James Blackstone Taylor

James Blackstone Taylor III (December 14, 1921; died January 17, 2003), also known as Jim Taylor, was an American aviation executive known for his work in corporate jet marketing, specifically the Pan Am Falcon, the Cessna Citation, the Canadair Challenger, and the Gates Learjet. Taylor served as president at Canadair from 1976 to 1985 and president and chief executive officer at Gates Learjet Corporation from 1985 to 1988.

Early life and education Taylor was born on December 14, 1921, in New York City, the third of six children to James Blackstone Taylor Jr, and Aileen (Sedgwick) Taylor Lippincott. He took his name and passion for airplanes from his father, James Blackstone Taylor Jr., also an aviation enthusiast. He graduated from the Taft School in Watertown, Connecticut in 1940 and in 1942 became the first high school graduate to be accepted by the US Navy for naval cadet flight training in World War II.

In 1948, Taylor joined Upressit Metal Cap Corporation as a sales manager, flying the company's Beechcraft Bonanza to make sales calls. His direct marketing resulted in the tripling of sales, and he was appointed president after two years.

Cessna Citation

Following his success at Pan Am, Taylor was appointed VP and general manager at Cessna by President Dwayne Wallace. The Canadian Government, who owned Canadair, tasked Taylor with selling at least 50 of the Challengers within six months or the program would cease. After several trips to Congress and the Pentagon, Taylor successfully converted the U.S. Air Force's lease of 80 Lear 35s, a $2 million per month drain on the firm, into a sale.

Innovation Taylor initiated factory-direct selling of corporate jets and gave them names instead of numbers. The airline decided to offer the French-built Dassault Mystere 20 in the western hemisphere after carefully comparing it to the North American Sabreliner, the Lockheed JetStar, and the DeHavilland 125, another aviation first. now housed at the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC. the National Aeronautic Association’s Elder Statesman of Aviation Award,

In the 1991 National Business Aircraft Association convention in Houston, a special reception was held for Taylor, where one of his associates, Pete Ginocchio said, "Jim Taylor made a huge contribution to our industry and our personal lives…on top of that, he is a class act."