Questions for David Horton

摘要

A native of Dimmitt, a Texas farm town between Lubbock and Amarillo, Horton gravitated to aviation early on since his father owned an aerial spraying operation there. He recalls the arrival of a Grumman AgCat, and was instantly captivated by the rugged, radial-powered biplane and equally rugged types who flew it. His career path clear, he earned an A&P on his 18th birthday and worked his way through Texas Tech as a ramp agent with Southwest Airlines. There followed a steady succession of aviation executive positions, primarily in the rotary-wing world first with Bell and Heli-Dyne and in 2008 installation by Sikorsky as president and general manager of Schweizer Aircraft in Elmira, New York. By then a private airplane pilot with a glider rating - he learned in a Schweizer 2-33 - when off duty he occasionally flew towplanes for the Harris Hill soaring club. Leaving Schweizer prior to its closure in 2010, he took the top executive slot at Uniflight and then a vice presidency at Safran Helicopter Engines until he began working on the Schweizer acquisition from Lockheed Martin in 2017. His private goal? Earning a rotary-wing rating.