A great read (written by our own Mark Jones Jr.) at the start of a new year…”we all get a chance to transform the ordinary into the extraordinary and to launch our ideas into the world.”

It is not circumstantial, and indeed entirely fitting, that I find myself writing another one of these for “Uncle Bill,” “Dr H,” William H. Heiser, after his passing on September 26, 2022…one year to the day when Jack Mattingly passed.  The two were great friends, the closest of friends, humanly and spiritually.  At the urging of Jack, who flew to Colorado Springs weeks before his own death to convince Bill to move to the Seattle area close to family, Bill moved into his new Seattle residence on the day of Jack’s passing. 

Colleague, mentor, role model, and friend to Practical Aero, and more importantly, countless others, Jack D. Mattingly passed away unexpectedly on Sunday, September 26, 2021. Jack LOVED teaching and interacting with students. He was a master at challenging them to not only think, but to think at a systems-level by applying foundational principles from a practical perspective—an approach that’s at the heart of PAI’s mission.