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.
A few years ago my wife and I paid a visit to friends who had moved to Broward County, Fla., and the driving directions took us much farther west than I had expected. Finally, as we neared the Everglades we came upon signs welcoming us to Tropical Haven or something like that. It was a built-last-week village of fine, chock-a-block, central air-conditioned homes, smiling children and perfect lawns. Years earlier when I'd lived in Miami, this had been a place of sawgrass and alligators, so I was taken aback. My next surprise was being forced to halt at a guard shack.
This summer, four old men and their families sailed into Washing-ton, D.C., aboard a C-9 and then were whisked downtown where they became the focus of much attention. Reporters, photographers and camera crews jostled for position as the high and mighty made grand pronouncements. President George W. Bush spoke of the visitors' ``place in history'' and that the nation's gratitude for their service was ``rightly deserved.'' For the most part, the old timers were quiet and reserved, but the honors being bestowed upon them were for behavior of quite a different sort.
Russell W. Meyer, Jr. Chairman, Cessna Aircraft Co. A Harvard-trained lawyer and former U.S. Marine Corps fighter pilot, Meyer was chosen by investors to help oversee development of the fledgling American Aviation Co. That six-month assignment went on for years as the company evolved into Grumman American. In 1974, Dwayne Wallace, Cessna's legendary chairman, selected Meyer as his successor, and he has been with the company ever since.
