Avionics News May 2012 - 48

Advertisers Index
AVIATION ACES
Aero Standard. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 Aerospace Electronics . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 Aerospace Optics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 Aero-Mach Labs Inc.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 Aircell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Aircraft Electronics Association. . . . . . . 71 ARINC Direct . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 Becker Avionics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 CAL Labs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 Dallas Avionics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . IFC Device Technologies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 Duncan Aviation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57, 70 EDMO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . BC Express Calibration Services . . . . . . . . 71 Fargo Jet Center. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 Flight Display Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 Flying Magazine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72 Freedom Aero Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 Garmin International . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Georgetown Instrument Services . . . . . 19 Global Parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Greenwich / DAC International . . . . . . . 45 Gulfstream . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 L-3 Avionics Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Manitoba Infrastructure . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 Millennium International . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 Mid-Continent Instruments and Avionics. . . 5 Nason Associates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 Pacific Southwest Instruments . . . . . . IBC Preston Pressure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 ProCal Laboratories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 Soloy Aviation Solutions . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 Tangoware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 Tech-Aid Products. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 TGH Aviation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Universal Avionics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 Continued from page 47

based Trig Avionics. What triggered his decision was a personal belief that there was another business in him. He had grown tired of being a consultant and having clients sometimes take his advice, and sometimes not. He wanted to do it himself so he could, in his words, “do it properly.” Flying as a charter pilot was harder to give up, however. “I actually miss being a pro pilot – it was good fun and quite different than business,” he said. “A cockpit is an organized environment where it’s possible to know exactly what you’re doing at all times.” One day while reading a UK aviation magazine, he read about the new Mode S transponder technology for Europe. The article insisted that the technology existed for a low-cost, low-power transponder. But it didn’t. “That was January 2004, and the starting point for Trig Avionics,” Davis said. “Our aspiration is to grow to be a significant player worldwide.” For the first few years of Trig Avionics’ existence, the company was in stealth mode. “We were recruiting a team and trying to figure things out,” he said. The first product, the TT31, launched in 2007. Since that time, Trig Avionics has launched two other transponders and has an ADS-B receiver coming soon. Today, he and his wife, Valerie, who is a professional historian, archivist and genealogist, enjoy skiing, and Davis flies them to the slopes. As for his own success and how it happened? “That’s a tricky question,” Davis

said. “I was fairly driven and fairly competitive at an early age. I was a smart kid who wanted to get ahead.” Asked to offer advice to a new graduate at the beginning of his or her career, Davis said, “My advice would be to take a path not that dissimilar to what I did. Go to work for one or more organizations that you respect, and find out how the real world works. You can see how other people do stuff, and that’s all good continuing education.” Davis selected the name of his company because he thought it was short, snappy and technical sounding. It intentionally conjures up trigonometry. “Trig is not a rude word in any foreign language,” Davis said. One last detail about Davis: he also is a musician. “I play the guitar,” he said. “In my youth, I used to play in a punk rock band, and I still enjoy a quick thrash to unwind at the end of a busy day.” He has noticed other avionics industry executives are musicians, including fellow Aviation Ace Tim Taylor. “Perhaps there is some subtle crossover where the personality traits or genes that make people interested in avionics coincide with those that make you want to pick up a guitar,” Davis said. As for the future, Davis said Trig Avionics will develop a broad line of avionics products. He has a clear vision of where he wants to take the company. “We want to be in general aviation as a ubiquitous provider of communication, navigation and surveillance products,” he said. For more information, visit www.trig-avionics.com. 

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http://www.trig-avionics.com
Avionics News May 2012

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Avionics News May 2012
