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FEATURE
On the Shoulders of Giants
Building on the Beechcraft and Cessna legacies inspire Textron Aviation leader Ron Draper
by MeLinda Schnyder
Ron Draper became president and chief executive officer of Textron Aviation in October 2018 at the age of 50. He first started with Cessna Aircraft Com- pany in 1999 after his active service commitment with the U.S. Army. (Courtesy Textron Aviation)
Five years ago, Ron Draper became president and chief executive officer of Textron Aviation at the age of 50. Earlier this year, Draper talked to King Air magazine about what he calls his “not normal” career path from farmer to the C-suite, the importance of faith and family in his life and his enthusiastic return to flying, including getting in the left seat of a Beechcraft King Air 360.
When he stepped into the top role at the world’s largest manufac- turer (by units) of business jets and general aviation aircraft, including the Cessna and Beechcraft brands, Draper called company founders Walter Beech, Olive Ann Beech and Clyde Cessna his aviation heroes. Combined with the next genera- tions of company leaders, includ- ing Frank Hedrick at Beech and Dwane Wallace and Russ Meyer at Cessna, Draper says he is in awe of the “perseverance, humbleness and incredibly, awesome legend- ary leadership” they exhibited in
14 • KING AIR MAGAZINE
NOVEMBER 2023