NACO Plates/"Plate Grabber"

Thanks for all the input, folks. I also print my destination plates so they are
easy to put on the yokeboard, but trying to put either the punched or the bound
books onto yokeboard/kneeboard is a problem.

What I came up with is a little gadget that will permanently (double-stick tape)
mount to the Saunders-type clipboards where the clip is shaped from wire. When
installed it is fairly unobtrusive and does not interfere with the clipboard
function. It can also be clamped temporarily under any clipboard clip.

On it is a small device that grabs and holds the two middle rings of a NACO
loose leaf book.

Basically, you just flip to the plate you want, then lock the two rings into the
device -- I'm calling it a Plate Grabber -- and you are in business. No big
binder clips to deal with and no need to take the plate(s) out of the book.

I'll put some photos of my prototype up somewhere if there is sufficient interest.

A production product would be laser-cut stainless steel with only one moving
part. Basically it should last forever unless you run over it with a car or
lose it. Sitting on it will only damage your butt. :-)

But the price will have to be $25-30 in order to give resellers enough margin to
work with. That seems kinda high to me but then this is aviation, after all.

Comments? Interest? (This is not a pitch to sell anything. This is a check
with some experts to see if going to market is a feasible idea. Send no money ... )

One thing I don't quite get with your design: the plates printed on the
back of the pages will be upside down if you mount them rings-up?
Another apparent deficiency seems to be that the pages themselves are
loose (you attach only the binder rings to the yokeboard), so they will
be flapping around as you turn the yoke. It'll be difficult to use in
turbulence, and if you have to hold full aileron, it'll be a mess of
plates all over your yokeboard.

Andrey

Sorry, have been off-line for a while.

On 10/31/2007 8:16 AM, Andrey Serbinenko wrote the following:
One thing I don't quite get with your design: the plates printed on the
back of the pages will be upside down if you mount them rings-up?

I guess it becomes obvious that I don't use the books except as backup --
completely missed that little point. :-) There's nothing like the internet to
encourage ready-fire-aim type postings. Back to the drawing board ...