As one of the most widely read aviation news services in the world, the Aero-News Network often gets to see and work with "the best and brightest" in the world of aviation. Often, those deserving of such an appellation don't get the attention and recognition they deserve.

Aero-News Network Editor-In-Chief, Jim Campbell, and News Editor Tim Kern get to correct that occasional oversight with a series of awards they have affectionately nicknamed the "ANNies."

Awarded sparingly and in concert with the industry's most pivotal events, ANN was proud to offer the first of ANNies to be awarded in 2003 at this year's Aircraft Electronics Association Convention and Trade Show-- in order to publicly recognize some very significant contributions to the world of aviation.

ANN does this because they want to publicly recognize people and organizations that have furthered the cause of aviation, through service, through innovation, through determination, through plain old brilliance. These awards represent our gratitude for these contributions.

Avidyne: I think I'm one of the few people to see the new Avidyne Entegra at work in three different airframes. Each time, in the Diamond, Lancair and Cirrus, it was obvious that what lay before me was an amazing paradigm shift in the way that GA pilots would be flying their airplanes. I've checked out panels in some of the most amazing aircraft in the world, such as the space shuttle, B-2 and the like, and would have to think hard to find a more well-integrated flight display system. While there are some other truly amazing products out there (Chelton's Sierra System, among others), the new Avidyne Entegra is what the new GA airframes of the future are likely to be hosting... and we're all going to be benefiting from a new way to fly and the far more integrated work-flow that will result. We're damned impressed, and feel that the Avidyne Entegra is proper reason to award one of the first three ANNies of 2003 to the amazing team at Avidyne that brought us well and brilliantly into the 21st century.

PS Engineering: The world of avionics, in terms of it's audio control interactions, tends to be very opinionated. One of the things that we've learned from ANN readers is that when they line up behind an audio solution for their avionics needs, they do it religiously. Time and time again, our readers have cited the excellent customer service as well as the steady, evolutionary additions and improvements to the products of PS Engineering as their only choice for their needs in aviation audio control systems... making them a most worthy recipient of an ANNie for 2003.

Aircraft Electronics Association: ANN works closely with dozens of organizations and associations, and outside of the extraordinary efforts we've seen this year from AOPA (who has truly been working under the gun...), one other association we consistently hear praise for is the Aircraft Electronics Association. Providing support for one of the most dynamic and progressive segments of the aviation industry, the AEA, under the leadership of Paula Derks, has distinguished itself in terms of its service to its membership, its interface with the industry in general and its ability to ferret out 'what the hell is happening' to an embattled industry... and then help its constituency make the best decisions possible to seek their fortunes. Too many associations are much better at collecting dues than in serving the needs of their members... but to the men and women who staff AEA, the concept of service is a high art that they practice better than most. AEA truly deserves an ANNie.

FMI: www.avidyne.com, www.ps-engineering.com, www.aea.net