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.
It's easy to become disheartened. The horrors of September helped to produced a series of reactions that are unjustified, frustrating, expensive and more than a little bit frightening. Osama bin Laden declared war on the United States, and, as a consequence, unidentified security officials have turned the federal government against private aviation.
Photograph: James D. Raisbeck CEO, Raisbeck Engineering Unabashedly opinionated, Raisbeck worked at Boeing and at Robert-son Aircraft before founding his own firm in 1973. He has been integral in developing performance mods for King Airs, Sabreliners and 30-series Learjets, among other things. Outside aviation, he is passionate about the ballet, opera, vintage cars, his family and Purdue University, his alma mater. 1 Has Raisbeck Engineering been affected by the terrible events of September?
One evening not long ago I was at a Manhattan restaurant sawing through an outrageously thick steak. At the table were my kid brother, Tom, and a long-time family friend, both of whom were hungrily packing away even larger slabs of meat. Vegetarians might have wept at the sight, but we had fun reminiscing and catching up on each other's lives. Our out-of-town guest said he was particularly happy to share the meal; he'd been putting in some long hours over the past few weeks and the evening was a welcome respite.
