Columbia Helicopters’ board of directors has elected Nancy Lematta as its next chairman. She replaces Wes Lematta, her husband and founder of the company, who passed away in December 2009. Nancy Lematta says that there will be no change in operations at Columbia, stressing that she “feels comfortable in knowing how he would have wanted his company managed in the future.”

Bloomfield, Conn.-based Kaman Corp’s Helicopters division has appointed general managers to newly created product groups. Tim Bates is the new GM of the blade and subcontract product group. Terry Fogarty will lead the unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) group, and Bob Manaskie will serve as GM of the helicopter aftermarket group. Kaman has also named John Shelanskas acting director of the operations support group. In another recent move, Kaman Corp. has created a new division within its Aerospace Group—Kaman Composites—appointing James Larwood as president. He was formerly president of the company’s Precision Products division.

Textron subsidiary Bell Helicopter has promoted Barry Kohler to president of its Canadian affiliate. Currently vice president of Bell’s Commercial Programs division, Kohler will replace Eric Cardinali as president of Bell Helicopter Textron Canada Ltd. Cardinali has taken a position as senior vice president of integrated supply chain for Cessna, also a Textron subsidiary.

Cobham has named John Devaney non-executive director and chairman designate. Under a succession plan, Devaney—currently executive chairman of National Express—will take over as Cobham chairman from David Turner in May 2010.

Canadian satcom provider SkyTrac Systems has appointed Malachi Nordine to head its systems integration team. The company says the team will assist operators with various software and hardware issues, including data collection, access and transfer.