Bob with Chuck Yeager
Bob's "Baby" - - Boeing 737 Prototype - NASA 515
Bob with Chuck Yeager | Bob's "Baby" - - Boeing 737 Prototype - NASA 515 |
Bob Bogash, retired after more than 30 years
with the Boeing Commercial Airplane Group, spent the last 9
years of his career as the Director of
Quality Assurance for the Materiel Division. In this
position, Bob was responsible for the on-time production and
quality of all the non-Boeing produced hardware and
software used on Boeing commercial jetliners. More
than 3000 outside suppliers in more than 20 countries
delivered more than one billion parts a year to Boeing
production lines. Bob organized this function from a
zero baseline, ultimately staffing more than 35 worldwide
offices with over 330 highly skilled professionals.
This business unit required management of an annual budget
of $44.5 million.
Bob developed an all new quality system (known as the
Advanced Quality System - AQS - or Boeing document D1-9000)
that resulted in reducing defective parts by more than 50%
over a four year period. This system was so
successful, it was adopted by more than 20,000 companies,
many not in the aerospace industry, and was taught in more
than 24 colleges and universities in four countries.
It ultimately became the quality standard for the aerospace
industry in the United States as AS9100. Recognized as
a quality expert, Bob has lectured widely on the subject of
quality. In his worldwide talks, he has addressed as
many as 6500 business and quality professionals in a single
session. He has been visiting lecturer at many
colleges and universities, including the University of
Washington, State University of New York, and the Sloan
School of Management at M.I.T.
Bob spent more than 13 years in Customer Support where he
held Field Service assignments in numerous locations
including New York, Montreal, Gander, Newfoundland,
Winston-Salem, North Carolina and Honolulu. Some of
his Boeing in-plant assignments have included 737 Factory
Liaison Engineering, Flight Test
Engineering, Engineering Configuration Manager
for the 757 airplane, Renton Division Special
Projects Manager, and Marketing Manager
for Used Airplane Sales. Bob took
three different new model Boeing jetliners on extensive
worldwide sales tours as the Tour Director. He played
a key role in gaining approval for two pilot
flight decks and the use of
twin-engine jetliners for extended operations (ETOPS.)
Immediately prior to his final assignment, he
was Director of Technical Quality
Assurance for all of Boeing Commercial Airplanes,
where he helped begin the transition of Boeing into a
continually improving Total Quality system.
Bob graduated from Rensselaer Polytechnic
Institute with a B.S.M.E., and is a licensed fixed wing
pilot and flight engineer. Long active in
the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Bob
was honored in September 1997 by being elected as an
Associate Fellow. He was nominated for this
recognition by Alan Mulally, President of Boeing Commercial
Airplane Group. He is also a Full Member of the
International Society of Air Safety Investigators.
His nominators for membership were Jerry Lederer, "Father of
Aviation Safety" and John Purvis, long-time chief of
Boeing's Air Safety Investigation. Bob has
participated actively in numerous aircraft accident
investigations. He continues his professional
activities consulting with numerous aerospace companies.
Bob was Chairman of the Aircraft Acquisition Subcommittee of
the Museum of Flight in Seattle. Important
aircraft Bob was able to obtain for the Museum include the
Number One 727 and 747 airplanes, a de Havilland Comet 4C, a
NASA F-104, a USAF Boeing B-52 bomber, and a US Navy Douglas
A-4 Skyhawk flown by the Blue Angels. Bob is most
proud of his acquisition, in November 2003, of the British
Airways Concorde G-BOAG, after a 19 year effort. Bob
has participated in the restoration of numerous historical
aircraft including the Museum's B-17, N17W, and the
Confederate Air Force's B-29
"Fi Fi".
Since retirement, Bob has become even more active in
restoration and maintenance of many of the Museum's
airplanes; is responsible for restoring the Number One 727
(currently in Everett, Washington) to flying condition; and
maintained the Number One 737 airplane in an airworthy
condition for 6 years at Moses Lake, Washington, until it
was successfully flown to the Seattle Boeing Field Museum
location on 21 Sept 2003. In February 2004, Bob
accepted the position of Airpark Manager (another volunteer
job!) responsible for the care and maintenance of the
Museum's collection of large transport airplanes, including
the first 737, first 747, an American Airlines 727-200, the
first jet Air Force One (a Boeing 707,) and the British
Airways Concorde. See
Volunteer Page for detailed airplane descriptions.
He is an active member of the Experimental Aircraft
Association and the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association.
On Bob's front burner for the past 3 years has been
acquisition of a Lockheed Super G Constellation, earlier in
Toronto, now in restoration at Rome, New York, for the
Museum. Details here. He's also
on the hunt for a Lockheed Model 10 Electra, a Douglas DC-4, and, most
ambitious of all, a Boeing Model 314 Clipper - see here.
After 28 years on a farm in Western
Washington, where he and his wife Dot raised
Suffolk sheep and Belgian draft horses for many years,
Bob and Dot have moved to their
waterfront house on Puget Sound which he continues to
remodel as a retirement home. He is a diligent genealogist
and an avid amateur radio operator. (
W7DDD )
Click here for a You-Tube TV show on Bob's Activities
Last revised
19 Apr 2006
29
Jul 2006
17 Dec 2007
15 Jul 2008
19 Apr 2010