Yesterday, Today and Looking Towards Tomorrow
Eugene Madara
Connecticut Air & Space Center, founded in 1998, is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation located in Stratford, Connecticut on a site which is truly unique in global aviation history. The location was Igor Sikorsky’s first factory in Connecticut. The first practical helicopter flight (piloted by Mr. Sikorsky himself) took place less than one hundred yards from our location. During World War II, on our site, the Chance Vought aircraft company designed and produced, among other aircraft including the first post-War jets, the Corsair fighter plane which played a major role in winning the War in the Pacific. The first practical aircraft turbine engine was perfected and produced in Connecticut Air & Space Center’s building.
Edward McGuinness
Connecticut Air &Space Center’s dedicated volunteer men and women, representing multiple generations, fulfill our Mission Statement; “Honor, Preserve and Educate” by honoring the State’s global aviation pioneers, preserving Connecticut’s aviation history through artifacts preservation and aircraft restoration, and educating especially current and future generations about Connecticut’s unique aviation history achievements through display of our collection and by community outreach sharing this historic heritage knowledge through presentations and traveling exhibits.
Today we have on display 3 jets, 8 helicopters (including the S-60 Flying Crane which was the first flying crane and Igor Sikorsky’s last personal design), an FG1-D Corsair (the official State of Connecticut Plane), the only full-size Gustave Whitehead No 21 Flyer Replica in the Western Hemisphere that has actually flown and many unique aviation science and industry artifacts often brought to us by family members wishing to share their family’s aviation history.
Looking Towards Tomorrow: In addition to our on-going Sniffens Lane operations, the Connecticut Air & Space Center has recently leased from the City of Bridgeport, the historic 1929 Curtiss Hangar and is in the process of raising tax-deductible donations (money, materials/equipment, expert construction services, etc.) to restore the building to its historic appearance. During its long history, the Curtiss Hangar hosted, among other historic aviation personages, Amelia Earhart, Charles Lindbergh, Howard Hughes and “Wrong Way” Corrigan, and was the Airport base for the Corsair testing and training flights during the War. This space will be the home of the Corsair as its centerpiece, surrounded by other historic aircraft, engines, artifacts and STEM education-focused displays.
Eugene E. Madara has specialized in finding innovative and cost-effective solutions to complex business problems utilizing corporate, commercial and international law since 1972. Formerly Senior Vice President, General Counsel, Secretary and Regional Counsel for North America for ABB Inc., Mr. Madara has dealt extensively in both commercial and governmental sectors throughout the United States, Europe, Latin America, Asia and the Middle East. Utilizing a background in the power, oil & gas, petrochemical, and automation industries, Mr. Madara served as chief counsel to the company in the structuring and negotiation of the first U.S. – Soviet joint venture company in the Soviet Union. He was also the principal architect of and served as Global Legal Counsel for ABB’s Frame Agreement Project, structuring and negotiating globally-applicable equipment, technology and services supply agreements with multinational customers.
Mr. Madara has written a number of non-lawyer training tools including “Basic Commercial Law – A Layman’s Guide to Contracts”, “Terms Toolbox”, “Project Risk & Structuring”, and “Multiple-Party Project Guidelines” emphasizing practical understanding and application of commercial transaction legal principles to shorten the interval between Request for Proposal and booking the order. He has also conducted extensive Sales & Marketing training (to audiences of 25-800) regarding taking products and technologies to market directly and through third parties such as Sales Representative/Distributor networks and licensing, as well as designing and implementing Business Ethics Compliance programs.
He has been a lecturer at Pace University Law School regarding international project risk structuring and financing, a guest speaker at the Practicing Law Institute, the American Corporate Counsel Association, the National Foreign Trade Council, and has testified before the United States Senate regarding international trade. Mr. Madara is also co-inventor of a U.S. Patent entitled “Process for Internet Ordering of Industrial Products.”
Mr. Madara obtained his Bachelor of Arts degree magna cum laude from St. Anselm College and his Juris Doctor degree with honors from The University of Connecticut School of Law and completed the Senior Leadership Development Program at the International Institute for Management Development, Lausanne.
Contact Information:
emadaralaw@yahoo.com
Tel: 203 268 2224
55 Laurel Drive
Easton, Connecticut 06612-1754
Edward McGuinness lives in Milford Ct and is married with 2 sons. Ed is currently employed as Sr. Engineering Manager, Engineering Support at the Hubbell World Headquarters in Shelton Connecticut. He obtained his Bachelor of Science Degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of New Haven, a Master of Science Degree in the Management of Technology from Fairfield University and has extensive training in Project Management. Currently, Mr. McGuinness is the Project Manager, Chief Mechanic and Project Engineer for the Igor Sikorsky Memorial Corsair Restoration Team, serves on the Connecticut Air & Space Center Board of Directors and as Treasurer. Ed’s drive to make the restoration project a great success is inspired by his Uncle Ed (USMC) who was lost in action in the Korean conflict and his Uncle Bill, who as his first job in the Marine Corp, worked on and maintained Corsairs.
Contact Information:
emcgns@optonline.net
Treasurer@ctairandspace.org
Tel: 203 314 2739
40 Snowapple Lane
Milford, Connecticut 06460
Connecticut Air & Space Center
201 Sniffens Lane
Stratford, CT 06615