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.
Beechcraft's factory-owned Hawker Beechcraft Services facilities were authorized to install the CenTex Halo 250 gross-weigh increase modification for Beechcraft King Air 200 aircraft. The Halo 250 conversion adds 920 lb. of payload capacity through an increase in maximum takeoff weight from 12,500 lb. to 13,420 lb. Waco, Texas-based CenTex Aerospace developed the modification, which received FAA certification in October. The increase can be installed via a normal category supplemental type certificate (STC) or a commuter category STC.
Honeywell is partnering with Dubai-based Jetex to expand the global reach of its flight support services. Jetex will resell from Honeywell's Global Data Center Flight Support Services to customers in Europe, the Middle East and Asia-Pacific. Jetex will provide international trip planning across multiple regions and after-trip concierge service to Honeywell customers. The agreement will enable end-to-end international flight services for operators globally. The joint services are expected to be available in the fourth quarter.
The long running and contentious contest over a (relatively) small Pentagon contract for a light attack aircraft for Afghanistan's Air Force has ended another round, with Beechcraft the loser. Again. Vying for the contract, potentially worth slightly less than $1 billion, is the Embraer Super Tucano and the Beechcraft AT-6, both single engine turboprops. The U.S. Air Force, which is overseeing the competition, initially chose the Embraer. However, a Beechcraft protest forced a second competition in which the Embraer was selected for a second time.
