Document text
Turbo Way ramp eases boarding Firm eyes commuter market By JULIE SWENSEN When you see the airplane ramp that Eagle Point resident Michelle Case invented, you might wonder why somebody didn't think of this before. Photo by Jim Craven Michelle Case walks down one of her Turbo Way 1000 commuter plane passenger ramps, which accommodate both disabled and non-disabled commuters boarding smaller aircraft. The Medford Airport was using a ramp to board disabled passengers who couldn't walk up the short set of stairs on commuter planes, and the ramp did the job. But it would take one person to crank the ramp up and then out, and another person to help board the passenger. Only one passenger could be loaded at a time; if another passenger needed to use it, the ramp would have to be cranked and lowered again. The passengers would be singled out as others waited to board, and it was time-consuming for commuter flights with as little as 20 minutes between unloading baggage and reboarding passengers. "I just knew there had to be a better way," said Case, who's married to airport manager Bern Case. She formerly worked as a customer service agent for Horizon Air at the Medford Airport. So Case, with no background in inventing anything or building airplane ramps, began drawing up plans for a better ramp in the beginning of 1997. A White City welder built what she'd envisioned. What evolved was an adjustable, non-skid steel ramp with an aluminum bridge that lays over aircraft stairs for all passengers to use. Passengers have handrails on the sides to grip and a canvas canopy over their heads. Only one person is needed to wheel the ramp into place. "This makes it easier for everybody," said Case, who started a company called Turbo Way to sell the ramps. She serves as the company president. After Horizon Air field-tested the prototype for a year, the ramp was modified and made a little longer, substantially lighter, with bigger wheels, and an adjustable bridge over the stairs that can be moved without having to move the entire ramp. The bridge also was narrowed a bit to better fit more aircraft, and curtains were added on the sides to keep out rain. With a price tag under $18,000, the Turbo Way 1000 ramp costs about $6,000 less than another ramp the airport was using. Turbo Way got exposure and kicked off the product in May 1998 at an American Association of Airport Executives national convention in Nashville, Tenn., where the first unit showed was sold to Knoxville. Now, the company has sold 10 ramps in six states across the country -- Florida, Mississippi, Tennessee, Illinois, Idaho and Oregon. Turbo Way also has a Web page ( www.turbo-way.com ) and advertises in airport publications. Case's two other employees, a retired couple, do demonstrations and training. While it takes about three weeks to build a ramp, she said that if an airport wanted 50 of them, the company is prepared to produce greater volume. With FAA regulations requiring that commercial airports have Americans with Disabilities Act equipment in place by December of next year, she may be getting a big order. "It's been really exciting to watch it go," she said. Today's Business Index Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA