Oshkosh’s Morton, DayJet’s Iacobucci Die

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Roscoe Morton, “The Voice” of EAA fly-ins for 50 years, died June 15 in Frostproof, Fla., at the age of 81. EAA reported that Morton started calling the airshow portion of what became AirVenture when it was being held in Rockford, Ill. Over the years he took over as the announcers’ manager and retired in that position after AirVenture 2011. He was also the announcers’ chairman for Sun ‘n Fun and sat on the board. Morton was a lifelong career pilot whose experience in a wide variety of aircraft and jobs gave him insight to the aircraft he was calling. He retired as a Delta 747 captain.

Meanwhile the founder of DayJet, Ed Iaccobucci, also died last week. Iaccobucci was convinced that per-seat air taxis in small efficient business jets was the future of air travel. He ordered 1,400 Eclipse 500 very light jets and operated for more than a year, mostly in Florida, with a fleet that reached a maximum of 28 aircraft. The company folded in September of 2008. Despite losing $20 million of his own money, Iacobucci never regretted the venture. DayJet was “his favorite venture and high point of his career,” said spokeswoman Vicki Harris. “He absolutely loved being part of the aviation industry.”

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