When it comes to aircrafts, flying safely is as important as landing safely, and according to the company's leader, Skeeter Enterprises is on a mission to ensure that the latter is effectively accomplished for pilots navigating airplanes.

The Wilmington-based aerospace research and manufacturing company (recently featured in tech publication GrepBeat) builds compact, wireless altimeters that give general aviation pilots real-time above ground level (AGL) altitude and audio alerts through smartphones, according to Sean Sherman, Skeeter Enterprises’ CEO.

He wrote in an email that Skeeter Enterprises “offers low-cost, non-intrusive altitude awareness tools that work independently of panel avionics, ideal for general aviation and bush pilots.

“It solves the lack of affordable, portable AGL altimeters for low-altitude awareness critical for landing, float flying and backcountry ops, especially since the vast majority of general aviation aircrafts do not come equipped with an AGL altimeter.”

Altimeters, Sherman explained, tell you how high you are in the atmosphere. He also expounded upon the concept, adding that there are different types.

“There’s AGL and MSL,” he said. “AGL is above ground level, so that's telling you exactly how high above the ground you are right now. MSL is above mean sea level.”

The two altimeters the company offers are Stadia and Stadia Neptune, and both products are AGL altimeters, so they give pilots their heights above the surface. According to Sherman, this is different from many other altimeters that give height above mean sea level.

Stadia uses LiDAR — which is a laser radar — to measure pilots’ altitude above ground, but Stadia Neptune is an altimeter that’s specifically designed to make glassy water landings easier for floatplanes.

And unlike Stadia, Stadia Neptune doesn’t use infrared LiDAR since it doesn’t work well over water, Sherman wrote in an email. “Stadia Neptune was developed later using a radar to get better accuracy over water, specifically for floatplane/seaplane pilots,” he wrote.

As for Skeeter Enterprises’ inception, Sherman wrote that he founded the company because he’d worked on similar technology in the Air Force Research Labs as an officer, and his dad — who’s a bush pilot — saw a need for something like Stadia in the general aviation community.

He additionally offered insight into the company’s plans for the remainder of 2025, writing that Skeeter Enterprises plans to set up a booth at the EAA AirVenture Oshkosh Air Show. He added that the company also plans to expand sales and integrate Stadia to work with other avionics hardware/software.

Skeeter Enterprises was founded in 2019, and it operates as a sole proprietorship.