Vet Pilot Heads Av Weather Center

NOAA has named Robert Maxson director of the Aviation Weather Center in Kansas City, the nation's primary source of weather information for domestic and international flights. Maxson will leave his post as a research pilot with the National Science Foundation in Boulder, Colo. and begin his new duties at NOAA on Feb. 4. "I've been actively involved in the study of weather and its effect on the performance and operational safety of aircraft," Maxson said. "I plan to use my experience to keep NOAA among the leaders in research and operational forecasting. I look forward to working with the professionals in Kansas City who are constantly looking for better ways to provide critical weather information to the aviation industry." Maxson has thirty years of experience in aviation weather at NOAA, retiring in 2005 as director of the NOAA Aircraft Operations Center, located at MacDill AFB in Florida. The Aviation Weather Center enhances aviation safety by issuing accurate warnings, forecasts, and advisories of hazardous weather for aircraft in flight and the commercial and private aviation communities.