Marco Tulio Pellegrini was appointed CEO of Embraer’s OGMA joint venture in Portugal. Pellegrini steps into his new role after serving as president and CEO of Embraer Executive Jets.
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University named Barry Butler president. He joins Embry-Riddle from the University of Iowa, where he had served for 33 years and most recently was executive v-p and provost.
Jet Aviation appointed Hakan Tin managing director of its Vienna operation. Tin, who has served as sales director for Jet Aviation in Vienna since September 2015, has a quarter century of aviation experience, including stints with Lufthansa German Airlines and Jet Alliance.
Dan Smiley is joining Passur Aerospace as senior v-p, global ATM. Most recently Smiley was vice president of system operations services for the FAA. He was also the first operations manager for the Civil Air Navigation Services Organization (Canso) Operations Standing Committee.
FlightSafety International appointed John Van Maren vice president, simulation products and services. Maren has served with FlightSafety for 33 years and most recently was vice president, simulation. Scott Goodwin, meanwhile, was promoted to general manager, simulation, and will handle Van Maren’s previous responsibilities. A 30-year U.S. Air Force veteran who retired as a brigadier general, Goodwin joined FlightSafety in 2014 as deputy director for special projects and most recently was executive director, simulation.
Christian Moreno was appointed chief of airport operations at Van Nuys Airport (VNY) in California. Moreno has 28 years of aviation experience, having held numerous roles with Los Angeles World Airports, Portland International Airport and an international carrier.
Jenny Showalter joined Aviation Personnel International as manager, candidate services. Showalter brings two decades of business aviation service to the role, having previously served as executive director for the Florida Aviation Business Association and as customer service manager/director of first impressions for Showalter Flying Service. Showalter succeeds Jennifer Steele, who was named director, client services.
FlightSafety International promoted Edward Koharik to general manager, visual systems. He succeeds Jon Hester, who retired after a 35-year career with FSI designing, developing and supporting flight simulation products and services. Koharik joined FlightSafety in October 2015 after 23 years in the U.S. Air Force.
Bruce Webb has taken over as director of aviation education and community outreach for Airbus Helicopters. Webb joined the company in 1999 and served as chief pilot since 2000.
Kerry Heiss joined Western Aircraft to lead the MRO sales and marketing team. Heiss previously served as a senior manager of marketing and product management for BendixKing Avionics in Albuquerque, N.M., and before that held director-level positions in international and domestic sales and finance for StandardAero in Tempe, Ariz.
West Star Aviation appointed David Feuerhak avionics technical sales manager. A former electronics and aircraft survival equipment specialist for the U.S. Army National Guard, Feuerhak joined West Star in 2005 and has since served as avionics lead installer, avionics supervisor, avionics manager and avionics system engineer.
Jet Aviation’s facility in St. Louis named Pat Fenwick MRO manager. Fenwick has spent 44 years in aviation, 25 of them at Jet Aviation, and has experience across MRO disciplines.
Constant Aviation named Hector Soto South Central regional sales manager. Soto previously spent 28 years with StandardAero Business Aviation/Landmark Aviation/Garrett Aviation.
Jody Jaraczewski was appointed director of sales for Infinity Aircraft Services. Previously Jaraczewski was director of sales and marketing for Spirit Aeronautics and Executive Air.
Interflight named Paul Cantillon commercial manager. Cantillon has six years of business aviation operational experience with JetClub and Optimum Aviation.
Ken Stewart has rejoined Guardian Mobility as business development manager. Stewart previously spent nine years in various sales, customer support and business development roles with Guardian.
Innotech Aviation Group appointed Steve Dufresne regional sales manager. Dufresne has 30 years of aviation experience, formerly serving with Bombardier's pre-owned aircraft sales department, Aerospace Concepts and Zenith Jet.
Heidi Fedak was promoted to director of corporate communications for Gulfstream Aerospace. Fedak, most recently senior manager, social media and external communications, joined Gulfstream in 2008 after serving as editor-in-chief of the Savannah, Ga.-area newspaper Hardeeville Today.
FlightSafety International promoted Nathalie Raby to assistant manager of the company’s Paris-Le Bourget training facility. Raby joined FlightSafety in 2004 as an instructor at the Paris center and has since served as assistant program manager and manager of the Embraer E170 and ERJ145 training programs, assistant director of training and most recently as director of training.
AviationManuals has named Caitlin Windland as information technology project manager. Most recently Windland was a software quality assurance analyst and a flight coordinator for Rockwell Collins Arinc Direct Flight Support Services in Annapolis, Md. and also has served as a first officer and aviation administrator for Energy Air in Spencer, W.Va.
Duncan Aviation appointed Tim Barber as its aircraft sales and acquisitions representative in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Barber, a principal at JetRemarketing, helped launch JetBrokers Europe and has served with Air Partner subsidiary Cabot Aviation.
William Jewer was named to the sales team of Innotech International. He has 35 years of aerospace and business aviation experience.
Mecaer Aviation Group named Gary Brown director of maintenance. Formerly a chief inspector for an FAA Part 145 and EASA 145 organization, Brown has 20 years of experience in the aviation industry, 10 Part 145 organizations.
Dave Edwards was appointed chairman of the aviation search and recruitment firm Oaklands Global. Edwards has held management positions with both airlines and business aviation companies, including as executive v-p for Qatar Airways.
Capital Automotive Real Estate Services named Marty Hiller chairman of the advisory board of its new Capital Aviation Group. Hiller, who ran the energy supply company The Hiller Group until it was sold to World Fuel Services in 2010, is president of the National Air Transportation Association and a member of the Duncan Aviation Advisory Board.
Awards and Honors
Summit Helicopters founder Carl Milko is the recipient of the Twirly Birds Les Morris award this year. Milko began his career in the industry as a helicopter pilot in Vietnam in 1965. After Vietnam, Milko earned a master’s degree in forestry and worked for Evergreen Helicopters.
He teamed with four other industry peers to found Summit Helicopters in 1982. Under his leadership, the company now has 70 employees and 15 aircraft. Milko has also been recognized for his actions as a JetRanger pilot, when he rescued stranded citizens during a flood in Roanoke, Va., in 1985.
Each year, the Twirly Birds presents the Les Morris award in recognition of lifetime achievement. Recipients are individuals who have significantly contributed to the helicopter industry. Sergei Sikorsky presented Milko with the award during the annual Twirly Birds meeting on March 7 in Dallas.
Dr. John Leverton received the 2017 Bell Helicopter Lifetime Achievement Award at Heli-Expo. The award recognizes the achievements of individuals and organizations in the international helicopter community. With a bachelor’s degree in engineering, a master’s degree in acoustics and a doctorate in helicopter aero-acoustics, Leverton has served as a consultant, lecturer, chair, director and vice president throughout his career in the helicopter industry.
His career began with Westland Helicopters, and while he continued his studies at the Institute of Sound and Vibration at Southampton University, Leverton became interested in helicopter noise and environmental issues. Since community noise was becoming a serious concern in the UK at the time, Leverton decided that the issue should be studied from both the helicopter design and helicopter operations point of view. His idea became a significant design aspect when Westland turned its attention to the WG-30, a civil helicopter based on the military Lynx.
Later on, Leverton was asked to work on international noise certification, helicopter operations and heliport/helideck designs. He published papers and gave lectures on aspects of helicopter noise and heliport design. As a consultant for manufacturers (among them Bell Helicopter), he advised companies about noise measurement, public acceptance of helicopters, environmental assessment issues and civil regulations. He went on to serve as an advisor to the American Petroleum Institute on helidecks and to HAI regarding ICAO and FAA regulations as well as helicopter noise.
Final Flights
Irwin Stambler, an AIN contributor who became known for his reference books in the music industry, died on February 10 in Los Angeles. He was 92. Stambler began his career as an aeronautical engineer, designing aircraft parts. But his varied interests led him to write dozens of books on topics from space missions to a sports biography. Among his books was The Encyclopedia of Pop, Rock & Soul (1974), considered one of the earliest sourcebooks on pop music. He also created encyclopedias on Broadway musicals, folk and country and Western music, interviewing musicians across genres. Stambler wrote for a number of publications, among them Space/Aeronautics magazine. He contributed to AIN over three decades beginning in the 1980s.
Neil Looy, who founded Corporate Air Parts (CAP) in 1983, died on February 3 at the age of 67. Looy, a native of Van Nuys, Calif., logged 34 years of flying experience in aircraft ranging from the F-4 Phantom for the U.S. Air Force and DC-10 for McDonnell Douglas to a Lockheed JetStar for television producer Glen Larson. He held Learjet and Gulfstream type ratings, as well as DC-10, DC-8 and 727 flight engineer ratings.
A founding member of the Motion Picture Pilots Association, Looy served as a movie pilot and aerial coordinator for 23 years and worked on numerous major projects for the motion picture and television industry.
He had multiple business interests, heading Aerobatic Film Systems, founding a repair station, along with serving as president of CAP. Looy was one of the first tenants at Clay Lacy’s building in Van Nuys, Calif.
