Story ID: 003
People in Aviation: December 2020
By: Kerry Lynch
Caption: SmartSky Networks, VIH Aerospace, Iris Automation, APP Jet Center, Greenpoint Technologies, and Carver Aero all have new CEOs.
Word Count: 1650
SmartSky Networks brought David Helfgott on board as CEO succeeding Haynes Griffin, who will remain as executive chairman. Helfgott joins SmartSky after serving as president and CEO of phased-array antenna developer Phasor and previously served as president and CEO of Inmarsat Government, president of Tactical Wireless Communications for Cobham, president and CEO of Datapath, and president and CEO of SES Government.
VIH Aerospace appointed Jeff Norie president and CEO. Norie has held a number of positions within the VIH Aviation Group of companies, beginning as a shipper at VIH Helicopters and working his way up to positions as director of maintenance and v-p of maintenance services and leasing for VIH Aerospace. Arne Arneson remains general manager of the unit.
Iris Automation named Jon Damush CEO. Damush has more than 30 years of aviation technology experience, most recently leading new business ventures at Boeing NeXT and also serving as chief growth officer at Boeing’s Insitu subsidiary.
APP Properties, owner of APP Jet Center, promoted Daniel Harrow to CEO. He succeeds Thom Harrow, who has become executive chairman of the board of directors. Daniel Harrow joined APP Properties in 2016 as COO and, before that, was assistant general counsel for RCS Capital Corp.
Klaus Koester was named CEO of Greenpoint Technologies and the custom cabin division of Safran Passenger Solutions. He is succeeding Greenpoint CEO Scott Goodey, who retired after more than 30 years in the aviation industry including 20 with Greenpoint. Koester brings more than 25 years of aviation industry experience to his new role, including with Lufthansa Group, SGL Carbon SE, AIP Aerospace, and Safran.
Carver Aero named Guy Lieser CEO. A U.S. Air Force veteran who began his career fueling aircraft at a local airport as a teenager, Lieser has also held multiple air traffic control roles with the FAA and has served as an aviation consultant.
Skyservice Business Aviation named Benjamin Murray president and COO. Murray, who will transition to president and CEO in early 2021, previously has held leadership roles with NetJets Inc., including as president and CEO of its Executive Jet Management subsidiary, and also has served as president of aircraft management and charter for Landmark Aviation, as well as founded North Star Solutions.
Ray Benvenuti joined Spike Aerospace’s executive team. Benvenuti founded Concord Investment Partners, was president and CEO of Stellex Aerostructures, served as an operating partner to Greenbriar Equity Group, and managed portfolio companies, including Gulfstream Aerospace while with Forstmann Little.
Tad DeOrio has joined JetLease Capital as president. DeOrio brings extensive experience in insurance, accounting, and the finance sector to his new role, most recently as president of Avant Brokerage and, before that, CFO and president of TIMM Communications.
Airshare promoted Alex Franz to COO. Most recently v-p of flight operations, Franz joined Airshare in 2003 and has since held a number of positions, including first officer, captain, base manager, check airman, and chief pilot. Ben Petersen, meanwhile, was named Airshare’s new director of flight operations. Petersen, who joined Airshare in 2007, previously was chief pilot.
Nick Maynard has launched Leading Edge Aviation Marketing to provide a range of specialized, tailored marketing services for the aviation industry. Maynard, who has more than 25 years of experience, has provided marketing and communications services for a range of companies, including British Airways, Emirates, Gulf Air, Royal Jet, Honeywell Aerospace, ACC Columbia Jet, JetSupport, and ExecuJet MRO Services.
West Star appointed Luke Williams corporate controller. Williams brings 15 years of finance experience in the transportation industry to his new role.
The International Aircraft Dealers Association (IADA) board of directors selected Joe Carfagna of Leading-Edge Aviation Solutions as chairman, replacing outgoing chair Paul Kirby of QS Partners. Kirby becomes chairman emeritus of IADA. David Monacell of CFS Jets is taking the role of vice-chairman; Zipporah Marmor of ACASS, secretary; and Phil Winters of Western Aircraft, treasurer. 
The Air Charter Safety Foundation elected Jessica Naor to its board of governors. Naor has served with Middle River, Maryland-based GrandView Aviation for more than a decade, beginning as a charter sales representative and working her way up to COO.
Greg Hoggett has been named general manager of Bombardier’s Biggin Hill service center while Corey Trudgen moves over to support the Biggin Hill expansion and future expansion across the services network. Hoggett, who has more than 30 years of aviation experience, was most recently group operations director for AJW Group and, before that, managing director and COO for TAG Aviation Europe/TAG Aviation UK.
AIN Publications has made two key promotions: Jerry Siebenmark was named senior editor and Martha Jercinovich production manager. Siebenmark joined the AIN editorial team in 2018 as associate editor, based in Wichita, Kansas, after a 20-year career in general business, commercial aviation, and general aviation reporting, including with the Wichita Eagle and the Wichita Business Journal. Jercinovich joined AIN in 2015 as production editor with more than 20 years of production experience with leading business and consumer publications, including as production manager at Vogue magazine.
Awards and Honors
NBAA honored nine individuals in the business aviation industry with its annual Dr. Tony Kern Professionalism in Aviation Award, in recognition of outstanding professionalism and leadership in support of aviation safety. The 2020 Kern Award winners are Erika Armstrong, Chris Bing, Sean Breen, Sheryl Clarke, Jeff Duncan, Terry Ickes, Mitch Launius, Brett Palmiero, and Nicholas Treglia.
The peer-nominated award recognizes individual pilots, maintenance technicians, flight attendants, dispatchers, and other aviation professionals who excel in leadership in the areas of professional ethics, vocational excellence, continuous improvement, professional engagement, professional image, and selflessness.
Final Flights
Randy Hudon, a long-time corporate pilot and former member of the NBAA board of directors, died on October 29 in Auburn, Alabama, after a six-year battle with cancer.
Hudon, who graduated from Auburn University in 1979 as a U.S. Air Force ROTC commissioned officer, subsequently spent 10 years in the USAF as a T-37 instructor pilot and WC-130 Hurricane Hunter pilot, according to the Auburn University Aviation Alumni Group. During that time, he also earned an MBA in aviation from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, NBAA added.
Following his service, Hudon joined BellSouth in 1989 as a pilot, serving as captain on several business aircraft. He became president of corporate aviation and travel service in 1998. He joined the NBAA board in 2004, and, as a certified aviation manager (CAM), served on NBAA’s CAM governing board.
Hudon also remained active in the Auburn University aviation program. The alumni group credited him with developing an outline for the future growth of the program that was adopted by the university administration.
Joe Ronald "Ron" Bower, who set two speed records circumnavigating the earth in helicopters, died on October 12. He was 78.
Born on Dec. 28, 1941, Bower had amassed more than 9,000 hours over his 55 years of flying and obtained nearly every aircraft rating, except for blimps and hot air balloons. He had served in multiple roles, including as a flight instructor, combat pilot, sales executive, and purchasing consultant, in addition to his east- and west-bound helicopter world records. Soloing in 1962, Bower’s flying and business expeditions led him to pilot aircraft in 37 countries and visit more than 50, according to a tribute site.
Bower originally gained experience in the U.S. Army flying Hiller observation helicopters on the demilitarized zone border with North Korea and then Hueys during the Vietnam War. After his service, he joined IBM in 1967 to sell computers but in 1982 jumped back into aviation when he joined a fellow IBM colleague to help launch an aircraft sales company. There, he built a team to support the sales business, as well as establish a database of Bell 206 records.
In 1994, he broke an around-the-world record set in 1982 by Ross Perot Jr. and Jay Coburn. Bower flew eastbound in the 206B3 Jet Ranger III, departing and ending at the Bell Helicopter Textron delivery center in Fort Worth, Texas. The trip began on June 28, 1994, and ended a month later on July 28, gaining recognitions for a world speed record, five specific city-to-city speed records, and as the first western helicopter to fly across Russia.
His westbound trip followed in 1996, beginning and ending in London in a Bell 430, setting a world speed record for a twin helicopter. That trip began Aug. 17, 1996, and ended less than three weeks later on September 3, averaging 10.2 hours a day, with the longest day reaching 17.5 hours. The total distance traversed was 20,508 nm and he logged a high of 2,263 nm in one day.
Joe Anckner, a long-time Gulfstream executive who helped design early models and led the company’s international sales expansion, died on October 18 in Savannah, Georgia. He was 88. Anckner spent 44 years with Gulfstream, selling more than 200 GII, GIII, GIV, and GV twinjets in more than 50 countries.
Born Jan. 30, 1932, and raised on Long Island, Anckner first joined Gulfstream predecessor company Grumman when he was 17. However, he left to serve in the U.S. Navy as a navigator for the first carrier aircraft purposefully built for anti-submarine warfare operations.
Following his service, Anckner returned to Grumman, where he worked on the Apollo Lunar Lander and was involved in early Gulfstream designs. He moved to Savannah in 1973, taking on responsibility for the OEM’s international growth. The only international salesman for Gulfstream at the time, he helped develop the Middle East market. He also led the annual NBAA Gulfstream golf tournament.
Anckner retired from Gulfstream in 1994 as senior v-p of international sales and marketing. A year later, however, he joined Harrod’s Aviation at Heathrow in London, helping to grow the FBO and opening locations in Luton and Stansted. In retirement, he continued to provide aircraft acquisition and sales for private customers.