Industry Round-up, April 19, 2019

AVweb's weekly news roundup found reports on a special award for Gulf Coast Avionics, a new training system at Pacific Sky Aviation, a drone-based aircraft inspection solution from Rizse, and a new GLIDERBOOKS Academy online ground school course. It also uncovered announcements from the U.K.'s All-Party Parliamentary Group on General Aviation (APPG-GA) regarding how aviation firms are handling issues surrounding Brexit, responses to new drone laws, and proposed changes to the country's VFR cloud clearance minimums in Class D airspace.

Gulf Coast Avionics has been awarded Garmin's 2018 Platinum Dealer Award for the 20th consecutive year. The award is given by Garmin for outstanding sales of the company's aviation products. British Columbia-based flight school Pacific Sky Aviation has announced the implementation of the Fox Training Management System by Britannica Knowledge Systems. The system manages operational training requirements including resource allocation, scheduling, pilot training records, qualifications and learning.

U.S.-based drone robotics company Rizse has introduced its new solution for aircraft inspections, which uses autonomous drone hardware and proprietary software. Rizse's StreamSense platform is capable of inspecting aircraft fuselages for damage such as that caused by lightning strikes, hail and bird strikes. Also with a new product, GLIDERBOOKS Academy is now offering an online ground school course in aeronautical decision making. The course is available for $25.

A delegation from the U.K.'s All-Party Parliamentary Group on General Aviation (APPG-GA) attended Aero 2019 in Friedrichshafen, Germany, where they spoke with exhibitors about concerns regarding Brexit. The delegation reported that the groups they spoke with had measures in place to address potential Brexit issues. The APPG-GA also discussed recently toughened laws on operating small unmanned aircraft around airfields which expanded restriction zones and removed the lower weight limit of models that the regulation applied to. Concerns were raised about the speed with which the regulations were enacted and their effects on model airplane fliers. Finally, the U.K.'s Civil Aviation Authority is proposing increasing cloud clearance distances in the country's Class D airspace to align with the Standard European Rules of the Air (SERA). Under the new proposal, VFR aircraft within Class D airspace below 3,000 feet would be required to maintain 1,000 feet of vertical distance from clouds.