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.
Executive Director, National Aviation Hall of Fame, Dayton, Ohio The son of a B-25 pilot, Kaplan was fascinated by flight since childhood - he read an autographed copy of Eddie Rickenbacker's autobiography so many times, his father replaced it with another signed copy. He became an aviation artist, specializing in World War II nose art, which he applied to jackets, aircraft and other media. He joined the staff of the privately funded non-profit Hall of Fame in 1998 and was promoted to his current position seven years later.
ONE SPRING DAY I was out front trimming unruly hedges when a neighbor came by. My clippers chomping away, he cautioned, "Careful of that poison ivy." I pulled back, surprised. "Poison ivy? Where?" He looked at me in an odd way and after a moment responded, "Where? Everywhere! The whole hedge is full of poison ivy! You didn't know?" Another Duh! moment for failing to recognize what was right before my eyes. Such experiences continue to accumulate.
EVERY YEAR IT PLAYS out the exact same way. The unflagging optimist, I plan a reasonable mid-morning getaway for the Christmas reunion, but my ETA is viewed as a quaint suggestion at best and is mostly ignored as searches are conducted for lost things; fraternal disputes erupt loudly, subside and then flare nosily again; packages get wrapped and ribboned; bags get stuffed; and the dog is shuffled off to the pet motel. And finally, finally, we leave.
