Story ID: 
FreeFlight turns focus to next-gen nav
By: AIN Staff
Caption: Elm Creek Partners has acquired avionics and navigation system supplier FreeFlight Systems (Booth No.
Word Count: 294
Elm Creek Partners has acquired avionics and navigation system supplier FreeFlight Systems (Booth No. 1481). The new executive management team, led by CEO Tim Taylor and COO Robert Schneier, assumed responsibility July 15.Under the new management, the company will focus on the next generation of navigation management systems and GPS/WAAS sensors, while enhancing customer support and engineering. “We selected FreeFlight Systems because of its core strengths in GPS/WAAS technology and high-value radar altimeter systems,” Taylor said. “Combining our experience and financial resources with the expertise of the FreeFlight team will enable our customers to benefit from the advancements in our avionics product lines and efficiencies in how we conduct our business.”The company also announced the launch of a four-megabyte database memory upgrade for its TSO-approved Approach and Approach Plus GPS navigation management systems. FreeFlight developed and implemented the upgrade in conjunction with Jeppesen. The upgrade requires a minor hardware modification, a software upgrade and a higher capacity card. FreeFlight has also established a four-megabyte upgrade program for customers, allowing them to arrange for the GPS system to be returned to the factory to receive the necessary hardware and software upgrades.“Working together with our Jeppesen team, our systems engineers have designed a solution that will extend the life of our family of IFR-capable TSO’d GPS navigation management systems for many years to come,” said Taylor. “With this four-megabyte upgrade, our customers will experience at least a doubling of the data memory size, which will enable them to take advantage of the continued growth of the Jeppesen avionics database.”Along with the upgrade, the company will also continue through December the distribution of current NavData Cycle 0813 for the Approach system. The distribution of NavData Cycle 0906 for Approach Plus will continue through June.