Beechcraft President
Randy Groom will be flying in the second row of this year’s
Bonanzas to Oshkosh (B2OSH) formation flight.
Groom, an active pilot with more than 9,000 hours and who owns
and flies a 1984 Bonanza A36, will be flying in a factory-new
Bonanza A36. In the right seat will be Mike Elsenrath, senior demo
pilot for Bonanza/Baron, and who participated in last year’s
B2OSH.
“This is a great event to highlight the Beechcraft
Bonanza’s enduring appeal,” Groom said. “The
Bonanza has unbeatable flight characteristics, and a ruggedness
that translates into safety and security. And as the longest
continually produced aircraft in the world, it holds a special
place in aviation history.”
One hundred pilots are signed up for the formation flight from
Rockford Regional Airport in Illinois to Oshkosh. This is the 15th
annual B2OSH formation flight, and flightline observers at Oshkosh
should see Bonanzas arriving three abreast on both runways of 36/18
and the parallel taxiway beginning at about 3 p.m. on Sunday, July
25. Landing 100 aircraft takes only about 15 minutes.
Groom will follow Glenn “Bubba” Wimbish from
Burlington, N.C., who has made every B2OSH flight except the first
in 1989. Groom will be flying alongside an original 1947 Bonanza 35
flown by Gary Biba, of Austin, Texas.
Organizers of the event insist on complete safety.
At least 25 of the pilots are qualified by Formation Flight Inc.,
which is for non-warbird pilots who are able to fly in waived
airspace.
Groom became president
of Beechcraft in October 2003. He was formerly Senior Vice
President at Piedmont Aviation in Winston-Salem, N.C., a Beechcraft
Authorized Service Center and dealer. There he was responsible for
the company’s renewal of its Maintenance, Repair, and
Overhaul Division, and heading up the Aircraft Sales and
Charter/Management divisions. Under Groom’s direction the
Aircraft Sales Division has the noteworthy distinction of being the
top-performing domestic dealer for Beechcraft for the last eight
years.
Groom was also instrumental in the management-led purchase of
Piedmont Aviation from the USAir Group in 1992 and became an
investor in that transaction as well as a co-investor along with
the Carlyle Group in 1998 in the merger with Hawthorne
Aviation.
Groom has more than 30 years of experience in the aviation
industry ranging from U.S. Air Force contract flight instructor to
charter pilot to marketing management positions at Cessna Aircraft
and Beech Aircraft Corporation in Wichita, Kan. He holds an MBA
from Oklahoma State University.