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.
My fourth and final scholar enters college this month. Four years to go, and we're done. Hallelujah. He was accepted at a number of schools that were relatively close to home, so predictably, he chose the farthest, one located in a small town in upstate New York. He and I participated in an orientation program there last month, and when he was off with his fellow freshmen learning the rules, rights and ropes, I wandered into town to look about.
One of the most curious pairings in business aviation today is that of Lilliputian Eclipse Aerospace and Brobdingnagian Sikorsky Aircraft. Although the former manufactures nothing, the reconstituted firm inherited a short but storied legacy of failed promises regarding a new very light jet (VLJ) age, stilled production lines and breathtaking fiscal ruin. Meanwhile, the latter, a unit of the United Technologies conglomerate, is a maker of massive helicopters that the Pentagon buys by the thousands and for which it pays in the billions.
