Avionics News July 2012 - 45

“I was young and impressionable when I went into the Air
Force, but if someone had told me at age 18 that I would have lived and worked in Hong Kong, London, and Paris, I wouldn’t have believed them, but it just worked out that way. I’ve always been open and receptive to new ideas, and I’ve always tried to not prejudge any situation.”
►Hal

Adams

sales manager, first at its headquarters in Minneapolis and later in Chicago as regional sales manager. Next, it was on to Lockheed Georgia in a business development role. “I was hired to do the business development on the commercial version of the Hercules,” he said. “Our market analysis was presented to the Lockheed board, which decided not to pursue it. I had the honor of working with Bob Fitzwilson, the ‘Father of the Commercial Herc,’ and Bryan Moss, on JetStar, who later went on to key leadership roles at Bombardier and Gulfstream. Both were inspiring business development influences on my career.” It was time for a new opportunity, and Adams joined Litton, based in Southern California, to handle the western half of the U.S., including Boeing, and the Far East. It was his first position directly involved with avionics. “When I went to Litton, that’s when I really saw what a fantastic industry this is,” he said. He was part of history with the Litton team, which made the first presentation to Boeing on the commercial use of GPS in 1986. “We had GPS installed in a Merlin IV corporate turboprop,” he said. “It seemed everyone at Boeing Engineering and Flight Tech Ops turned out. What’s funny is that Boeing thought we were somehow cheating, as they couldn’t imagine anything being as accurate at GPS.” Soon, Adams was asked by Litton if he had any interest in living overseas. He said yes, and within six months, he was at his first international post in Hong Kong, where he established an office for Litton Aero Products. “I loved it,” Adams said. “I loved the work ethic, and I am still friends with the people I worked with at Cathay Pacific Airlines. It was a great eye-opening experience.”

He tried to learn Cantonese with not too much success, although Adams said he can speak a fair amount of Thai, which is a tonal language. “Usually just enough to get me in trouble,” he said. After some time, Litton wanted Adams to open a Litton office at Boeing in Seattle, but Adams was eyeing an opening that Rockwell Collins had in Hong Kong. However, when he interviewed for the Hong Kong job, the feeling was that it would be too confusing for clients to have him be with Litton one day and Collins the next. Instead, he was hired by Collins and sent to London as regional director of its air transport division. “I liked London very much, but Hong Kong is still my favorite,” he said. After five years, Adams was called to Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He didn’t like the winter weather, but “the people are great, warm and welcoming,” he said. When people ask how he liked working in Cedar Rapids, he forgets the weather issue and said, “That’s where I met my wonderful wife, Cathy.” She had lived in Iowa all her life, but within a week of marriage, they moved to Seattle, and then to Paris for Sextant Avionique, which later became Thales. “I worked for Thales for seven years, the first year in Seattle, then to Paris for three years on the new Airbus FMS program, and then back to Seattle for four years,” Adams said. There was one last stint working on an L-3 Communications and Thales joint venture, based on the former Honeywell TCAS/ Mode-S product line. Eventually, Adams decided he was tired of the corporate life and wanted to strike out on his own as a consultant. His consulting firm had Accord Software & Systems, Bangalore, India, as the foundation client. “They are a world-class global satellite navigation system and
Continued on following page
avionics news

•

july

2012

Avionics News July 2012

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Avionics News July 2012