“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. There are elastic bands on the side flap for three pens and a small flashlight, and a full-width pocket for a flight computer and other goodies. A Velcro-tipped clear plastic strap securely holds NOS approach plates in place and does not impair your reading of them.
The feature I most appreciated when I first reviewed this product was the “flip-file” capabilities of the rings in the Jeppesen seven-hole sequence. It meant my checklists and Jepp approach plates were immediately available. That I had to undo the individual rings one-by-one to change the checklists when flying a different airplane or approach plates was a a minor inconvenience, one I mentioned to the Kneeboard’s creator, former Air Force instructor pilot Rick Harper.
Apparently, he took my suggestion to replace the rings with a snap-open ring binder to heart. Not long ago, I received the new Ultimate Kneeboard, which features the snap open 1-inch diameter ring binder. It features the same quality construction and CorduraTM nylon (black or green) as the original.
And after a lengthy period of abuse, I’m satisfied that the rigid ring binder is not going to pull loose from the Kneeboard. Even my two young sons have not been able to tear this thing up. (The same cannot be said for the checklists and current approach plates that were on the Kneeboard when the destructo brothers dug it out of my flight bag one weekend so they could play pilot.)
Perhaps the best feature of the new Ultimate Kneeboard is the price. It is still just $29.95 (plus $4 S&H) for either the Loose Ring or binder style. For more information, write Harper Aviation, P.O. Box 35, Eagle, ID 83616 or use Flight Training’s reader service card.”
— SMS
Reprinted from the June 1995 issue of Flight Training
