Check Out New Free Web Service

Nick Selby, CEO of Flyguides, is excited. His launch will coincide with the AOPA Convention at the end of this month. He reminded us that, "...our pilot's guide to Philadelphia was launched last week, and our complete site will launch at Expo 2003. At our booth (755), we will be handing out thousands of post-it note decks, and doing live demonstrations of the site and its functionality." He's already looking ahead: "There's also content up for sneak preview of Boston.

Flyguides Pilot Travel thus has just announced the initial launch of its free website. The launch of Flyguides.com sets a new standard for general aviation travel publishing. The company says, "Never before has such a wide breadth of general aviation travel information been available from a single source. For pilots and passengers alike, Flyguides.com is certain to become a treasured
travel resource."

Nick talked with us about how he came up with the idea. "All of us at Flyguides are from the travel industry; we're pilots, too. We decided pilots needed real travel information, for fields that we actually fly into."

As they set up the first cities [the product is rolling out, starting with high-population-density areas first], Nick said, "We landed in as many of those fields ourselves as we could; then we hired local pilots for those we couldn't." The product rollout looks like -- don't cringe -- sort of a "hub-and-spoke system," Nick told us, in the 20 biggest pilot-population centers.

It's more than an airport guide; it's a travel guide, but for pilots.

Flyguides opens an encyclopedia of travel information for pilots and all who travel with them. Visitors to flyguides.com will discover thousands of pages describing airports, attractions, and
fly-in destinations nationwide. For each destination, flyguides.com gives essential information on points of interest, activities, and events of particular interest to general aviation flyers of all kinds. There's impartial advice too, on hotels, restaurants and entertainment options, as well as vital coverage of ground transportation.

At AOPA Expo 2003, flyguides.com will launch with comprehensive coverage of destination and airport facilities information for Philadelphia, New York, Washington, D.C., Boston and San
Francisco.

In the second phase of launch, Flyguides coverage will span the continent, from Catalina Island to Nantucket Island; from the San Juan Islands of the Pacific Northwest to the Bahamas and Bimini; with coverage of major regions including Miami, Seattle, Los Angeles, Chicago and New Orleans to detailed coverage of the kinds of small fly-in spots so dear to pilot's hearts – places like Avery Island, Cedar Key, the back strips of Maine and Colorado's mountain hideaways.

Try it, use it, as you're heading to AOPA.

Especially for the show, Flyguides' Philadelphia content can be of immediate use to pilots traveling to that city for Expo 2003. It contains comprehensive travel advice and information for pilots about destinations in and around Philadelphia -- from Center City to the Pennsylvania Dutch Country, and from the Jersey Shore to Tangier Island -- ensuring that from October 30th, 2003, GA pilots and passengers all across America will want to make Flyguides.com their first destination.

The online airport directory at Flyguides.com -- where pilots will find comprehensive data on runways, lighting, communications, navaids and facilities at each of more than 12,000 airports nationwide - is only the beginning, Nick said. Flyguides.com doesn’t only highlight attractions of interest to aviators - aviation museums, historical airfields, science museums etc. Readers also see descriptions of traditional attractions and visitor highlights, and are offered impartial restaurant and hotel recommendations, and detailed reviews of entertainment, spa, shopping and golf options.

Stunning visuals are integral to the design of Flyguides.com. Large-format, professional photography enlivens the text throughout. Colorful, striking cartography overlays aeronautical symbology on clear, precise area maps to give pilots an instant grasp of the lay of the land. Flyguides.com offers in-depth information on where to fly and what to see, courtesy of Flyguides' team of pilots and professional travel writers.

FMI: http://flyguides.com; AOPA Booth 755