GE was determined to leave the memory of the CJ805 program behind as we began the early stages of working on the CF6. In a move of dubious forethought, anyone who had anything to do with the CJ805 program was automatically excluded from working on the CF6 team even though they may have been the most qualified. As a result, when I looked at the impressive business plan that had been the basis of our economic decisions, I found something missing. The financial plan included nothing for product support, a disastrous oversight. After this near fiasco, we brought our experienced people into the CF6 program, regardless of their CJ805 connection.

One of the first additions was Dick Smith. Dick had been the product support manager for the CJ805 and, after that, for business-jet engines. He joined the team to set up a marketing organization. We wanted a systematic way to train our sales- people, to back them with financial analysis and sales engineering, to negotiate contracts and warranties, and to offer our customers sales financing. We had learned how to do these things on the CJ805 and the business jets. Now we needed to translate that to the CF6, find the right people for the jobs, and train them. We started with Cliff Whitbeck, Bob Boyne, and many others, including Harry Stonecipher.

Later, Walt VanDuyne joined the team. Walt had been the assistant director for sales and customer service for Wright Aeronautical. Wright had...