Steve Hickok has been awarded a Vertical Flight Hall of Fame Award by the Living Legends of Aviation. Hickok serves as president of Hickok & Associates, which offers services for some of Hickok’s innovative products in GPS and instrument flight rules. The company initiated the first GPS approach approved by the FAA, among many other firsts.
Living Legends of Aviation also has recognized Elling Halvorson with a Vertical Flight Hall of Fame Award. He is a past recipient of the award and is the founder of Papillon Group, which touts itself as the longest-running family-owned and -operated helicopter tour company in the world. The company offers daily tours of the Grand Canyon and was involved in the 1963 construction of a water pipeline from the Canyon’s North Rim to the South Rim.
Groen Aeronautics Corp. named Paul Alar to its board of directors. Alar is a 30-year financial industry veteran and the principal of West Mountain, LLC. He manages West Mountain Partners, L.P. His funds from West Mountain will directly be invested in commercializing Groen’s gyroplane technology for the unmanned market.
GE Aviation’s Jean Lydon-Rodgers was named president and CEO of GE Aviation Services, and Tony Mathis was promoted to president and CEO of GE Aviation Military Systems. Lydon-Rodgers began at GE’s Manufacturing Management Program at the conglomerate’s aerospace business and moved to GE Aviation. Most recently, she served as president and CEO of GE Aviation Military Systems. She earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering and an MBA. Mathis joined GE in 1997 after serving in the U.S. Air Force, where he focused on flight test and propulsion project engineering. He recently served as the senior account executive for GE Aviation at Boeing Commercial Airplanes. He earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and an MBA.
Jonathan Jenkins has been appointed CEO of London’s Air Ambulance. He previously led successful programs at Social Investment Business and has served as a trustree in charities including Bright and Ethex. He had raised funds for London’s Air Ambulance by taking part in the 250-km Marathon Des Sables.
Alexander Mikheyev has been promoted to CEO of Rosoboronexport. He previously was head of Russian Helicopters. Mikheyev is tasked with developing the military-technical cooperation with Russian partners around the world, while increasing exports of Russian military products. Andrei Boginsky replaces Mikheyev as head of Russian Helicopters, tasked with strengthening the company in equipment sales markets and establishing new markets for helicopters and related services.
Former Sikorsky Corporate President Carey E. Bond has been appointed to CPI Aerostructures’ board of directors, which now consists of eight directors. Bond spent 10 years at Sikorsky until his retirement in 2015. He served most recently as president of the Commercial Systems & Services unit.
Consolidated Precision Corp. appointed Keith Dabbs as COO for North America and Roy Showman as CFO. Dabbs most recently served as COO for MB Aerospace, managing facilities in the U.S., England, Scotland and Poland. Showman spent 14 years at GE in various finance and operating roles, including at GE Aviation. He served as COO for GE Digital and CFO for GE Intelligent Platforms.
Airbus Helicopters commissioned Dallas artist David Gail Smith to create a painting capturing the spirit of the UH-72A Lakota and the heritage of the Native American tribe for which the helicopter is named in “The Spirit of the Lakota” painting. The artwork features an image of the Lakota warrior Eagle Elk and the Lakota helicopter in flight.
