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.
Another debut at AirVenture, noteworthy more for name than design, was that of the EAA’s new president, Rod Hightower. A business executive from Creve Coeur, Mo., long-time EAA member and a director of the National Stearman Foundation, Hightower assumes his new role Sept. 7. That day will mark the first time the organization has been led by someone other than a Poberezny since its founding by Paul Poberezny in 1953. Tom Poberezny, the current chairman and president, succeeded his father in 1989.
General aviation is famous for second acts, and that legacy continues with the Kestrel. A pressurized, single-engine turboprop, the composite-construction aircraft was created in the U.K. by Farnborough Aircraft but then left in limbo awaiting further funding. Now, the design has been taken over by Kestrel Aircraft, a new entity headed by former Cirrus Design chief Alan Klapmeier, who hopes to win FAR/EASA Part 23 certification for the aircraft by 2013.
