Bill was Editor-in-Chief of Business & Commercial Aviation from 2000 to 2020. During his stewardship, the monthly magazine received scores of awards for editorial excellence.
He is the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement in Journalism Award from the National Business Aviation Association; the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Aerospace Media Awards; the Aviation Journalism Award from the National Air Transportation Association; and an Aerospace Journalist of the Year Award for Business Aviation.
Previously, Bill served as Managing Editor of Aviation Week Television. He was the top editor for both Flying and Professional Pilot magazines, as well as a member of the senior editorial staff at Reader's Digest. He also managed communications for FlightSafety International.
Bill has authored or co-authored three aviation books, was an essayist for National Public Radio, wrote aviation documentaries for The Discovery Channel and has written for numerous publications including The New York Times, Smithsonian Air & Space, Popular Mechanics and The Associated Press, among others.
An active aviator, Bill holds a Commercial Pilot license, along with multiengine, instrument, seaplane and glider ratings.
Two airworthiness directives issued recently by the FAA affect large numbers of general aviation aircraft. AD 2008-14-07 requires operators of nearly 18,000 Lycoming engines to inspect and replace, if necessary, externally mounted fuel injector lines, a task with overall costs estimated to exceed $11 million. Meanwhile, AD 2008-13-17 requires the replacement of all circuit breaker toggle switches in nearly 11,000 Beech Bonanzas and Barons, at a total cost of up to $30 million.
GAMA reported its members shipped 399 piston engine aircraft during the first quarter of this year, which was down 28% from the same quarter in 2007, continuing a decline that saw that segment fall by 2.9% last year over 2006.
Stars of the upcoming EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wis., are likely to be a growing coterie of single engine personal light jets (PLJs) including Diamond’s D-jet, the Cirrus Vision SJ50 and the prototype Eclipse 400, all of them now flying. Piper will also be promoting its PiperJet. First flight of that aircraft was likely to occur this month in Vero Beach, Fla., but it was doubtful the aircraft would have logged enough hours by July 28, the gathering’s opening day, for the FAA to grant permission for a cross-country flight.
