Harper Aviation

The Harper Aviation company was founded by Rick Harper to design and manufacture the Ultimate Kneeboard. The company is headquartered in Eagle, Idaho, which is a suburb of Boise. Rick Harper earned his private pilot's license in 1980 at the age of 19. In 1986, he entered the Air Force Officer Training School, followed by Undergraduate Pilot Training at Reese AFB in Lubbock, Texas.

So it may be with Harper Aviation's Ultimate Kneeboard, a strap-to-the-leg affair that purports to hold both Jeppesen and NOS charts, as well as a bevy of at-hand flying necessities. At first blush, the Ultimate Kneeboard seems to fit the description. It's made from heavy-duty Cordura nylon material and employs a robust seven-ring binder and industrial-strength hook-and-loop fasteners that connect the elasticized leg band.

Several years ago, Flight Training featured the Ultimate Kneeboard by Harper Aviation on these pages. A modification of a military design, it did everything most pilots would want a Kneeboard to do. It is compact, so it doesn't interfere with the control yoke. Thanks to a 2.5-inch wide elastic band and Velcro enclosure, it is secure and comfortable.

This ingeniously designed Ultimate Kneeboard is truly the best we've ever seen, combining all the features a well-organized pilot would ever want. Jepp users won't find another kneeboard that features the Ultimate's exclusive 7-ring binder. The velcro-tipped clear strap is the perfect solution for holding NOS books in place, too.

You can remove each page from its clear vinyl sleeve and write your own notes on the blank back side. All the standard types of information you'd expect are here: metric and times conversions, light signals, wx minimums, flight plan form, VFR/IFR lost COM procedures, required reports, VOR checks and more.