the past 10 years. Or we
may be visiting with a pilot who will soon have his IFR rating but with
little experience. It's important that we try to provide all of our
customers with as much reliable information that is available so that a safe
and informed decision can be made. Would I want to recommend a new EFIS
system ( that I have never tested or seen operate ) to a customer that tells
me he will plan on using it in an IFR environment...I think not. In these
cases we try to stay as neutral as possible but provide our knowledge and
experiences as best we can.

 From (LML) 7/18/02 concerning Mr. Watrich statements about Martin (
Aerotronics ) and the Sierra Flight Systems and Archangel. I think
statements that Martin may have had follow along with the above statement.
When we are talking about a new product and we have not had the opportunity
to test or operate the systems we need to provide what information we have
available to us. Sometimes we have to say something that a person doesn't
want to hear, but we have to be as honest as we can to provide the proper
service to our customers. As for Sierra Flight systems, they have come here
and have provided demo flights to us so that we could see the systems work.
They have also provided our crews with installation training.

Because of the posts I have read concerning the Blue Mountain product and
with Aerotronics name being brought in I would like to provide our position
in this matter. We still view the Blue Mountain Systems as a new EFIS
product and one that we have not had the opportunity to test or to receive
any creditable information on. As we visit with our customers we will
continue to remain as neutral as possible but to provide as much accurate
information as we have available to us.
Gary Wirrell
Aerotronics, Inc