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.
The FAA has granted more than 1,000 Section 333 exemption approvals for the operation of commercial unmanned aerial systems (UAS) in U.S. airspace. The approvals have been issued to companies and individuals for a wide range of activities including motion picture production, precision agriculture, real estate videos and photography, inspection of power distribution towers and wiring, railroad infrastructure and bridges, among other things.
Shipments of commercial unmanned aerial systems (UAS) will exceed 2.6 million units a year by 2025, according to a new forecast by Tractica. According to the Boulder, Colorado, market researcher, the industries using the drones will include film, media, agriculture, energy, mapping, mining, and disaster relief. Meanwhile, companies, universities and government agencies are actively assessing the opportunity for drones in other capacities.
In July, the New York City Council introduced legislation targeting the city’s helicopter tour operators for increased regulation “to reduce noise and air pollution for New Yorkers who live and use public parks along the tourist-helicopter routes.”In doing so, the bill’s sponsors aligned themselves with a number of groups, including “Stop the Chop NYNJ,” a neighborhood coalition that sees sightseeing-helicopter operations as both a source of noise and pollution, and as “a danger to health, the environment and national security.&rdqu
