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Show V" He Guarantees Campaign Will Get Off The Ground iHfr ts I, ' i JJ3 , i;. it u ' Vfcl By Paul Wetzel Tribune Staff Writer WEST JORDAN R. Jeffrey Svoboda is one advertising executive who can guarantee to get an ad campaign off the grbund about 1,200 feet off the ground In fact Jeff and his brother Cory operate Aerial Ads Inc., a firm which displays an advertisers message in lights suspended beneath the wings of an airplane. The 908 lights form letters that seem to the viewer below to move across the bottom of the places wings. The messages thus created contain up to 70 letters. The effect is similar to that produced by the old news bulletin sign on New Yorks Times Square except that Jeffs message moves from wingtip to wingtip while the plane travels across the darkened sky. Slicer TOMATOES 17 lb. New Florida Bell PEPPERS oo 20 RED POTATOES 6 $i8 for c $i 00 8 lbs. CHUCK POT ROAST Boneless 29 $ F.RQZENItOODS Banquet Frozen BOIL -- I t Local law enforcement and aviation officials were inundated with reports of unidentified flying objects and space craft sightings when the Svoboda brothers business began operation last October. The lights which form the sign are suspended about four feet below the wings of a Cessna 172 single-engiaircraft. The sign is 44 feet long from wingtip to wingtip. It is nine feet wide below the aircrafts fuselage and tapers to six feet at the tips of the wings. This construction creates the illusion to the ground viewer of a sign rotating on a continuous belt, Jeff said. ne Key for Pilot The message travels from the tip of the left wing to the tip of the right wing. Midway between the tip of the left wing and the point where the wing joins the fuselage is a small square monitor containing 49 lights which shows the pilot the characters as they move across the wing. An electronic device about the size of a portable television set controls the sign. A tape about an inch wide containing holes punched in the pattern of the message is fed into the control unit which triggers each light. A new tape is punched for each message. To change the message, Jeff merely inserts a different tape into the control unit. The lights are mounted on a wire grid. The grid system not only supports the lights but carries power CLEARANCE SALE , MM SMi Om 100 To. MaMtogMMMCHM tiytt Mgr ptean banquet 2 $ioo Popular ha Wff fct-- Has Tata East The sign was developed in 1968 by a Nashville, Tenn., inventor who now markets the airborne signs. Jeff said that in the four years since the inventor first began marketing his system, the signs have become popular in the eastern U.S. Four firms fly the signs in Los Angeles also, Jeff said. He obtained a permit allowing him to fly his plane to within 1,200 feet of ground level above Salt Lake City. He normally flies between 55 and 60 miles an hour. Since those figures represent the planes speed through the air, the aircrafts rate of travel relative to the ground may change due to wind conditions. He currently flies five nights a week, Tuesdays through Saturdays. He charges $300 an hour for advertising over I As an advertising tool, it has had a greater impact than I thought it would' says Jeff Svobda, aerial ad man. special events such as football games. The normal ad rate is 9200 an hour. For $50, a person may hire Jeff to fly a birthday greeting or other message for about five minutes over a specified point. Market in Zones all of The Svobodas have divided their market area Salt Lake County and Davis County as far north as into zones. The plane will cover one zone in Bountiful about 15 minutes of parallel passes. During a nights flying, which last about 90 minutes to two hours after sunset, Jeff will run several messages. Usually he runs a message for one advertiser for about 15 minutes, then switches to another. The advertiser may specify which zones he wants covered and how he wants to distribute the advertising time he has purchased. Usually viewers on the ground can read an advertisers message three or four times during one pass over a given point, Jeff said. Friday Biggest Night Jeff said his research indicates that about 35 percent of the population is out at some time each night The greatest portion of the population is out Friday nights, he said. The number is smaller on Thursdays and Saturdays. Exposure is the least on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, Jeff said. The Svobodas say aerial advertising is supplemental to conventional ads in newspapers and on radio and PORTABLE TELEVISION I5:upart!) tv 1 00 . aircraft. 'N BAGS FROZEN DINNERS . Can Be Eerie In most cases, the plane itself is invisible to the viewer below so the message appears to sojourn across the night sky independently. The sight can be somewhat eerie, especially if the viewer is not directly beneath the to them upon signals from the control unit. The system contains about 8,000 feet of wire. See Page Csfaua 1 8-1- HARDWOO Buffet and Hutch Jutf Right for But Ktn ret Easily earned frea rasa to I f l! room. SALE PRICE 119 I 19" SLfa lEVistoa TV Ssme Quality Features Limited Quantities 158 PLUS: FREE STAND with this nodel Offer Expires March 25, 1978 HOME OWli FURNISHINGS FINE BARE ' too Just West of State St. at 7720 S. L Cewter St. 255-354- 7 Midvale, Ut. WOOD FURNITURE WOO So. 7th last, Sandy (aot to linwri 566-076- . di) 1 4 |
