On May 18th at age 79, legendary archery pioneer Andy Simo, founder of New Archery Products, passed away. Andy, as a founder of modern archery, stands shoulder to shoulder with such names as Fred Bear, Ben Pearson, and Doug Easton. Andy was inducted into the Archery Hall of Fame in 1999 for his monumental contributions to the sport of archery and for his lifelong dedication to archers and bowhunters worldwide.
Andy received his aeronautical engineering degree at Purdue in the 1960’s. Andy participated in structural engineering work on the Saturn 5 rocket at Boeing as well as on the C5A Galaxy at Lockheed. Combining his brilliant mind and talent with his burning passion for archery, Andy laid the foundation for New Archery Products with his creation of the innovative Flipper Rest in 1971. Along with his loving wife Cherie, Andy built these rests by hand in his basement in Marietta Georgia for local archers in his area. A loyal following quickly built and he used this success to continue with decade’s worth of revolutionary, industry changing products. His quest for perfection led to cornerstone products such as the Thunderhead, Razorbak, and Spitfire broadheads as well as QuikTune Arrowrests and the QuikFletch vane system. Andy’s pinnacle product, The Thunderhead broadhead, still stands to this day as the most successful fixed blade broadhead in archery history. Andy’s unwavering demand for product quality and innovation was matched by his strong belief in personal, and immediate, customer service support to his customers. Andy also served on the Board of Directors for the Archery Manufacturers Organization (now ATA) from 1988 to 1994 and as Chairman of the Board from 1992 to 1994.
Beyond Andy’s success with archery accessories, he was well known for his peerless integrity, gentle easy going nature, unlimited optimism, and infectious sense of humor. Andy always felt that with a smile and a handshake, anything was possible. He will be sorely missed.
Our deepest condolences from all of us at New Archery Products.
