FlightSafety International Promotes Jon Hester to Vice President, Visual Systems

NEW YORK (January 28, 2015) – FlightSafety International announces that Jon Hester has been promoted to Vice President, Visual Systems.

“We are very pleased to promote Jon to Vice President, Visual Systems,” said Bruce Whitman, President & CEO. “Our Customers and Teammates appreciate and value his leadership, 35 years of experience in simulation, and proven ability to guide the design, development, production, installation and support of our industry-leading visual systems.”

Jon leads a team of over 200 engineers, systems specialists, and service and support professionals based in St. Louis, Missouri and Austin, Texas. Together they have developed many innovative products including the new VITAL 1100 visual system and CrewView glass mirror display.

The unprecedented fidelity and levels of detail offered by the VITAL 1100 visual system significantly enhances training. It delivers photo-realistic imagery up to 40 million-pixel-resolution, and provides mission specific scenes and environmental conditions experienced during all phases of flight. Crewmembers also benefit from a worldwide database that incorporates the latest terrain information with geo-specific satellite images as well as out-the-window and sensor information.

FlightSafety’s CrewView glass mirror displays deliver superior optical performance, and sharper image clarity. The true collimated images presented are free of visible distortions and artifacts out to mirror edge. It offers field of views up to 300 degrees horizontal x 60 degrees vertical that provides significant improvements in realism and situational awareness by filling the entire aircraft window.

Jon began his career at McDonnell Douglas as a Software Systems Engineer in 1980 working on Tomahawk and Harpoon missiles. He then served as a Software Development Manager for Laser Communications Systems prior to being promoted to Proposal Manager, Visual Systems. When FlightSafety acquired McDonnell Douglas Visual Simulation Systems in 1993, Jon was named Business Operations Manager. He was promoted to Director, Business Operations, Visual Systems and Simulation in 1994, and to General Manager, Visual Systems in 1998.

He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering, a Master of Science degree in Electrical Engineering, and a Master of Business Administration from Southern Illinois University.

FlightSafety International is the world’s premier professional aviation training company and supplier of flight simulators, visual systems and displays to commercial, government and military organizations. The company provides more than a million hours of training each year to pilots, technicians and other aviation professionals from 167 countries and independent territories. FlightSafety operates the world’s largest fleet of advanced full flight simulators at Learning Centers and training locations in the United States, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, South Africa, and the United Kingdom.

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