AIN Staff

Ralph Vasami is the new president of Universal Weather &amp; Aviation. He is responsible for the company’s daily business operations and for implementing future business strategies. Greg Evans retains the CEO position.
Sheryl Barden has been promoted to president of San Francisco-based Aviation Personnel International. Barden, a member of the API team for more than 20 years, was most recently v-p of business development for the company.
David Ivey has taken over as president and CEO of the National Aeronautic Association. He replaces Donald Koranda.
Edward Connolly is the new president of Evergreen International Airlines. He was promoted from executive v-p of Evergreen International Aviation.
Bob Blouin, former senior v-p of operations for NBAA, accepted a position with Arlington, Va.-based Phaneuf Associates. Blouin is serving as v-p for the company, which provides aviation consulting services to the government and industry.
John Stack is the new v-p of strategy and business development at Cessna Aircraft. He was previously director of strategy development and international affairs for Textron.
Englewood, Colo.-based Mayo Aviation named Gregory Wilcox director of operations. He has held flight department manager positions at various companies.
Avcard named Jamie Barrett v-p of fuel programs and flight operations. His experience includes aircraft management, charter services and sales and marketing.
Mark Gibson was named to the new position of v-p for advanced concept development at Fort Worth, Texas-based Bell Helicopter. Since retiring from the Marines in 1999, Gibson has held various executive positions at Bell.
Jean-Pierre Cousserans was named senior v-p of customer services at ATR. He replaces Roberto Bellino, who accepted a position at Alenia Aeronautica.
Jet Support Services co-founder Ron Zilberbrand launched The Zilberbrand Group, which specializes in turbine sales and acquisitions. The company is located in Chicago. Alex Wandels has been named program manager for Eurocontrol’s new “cooperative air traffic services through surveillance and communication applications deployed in ECAC” (Cascade) initiative. 
Gulfstream Aerospace named Brian Miller to sales director for key accounts, with responsibilities for representing the Gulfstream business jet fleet to new and existing customers in the Los Angeles area. Jeff Vilker was named sales director for the Midwest. Also at Gulfstream, Michael Mena was named director of advanced cockpit programs.
FlightSafety International announced several personnel appointments. Chuck Milhiser was promoted to assistant manager at the Tucson Learning Center. He was most recently director of training for the center. Charles (Chip) White was promoted to manager of the company’s Long Beach, Calif. Learning Center. He was most recently the assistant manager at the St. Louis Learning Center. At the Farnborough Learning Center, which is scheduled to open next spring, Rudy Toering was named manager; Paul Hewett was named assistant manager; and Jim Lonas was named director of training. Kathy Ebner was named charter services manager for Executive Jet Management’s charter services at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey. Ebner was a charter sales representative for Jet Aviation Business Jets.
Chesterfield, Mo.-based JetCorp named Gary Newport regional sales manager for the Great Lakes region and Chad Mansfield regional sales manager for the Texas region. The company also named Michella Ballard the new marketing coordinator. She was most recently marketing coordinator for L-3 Avionics in Grand Rapids, Mich.
Midcoast Aviation promoted Roxanne Hilboldt to senior manager of completion sales. Hilboldt has been with Midcoast since 1981.
Randall Burdette has been selected as director of the Virginia Department of Aviation. Burdette replaces Charles Macfarlane, who resigned to pursue business opportunities. Burdette has 28 years of experience in general aviation. He was most recently program manager for the Defense Department’s technology initiative. 
Bombardier Flexjet named Dave Armstrong senior director of sales and Bob Osvold, Spencer Bain, Eli Flint and Scott Shatzer sales directors. Armstrong joined Flexjet from Cessna, where he was a sales manager.
Cleveland-based Avbase Flight Services named Michael Bukowski chief pilot and Eric Phillips director of maintenance.
John Hayter joined Falcon Insurance Agency as a producer/agent. He joined the company from AirSure.
Boise, Idaho-based Chelton Flight Systems promoted Samantha Teagarden to Western region sales manager.
William (Bill) Wallace retired from the FAA in September as the senior technical advisor on rotorcraft and tiltrotor operations.
Carl (Gene) Mason closed his business, Mason &amp; Associates, on September 1 to enter retirement. Mason provided flight instruction and conducted flight checks for more than 50 years.
Bud Freeman was promoted to director of maintenance at Birmingham, Ala.-based JetSouth and Aviation Services Group. He replaces Julian Murray, who relocated. Lincoln, Neb.-based Duncan Aviation named Bill Walker CF34 engine technical representative.
Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based Reliance Aviation named Sue Thompson charter director and added Rebecca Jordan to the charter department staff.
Joe Ponte, v-p of membership, marketing and regional programs for NBAA, was elected to the board of trustees of the National Aviation Hall of Fame. In other NBAA news, Maureen Cameron joined the organization as traffic manager for conventions and seminars. She joined NBAA from Interstate Worldwide Relocation. Dina Green was promoted to senior manager of seminars. She was manager of seminars. 
J.E. “Sandy” Murdock, who was chief counsel of the FAA during the Reagan Administration, has joined NBAA as general counsel and senior vice president of administration. He was most recently a partner in the Washington law firm of Shaw Pittman. Murdock was also acting FAA Deputy Administrator from 1984 to 1985.
Five people were elected to NBAA’s board of directors for three-year terms at the association’s annual meeting last month. The directors are: Randal Hudon, BellSouth Corporate Aviation and Travel Services; Jeffrey Lee, IBM; John Ratcliff, Ford Motor; George Saling, Altria Corporate Services; and Douglas Schwartz, AT&amp;T Aviation.
The Professional Aviation Maintenance Association announced the results of its recent board elections: David Orcutt, chairman; Clark Gordon, vice chairman; Gerry Goguen and Ed Martinkus, directors; and regional directors, Bob Gould, New England; Tom Hendershot, Northwest; Mark Wishart, southern region; George Miller, Southwest; Rick Anderson, central region; Mark Russo, eastern region; Dale Forton, Great Lakes region; and Fred Batson, western region.
Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based CRS Jet Spares named John Iverson to the sales team. Iverson was previously employed by Aero Quality Services.
Jen McSkimming joined Horizon Air as media relations manager. She was most recently manager of media relations at Robinson Helicopter.

<h2>Awards &amp; Honors </h2>
Miami-Dade aviation director Angela Gittens was presented with a resolution by the Florida State Senate for “extraordinary career accomplishments as airport administrator and…her invaluable service in leading the Miami-Dade County Aviation Department.”
Eclipse president and CEO Vern Raburn received the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Piper General Aviation Award for 2004. The award is presented “for outstanding contributions leading to the advancement of general aviation.” Raburn was recognized for development of the Eclipse 500 light jet.
Piero Ferrari, president of Piaggio Aero and v-p of Ferrari, was awarded an honorary degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Naples, Italy.
The Society of Experimental Test Pilots presented the Iven C. Kincheloe Award to SpaceShipOne pilots Mike Melvill, Brian Binnie and Peter Siebold of Scaled Composites for their successful missions into space. Burt Rutan, president and founder of Scaled Composites, was awarded the James H. Doolittle award for excellence in the technical management of aerospace technology.
Robert Crandall, former American Airlines executive, received the Wright Brothers Memorial Trophy from the National Aeronautic Association. Crandall, who aligned with People Express founder Donald Burr to launch air-taxi company Pogo, was honored for heading American Airlines after airline deregulation legislation was passed in 1978.
Dr. Sam Williams, founder of Williams International, received the Museum of Flight’s Pathfinder Award and was inducted into the museum’s hall of fame. The Pathfinder award recognizes individuals with ties to the Pacific Northwest who made single contributions to the development of aviation or aerospace. Williams was honored in the manufacturing category for pioneering small, efficient gas turbine engines. 

<h2>Final Flights</h2>
Fred McIntosh, who served as NBAA’s director of operations from 1964 to 1983, died last month from heart failure. He was 87. McIntosh, instrumental in procuring the small aircraft exemption allowing NBAA members to operate aircraft weighing less than 12,500 pounds under FAR Part 91 Subpart F, received NBAA’s Staff Lifetime Achievement Award last year. A pioneer of noise abatement for the business aviation community, “he spent most of his NBAA career doggedly representing member concerns during years of gentle negotiations with regulators at FAA headquarters,” according to the association. McIntosh, a fighter pilot in World War II, was also the first recipient of the Flight Safety Foundation’s Business Aviation Meritorious Award in 1975.
Dennis Day, chief pilot for Atlanta-based Kellet Investment and O’Gara Aviation, died September 10 flying his Christen Eagle. He is survived by his companion, Ann Weiss; a son; a daughter; his mother; and three brothers.
Leroy “Gordo” Cooper, one of the original seven Mercury astronauts, died at his California home on October 4. He was 77. Cooper piloted the sixth and last flight of the Mercury program and later commanded Gemini V. Cooper’s flight in the Mercury Faith 7 mission in May 1963 lasted 34 hours and performed 22 orbits. Cooper served as backup commander for Gemini 12 and Apollo 10. After retiring from NASA and the U.S. Air Force as a colonel in 1970, Cooper was a technical consultant to aerospace, electronics and energy firms and served as v-p for research and development for Walt Disney Enterprises, the research and development unit of Walt Disney Productions.

People in Aviation: November 2004

Ralph Vasami is the new president of Universal Weather & Aviation.

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