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very helpful,” he said, “but in my opinion, that’s maybe 10 or 20% of thinking about getting ready for big jobs. The remaining 80 or 90% is the school of hard knocks, learning by doing. I’ve been very fortunate that the career path I had prepared me by stretching me, from being a farmer to going to West Point – which I think is the best leadership school in the nation – to leading soldiers in the Army and then having a new job every 24 months within Textron, some of them very difficult, some with challenges, through upcycles and downcycles in business and within different industries.
“Without that, I would not have been as ready to be in this role. It stretched my ability to handle stress, my ability to balance work and life and prioritize what’s important.”
It wasn’t until 2016 that he started to understand he was on the path to be president and CEO.
Returning to the left seat
Throughout his career, Draper said, he was unwilling to compromise on balancing his commitment to his faith and family with advancing his career. To make room for work assignments often with long hours and raising four sons with his wife, he gave up his two favorite
hobbies – golfing and flying – for nearly a dozen years.
Three sons are now in college and one is in high school, and he’s back to flying as a fixed-wing multi- engine commercial rated pilot – because he loves it and for the familiarity it gives him with customers, suppliers and working alongside the company’s customer service and engineering departments on product design and development.
“Getting inside the cockpit of one of our aircraft is always a privilege for me,” he said. “One highlight of this job has been reinvesting in my own pilot journey by starting with the iconic 172 and progressing through my Citation 525 type rating. Every aircraft has a unique place in our product line, but no other aircraft rivals the King Air in the turboprop market.
“I’ve had the pleasure of being a passenger on countless King Air flights, but I have been even luckier to have flown the King Air 360 myself. Talking about its power and agility does not compare to actually being in the cockpit and feeling its steady handling and dependable speed control. It’s straightforward to navigate through crowded airspace.”
Draper said he’s put an emphasis on learning to fly for other Textron Aviation executives, as well as employees
NOVEMBER 2023
KING AIR MAGAZINE • 17