People in Aviation: November 2003
Raytheon Aircraft Services named Harold “Skip” Madsen as v-p and general manager, and Chuck Curry as general manager of Raytheon Aircraft Ser

Raytheon Aircraft Services named Harold “Skip” Madsen as v-p and general manager, and Chuck Curry as general manager of Raytheon Aircraft Services in San Antonio. Madsen, formerly president and CEO of Executive Aircraft, is responsible for the company’s 12 FBOs. Curry, former co-owner of McKinney, Texas-based Curry & Curry Consulting, is responsible for overall management of the company’s San Antonio service and modification business. Raytheon Aircraft’s Hawker division recently opened a new sales office in Littleton, Colo. Dan Keady was selected to lead the office. Keady, an eight-year Raytheon Aircraft employee, was most recently regional sales director for all products in Australia and Southeast Asia.

Greensboro, N.C.-based Genesis Aviation named Don Lownds as v-p of international business. Lownds is directing the international business division for Genesis and will concentrate on Asia, the Middle East and European markets.

Kevin Gould joined Adam Aircraft Industries as senior v-p of operations. Gould’s career includes leading the team responsible for producing signal generators and radio-frequency analyzers for Hewlett-Packard and various management positions at Boeing.

Superior, Colo.-based Key Equipment Finance named James Crowley as senior v-p and director of business aviation finance.

San Francisco-based TAG Aviation named Robert Tyler v-p of flight operations and standards. Tyler’s 30-year career spans flight operations, management and consulting in the military, airline and corporate environments. Also, Raymond Santa was appointed regional v-p of aircraft acquisitions and sales for Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana.

Stephen Coonan was named vice president of aircraft sales, acquisitions and management for the West Coast for PrivatAir. He joined the company from SJC Associates, where he was president. He also founded Aviation Medical Systems.

McKinney, Texas-based McKinney Aerospace named Mike Slattery as v-p of operations and member of the senior executive management team. Also, Stephen McNally was named director of maintenance. McNally joined the company from Bombardier, where he was general manager of the Tucson location and facility director of the Dallas location.

West Chester, Pa.-based Keystone Helicopter promoted David Ford to senior v-p of technical services. Since Joining Keystone Helicopter in 1996, Ford has served as v-p and general manager of the helicopter services division. Craig Zysk was named director of program development and customer support for the helicopter services division of Keystone Helicopter. He was v-p of business development for International Aviation Composites in Fort Worth, Texas.

Gulfstream announced five personnel appointments. Darrell Frey was named general manager at Gulfstream’s Savannah, Ga. service center. Elizabeth Nelson has been promoted to diversity manager. Lisa Saxon was promoted to staffing manager. Geoff Nye was named sales director of new accounts for the eastern U.S. Nye was previously a sales associate for Bloomer deVere Group Avia, where he represented new and pre-owned business jets.

Bob Lavallee is the new service manager at Wheeling, Ill.-based Palwaukee Service Center. He was previously a field-service representative for Bombardier.

Duncan Aviation’s newest Rapid Response team is based in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., under the direction of team leader Steve Morgan. He was most recently engine/APU team leader at Duncan’s Lincoln, Neb. engine service center. Bob Finke joined Lincoln, Neb.-based Duncan Aviation’s parts and services division as a sales associate.

Eric Hinson is the new v-p of commercial aerospace for Europe, the Middle East and Africa for Honeywell Aerospace. He was senior v-p of business development and financial services. At Honeywell, Hinson replaced Barry Eccleston, who was recently named v-p for the Propulsion Systems Enterprise of Honeywell’s Engines, Systems and Services businesses.

The National Aircraft Resale Association named Susan Sheets president. Sheets joined NARA in 1991. She was most recently executive vice president.

Willy Harmon was promoted to v-p of international sales at Dallas Airmotive.
He was most recently the senior director of international sales. Also at Dallas Airmotive, Chris Pratt was named marketing director. He was marketing manager for Bombardier’s Flexjet.

Eclipse Aviation named Gene Garnes v-p of program management and Rod Holter v-p of operations. Holter was previously v-p of quality at Cessna.

Jet Aviation promoted Stephan Koss to senior vice president and general manager of Jet Aviation London Biggin Hill. Koss joined Jet Aviation Basel in 2001 as a maintenance sales engineer and was responsible for maintenance offers, acquisition and customer support. Markus Lehmann and Heiko Lubberstedt were named station managers at the company’s Saarbrucken and Cologne, Germany locations, respectively. Also at Jet Aviation, Mark Creager was named director of certification for Jet Aviation Engineering Service in San Antonio. He was manager of structural analysis and certification at Gore Design Completions. George DeClue was named Northeast account executive for the business and general aviation division.

Kim Day was selected as interim executive director of Los Angeles World Airports, the city department that operates Los Angeles International Airport and three other area airports. Day, deputy executive director since November 1999, succeeds Lydia Kennard. Kennard left her position to pursue opportunities in the private sector.

The Louisville, Ky. Regional Airport Authority named Charles “Skip” Miller as general manager. He succeeded James DeLong, who retired at the end of last month.

Sandra Tokach was promoted to general manager of 3M’s new aerospace and aircraft maintenance division. She was the aerospace department manager.

Fort Worth, Texas-based Aerospace Optics promoted Todd West to senior sales representative and named Terry McGraw inside technical support representative.

Gerard Langeler is the new chairman of the board for Portland, Ore.-based Max-Viz. He is a partner and founder of Oregon Venture Partners.

Several managerial changes were announced at Grand Junction, Colo.-based West Star Aviation. Tim Annis joined the company as avionics installation manager. Ron Echols was promoted to avionics repair manager. Denny Cullen was named avionics technical representative.

Dallas-based TXI Aviation announced the following personnel appointments: Ed Negron to director of operations; Darrell Miller to chief pilot; Nelson Bivins to maintenance department inspection manager; Stacy Lay to maintenance sales; and Bruce Parker to avionics department supervisor.

Tulsa, Okla.-based Business Jet Services named Robert Randall maintenance operations manager for both the Dallas and Tulsa facilities and Stacey Clark charter sales representative. Randall was previously employed by Garrett Aviation Services, Atlantic Aero and BizJet International. Clark was previously employed by TXI Aviation, Jet East and Jet Aviation.

Christopher Poliak is the new director of maintenance for Part 135 aircraft at Cincinnati-based Executive Jet Management. He was previously manager of the company’s fleet-management department.

Thomas Hirschmann joined the advisory board of Europe-based Club Airways. Hirschmann managed Jet Aviation from 1990 until this year.

Jacksonville, Fla.-based Unison Industries promoted Larry Britt to OEM business unit manager. He was Unison’s OEM account manager for Hamilton Sundstrand.

Broomfield, Colo.-based Pilatus Business Aircraft promoted Tom Aniello to chief marketing officer. He was v-p of marketing. Dennis Phillips was named avionics manager. Phillips joined Pilatus from Western Aircraft.

Kirk Davis joined Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based Corporate Rotable and Supply to handle sales and inventory procurement projects.

Michelle Holt is the new customer-service manager at Boise, Idaho-based Western Aircraft. She was the marketing and membership services manager for the Idaho Rural Water Association.

Chesterfield, Mo.-based JetCorp, named Don Ehler to regional sales manager for the Midwest. He was most recently sales manager for Thunder Aviation.

Helene Sendrane was promoted to manager of the Arrius program with Turbomeca’s Aero Engines division.

Keith McMann
was named to the senior management team of MenaJet, a Mideast-based no-frills airline. He was previously a director of Europe-based EasyJet.

Awards and Honors

CAE SimuFlite awarded four Citation initial pilot-training scholarships through the University Aviation Association to students Robert Baker, University of Arizona; Michael Cole, Baylor University, Texas; and Brandy Hearting and Lance Koch, Kansas State University.

Howard Corey, of Portland, Ore.-based Flightcraft, received the FAA’s Charles Taylor Master Mechanic Award. The award recognizes aviation maintenance personnel who have more than 50 years of experience in the industry and who are a certified mechanic or repairman.

NBAA announced several scholarship winners at its annual meeting and convention in Orlando, Fla., last month. Darren Schultz of the University of North Dakota and Wendi Sellers and Andrew Wittstrom of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University each received $1,000 professional development scholarships from the United States Aircraft Insurance Group. Five students enrolled at NBAA/University Aviation Association colleges or universities received Lawrence Ginocchio Aviation Scholarships. The winners, who each received $5,000, are Benjamin Bogdan and John Prather of Southern Illinois University; Kent Fujimoto of the University of North Dakota; Russell Sage of Daniel Webster College; and Paul Wagner of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. The $2,500 Nordam Dee Howard/ Etienne Fage Scholarship was awarded to Embry-Riddle student Elaine McLaughlin. The $2,500 William M. Fanning Maintenance Scholarship was presented to Robert Yentel, a student at the Pittsburgh Institute of Aeronautics, and Dirk Patterson, a student at Westwood College in Los Angeles.

The National Aeronautic Association has named six people to receive the association’s Elder Statesman of Aviation Award. The award is given to honor Americans who are at least 60 years old and have made contributions of significant value to aeronautics during an extended period of time. The winners are Carol Hallett, retired president and CEO of the Air Transport Association, and former commissioner of the U.S. Customs Service, U.S. ambassador to the Bahamas, director of the interior department’s western division and California assemblywoman; David Hinson, board member of the National Air and Space Museum and the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, co-founder of Midway Airlines and former FAA Administrator, airline pilot, director of flight standards and engineering for Hughes Airwest and executive v-p for Douglas Aircraft; Martin Knutson, former site manager of the Dryden Flight Test Facility at Edwards Air Force Base in California, U-2 flight test pilot and developer of an airborne remote-sensing system for NASA; Joan Mace, volunteer for the Coast Guard Airborne Auxiliary in Florida and former chairman of the department of Aviation in Ohio University’s College of Engineering; Frank Mitchell, an adjunct assistant professor in the department of aviation at the University of Oklahoma’s College of Continuing Education and former marketing training manager at Beech Aircraft; and Paul Tibbetts Jr., retired United States Air Force brigadier general, who piloted the Enola Gay, which dropped the first atomic bomb in anger in 1945, and former chairman of Executive Jet Aviation. The National Aeronautic Association also named Mary Feik and Ann Wood-Kelly as recipients of the Katherine and Marjorie Stinson Award for achievement. The annual award recognizes women who have made an enduring contribution, a meritorious flight or a singular technical development in the field of aviation, aeronautics, space or related sciences.

Final Flights

Richard “Dick” Weeghman, aviation magazine writer and editor, died last month. He was 75. A veteran of the U.S. Air Force, Weeghman held various editorial positions during his career, including associate editor of Flying magazine, editor-in-chief of Air Progress and editor of The Aviation Consumer. He is survived by his wife, Diane, two daughters and three grandchildren.