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.
AS A PILOT, DIVER AND FATHER of three teenagers, there's adventure enough in my life. What I'm getting at here is food, which to me is more about fuel and company than it is about flavor or, I shiver, experimentation and discovery. I tend toward the familiar and simple. There's comfort in a BLT with cheese (burn the bacon, please), egg salad on rye with lettuce, tomato soup, and a New York strip, medium, with home fries and a green salad. Yum.
EVEN AFTER ALL THESE YEARS, the funnies make me happy. I so look forward to grumpy "Shoe," my feathered, cigar-chomping counterpart, to "Doonesbury" zings, to the relief of "Zits" (since he's actually more slovenly than my kids), and to the doings of my old friends from childhood including, Hi and Lois, Beetle Bailey and Sarge, Blondie and Dagwood. While I still miss my daily dose of the wonderful absurdity Gary Larson delivered so brilliantly in his "Far Side," the comic strip I most eagerly anticipate now, albeit with a mixture of delight and dread, is "Dilbert."
FOLLOWING A LONG aviation tradition and sensible SOPs, the first officer went out on the ramp and began a walk-around inspection of the Boeing 737, looking at the tires, gear, flight controls and such. It was Jan. 16, 2006. Reaching the right engine, the F/O noticed a puddle of fluid on the tarmac below the nacelle and told the captain. At that point the four-striper strode out under the engine, examined the puddle and declared the turbofan to be leaking oil.
