Belfort Instrument Company
Complaint 217879 Details

Mr. Mark W. Decker (Crownsville, Maryland) came to Belfort Instrument Company in the Fall of 2001 following the filing of Chapter 7 bankruptcy at Mentor Technologies Group (Annapolis, MD) as noted at: http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapId=100501 where he served as the firm's CEO and President for a period dating back at least 3 years.

Hired as the President of Belfort Instruments, he was primarily responsible for getting the DigiWx weather system certified by the FAA. It is noteworthy as of 2013 (over 12 years later) that only two weather instruments on this Belfort AWOS system have been FAA certified while all the remaining weather sensors (eg. wind direction, wind speed, temperature, dewpoint, relative humidity, precipitation, ceilometer) are not FAA certified nor FAA Approved weather sensors.

Partial preliminary certification was granted in 2004 for the "barometer setting" of the DigiWx AWOS AV-100 system. Because the Belfort visibility sensor was previously included on Coastal Environmental System's OS-21 "certified" weather station for the Air Force, Belfort then made the leap in their marketing ads that their visibility sensor on the DigiWx system was also "certified." If you're a pilot relying on a DigiWx weather system as your primary source of weather info when flying, you should be warned to proceed VERY cautiously!

As a lead-up to the certification of only the "barometer setting" on the DigiWx AWOS system, Belfort president Mark W. Decker directly initiated the development of an advertising campaign that culminated in print ads and t-shirts which boldly proclaimed "The Wright Brothers Relied on Us" as found on the last page (page 19) of this MS Powerpoint presentation: http://www.rap.ucar.edu/general/Summer2012/FPAW_2012_Summer_Presentations/Seg%204%20Surface%20Observations%20Riger%20Sultan/Petragnani%20surface%20obs%20(2).pdf

Mr. Mark W. Decker even authored a press release which read "The Wright Brothers monitored these (i.e. Belfort/Friez) instruments as they prepared for their famous flight on December 17th, 1903." as noted at: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2003/6/prweb67805.php

Well, for the benefit of Mr. Decker and the other management figureheads at Belfort Instrument Company (Bruce R. Robinson, Nicholas C. Kaufman, Ralph F. Petragnani, Debra S. Alascio, Ellen H. Robinson), American history tells a very different story!

Here is what the Wright Brothers actually wrote on December 17, 1903:

"We had a 'Richard' hand anemometer with which we measured the velocity of the wind. Measurements made just before starting the first flight showed velocities of 11 to 12 meters per second, or 24 to 27 miles per hour. Measurements made just before the last flight gave between 9 and 10 meters per second. One made just after showed a little over 8 meters."

And then there are indisputable pictures of:

Orville and then Wilbur Wright holding (and using a Richard's Anemometer) at: http://core.libraries.wright.edu/handle/2374.WSU/827/browse?value=Anemometer&type=subject

The LIARS at Belfort Instrument Company (past & present) are intent on trying to re-write history to include mention of Belfort and/or Friez in the same sentence with the Wright Brothers. This is an effing shame and a sham!

Buy anything except Belfort Instrument Company Digiwx AWOS.