Bob Blouin, former senior v-p of operations for NBAA and current president of the Greater Washington Business Aviation Association, formed SkyGroup Associates with an office at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. SkyGroup specializes in aviation management services, including OEM support and representation services; Part 91, 135 and 121 certifications and start-ups; safety and security audits; development and presentation of training programs; litigation and marketing support; personnel searches; flight operations and maintenance manuals; technical and ops performance reviews; and commercial and government contracting. Blouin has more than 30 years of domestic and international experience in corporate, commercial and military aviation operations.
Christopher Lapsley was named flight operations supervisor for Greenville, S.C.-based SATSair, an air-taxi services provider. He was previously dispatch operations manager for Independence Air.
Mike Bennett was promoted to general manager of the Signature FBO at Washington Dulles International Airport. He was previously assistant general manager.
Doug Brantner was promoted to v-p of Raytheon Aircraft Services with responsibilities for the company’s FBOs in the U.S. and Mexico. He was previously v-p of finance for the company. Chris Charnley was named regional v-p of sales for Canada and Latin America for Raytheon Aircraft.
Gary Wood has joined Mississauga, Canada-based Field Aviation Sales as an aircraft sales representative.
Alan Hudson was promoted to operations director at Club 328. He was previously deputy chief pilot and training manager for the company.
Mark Cote was promoted to v-p of completions and modifications for Duncan Aviation’s Lincoln, Neb. facility. He was most recently program manager and project manager coordinator for the company. Jason Behrens was promoted to Hawker technical representative for the company.
Clair Wilde was named director of safety training and risk management for Million Air Salt Lake City. He joined the company from the Department of Defense, where he was a training and safety coordinator.
Midcoast Aviation named Michael O’Leary avionics sales manager. He was previously avionics sales manager for JetCorp.
Neil Greene was appointed managing director of Dublin, Ireland-based Aviareto, an international registry of mobile assets for the air-transport industry. He previously worked at GE Capital Aviation Services, where he was managing director and senior v-p of business development. Rob Cowan was named head of operations for the company. Cowan joins the company from the Irish Aviation Authority.
Embraer has named the following regional sales directors: Simon Burrows, northern Europe; Robert Posselt, Phenom 100 and Phenom 300 for central Europe; Neil Patton, central and eastern Europe; Lynton van Aswegen, Africa; Tony Fitzpatrick, Middle East; and Nikolay Goloviznin, Russia.
CJ Systems Aviation Group named Paul Lhote program chief pilot assigned to Stat Medevac. Lhote, who replaced Rich Gross, was previously site manager, pilot and assistant chief pilot during his eight-year career with CJ Systems.
Christian Sasfai was named manager of business development/operations support for Texarkana, Texas-based Tac Air.
Stevens Aviation named Joseph Howell general manager of its Donaldson Air Park facility in Greenville, S.C. He was most recently service manager for Raytheon Aircraft Services in Tampa, Fla. Also at Stevens Aviation, Randy Deal was appointed Hawker sales representative. He was previously regional sales manager for Raytheon Aircraft’s service center network.
Nissim Hadas was named president of Israel Aircraft Industries’ Elta Systems Group.
Lynnwood, Wash.-based Crane Aerospace and Electronics named Linda Wood electronics group v-p of human resources.
Jamai Hensel joined Houston-based World Fuel Services as a sales executive.
Wilson Felder was appointed director of the FAA’s William J. Hughes Technical Center. He succeeds Ronald Esposito, who retired.
North Canton, Ohio-based Ultimate Jet Charters recently hired Eddie Moneypenny as director of sales and marketing.
Steve McCullough was named v-p of sales and marketing for Air BP aviation services. He was the U.S. general aviation manager for ConocoPhillips for the past two years.
Aerodynamics named Tod Wulff director of avionics and Bob Wood avionics manager.
Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based Banyan Air Services named John DiMattei avionics engineer.
Awards & Honors
John Winter was honored with the 2006 Aircraft Electronics Association Lifetime Achievement Award at the association’s annual convention in Palm Springs, Calif. in April. Winter purchased Mid-Continent Instruments in 1980 and helped develop one of the first ARC autopilots for general aviation during his tenure as chief engineer at Aviation Instrument Manufacturing.
Janis Anderson has received recognition for the third consecutive year for her work selling Jeppesen products through Banyan Air Service. She is responsible for all Jeppesen business-to-business sales for the company.
Gary Lemasters, chief flight instructor at Monaco Air Duluth, earned the gold seal award from the FAA. The award is presented to people who have met exacting certification standards and documented exceptional achievement in flight instruction.
AIN columnist John Goglia, a former member of the NTSB and current senior v-p of the Professional Aviation Maintenance Association, received the Nuts and Bolts Award from the Air Transport Association. The award honors outstanding service and contributions to the airline industry over an extended period of time, especially by those who have improved the system or component processes related to airline engineering, maintenance or material management. Goglia served as an NTSB board member from August 1995 to June 2004 and was the first member to hold an FAA aircraft mechanic’s certificate.
William Horton received the FAA’s Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award. The award recognizes the efforts of pilots who have followed and continue to follow the precaution and awareness of safe flight operations. Horton, former chairman and member of the Salina Airport board of directors, was honored for maintaining safe flight operations as a pilot for more than 50 years.
Final Flights
Philip Coleman, who was involved in many facets of general aviation throughout his career, died on April 27. He was 67. Coleman began his career as a ferry pilot delivering general aviation aircraft around the world. He was the founder of ScotAir, a mail-order catalog company that focused on selling pilot supplies; Coleman Aircraft, an aircraft sales and brokerage firm; Coleman Air Transport, a regional airline based in Rockford, Ill.; and Interlease Aviation, which leased commercial aircraft to small U.S. domestic carriers. He owned and operated Aerodyne, an FBO located at General Mitchell International Airport in Milwaukee. Coleman also served as a Beech and Piper distributor, v-p of sales for Mitsubishi Aircraft and v-p for CSX’s aviation division.
