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.

FMI: www.raytheon.com