Bob with Chuck Yeager
Bob's "Baby" - - the Boeing 737 Prototype - NASA 515
Bob with Chuck Yeager |
Bob's "Baby" - - the 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, then President of Boeing's Commercial Airplane
Group (subsequently famous as CEO of Ford Motor Co.). 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 has been Chairman and Member 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 Lockheed F-104, a USAF Boeing B-52
bomber, and a US Navy Douglas A-4 Skyhawk flown by the Blue
Angels. Bob is extremely 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. [ 4-part video series here.]
In February 2004, Bob (very reluctantly) 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.
From 2005 to 2010, Bob guided the acquisition of a
Lockheed Super G Constellation, first in Toronto, later in restoration
at Rome, New York, and currently on display at the Museum. Details here.
Beginning in 2006, Bob started hunting for a Lockheed Model 10 Electra, from 1934 - Kelly Johnson's first airplane design, to bookend with his last - the SR-21 Blackbird. The airplane he found was a Model 10E identical to the airplane in which Amelia Earhart disappeared in 1937 - right down to having flown around the world replicating her famous flight. This airplane arrived at the Museum in September 2013. The complete story of its acquisition and move to the Museum can be found here.
He's also on the hunt for a Douglas DC-4, and, most ambitious of all, a Boeing Model 314 Clipper - see here.
On Bob's front burner for the past 3 years has been building, certifying, and then flying his own airplane - a Vans Model RV-12. The building was one of his greatest challenges, and the First Flight, on 3 April 2013, one of the most exciting days of his life. All of the details of the build, test, and subsequent flying adventures can be found 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
29 Oct 2010
15 Jun 2014
