Aviation is an exciting industry and the drama of flight was a firsthand experience for Trig employees recently.
Working at Trig Avionics involves interest and challenge, irrespective of where you work in the organisation. However, designing avionics for flight is demanding, equipment must be simple to use and reliable in all operational conditions. To experience how Trig products are used in action the company is committed to a unique initiative; the Trig Flying Day enables all employees to get airborne.
Catriona McMillan, Lead Operator at Trig said, “Being new to Trig this was my first flying day. I was so excited to have the opportunity to be a passenger in a range of flights. My first flight of the day was in the helicopter, I was very lucky to have the front seat and I couldn’t take the smile off my face for the whole journey. My second flight was with Andy (Andy Davis) in his Cessna, where I got to see amazing sights of the Forth bridges and Edinburgh. Upon returning I had my final flight in a microlight flex-wing, this was by far my favourite flight of the day. I had an awesome experience and it let me see how important our products are in the air.”
The Trig Flying Day provides the opportunity to fly light aircraft, a helicopter and microlights. It also provides a great way of seeing the challenges our customers face in piloting an aircraft by being in the front seat – even taking control!
“The experience was invaluable and I loved seeing our avionics in action”
Software Engineer Ken Murray said, “An interesting thing I noticed, while we were flying the Cessna over the Forth Rail Bridge, was air traffic control advising another plane of our location, without us telling them, “Cessna over the south of the rail bridge”. They got our position automatically (and very accurately) from the Trig transponder. It was nice to experience the system working in real life, first hand.”
Trig Avionics, Marketing Assistant, Olivia Macfarlane said, “I was hesitant to take a flight in the flex-wing microlight but the rush of adrenaline and the sense of achievement that I got from flying was incredible. I won’t be so shy in the future!”
Trig Avionics welcomes student work placements, two of Trig’s current students joined the day. Duncan Robertson said, “The day was fantastic, I flew in the Sky Ranger and GT450 microlight twice. It was great fun and informative too.”
Andy Davis, Trig’s CEO, introduced the initiative to help foster a better understanding of and passion for flying. A number of Trig staff has since undergone flying training as a result of the opportunity at Fife Airport in previous years.
Trig’s commitment to British grass roots aviation was also demonstrated through the participation of the Trig Aerobatic Team – their pilots were on hand to provide employees with thrilling aerobatic rides in a two seat Pitts S2. The Trig Aerobatic Team also performed a flying display as part of the event for staff.
After a record breaking day of over 100 flights it was clear that another Trig Flying Day had been a total success. Andy Davis CEO said, “As a growth company this event underlines our desire to develop an understanding of aviation, it was great fun and hopefully stimulates new talented people to come and join our team.”