may2022 - 24

Cover Story
" Before G-12, AGE-2 was all we had for GSE, " Yates says.
" The AGE-2 group realized the necessity for an additional
group and we worked closely with SAE to form the G-12
group. Today G-12 has itself grown into a huge organization.
" Also during the late '80s, I had the opportunity to be the
chairman of the ISO committee with regards to aircraft deicing, "
Yates adds.
He credits his counterparts in the industry for helping him
improve and develop his engineering and manufacturing
skills, noting he acquired a wealth of information from other
members of SAE, IAEMA and the ground support industry.
Being willing to learn has been crucial to Yates' success,
as he points to significant evolutions like advancements in
deicing fluids.
While with FedEx, Yates and his engineering group worked
with Dr. Renee Salvador to bring Type II deicing fluid -
which has since been superseded by Type IV fluids - to the
United States.
" We were the very first airline to bring it in, " Yates
recalls. " My vice president came to me and said, 'We will
spray Type II fluid this winter.' We will? He said, 'Yes, we
will.' So, we did.
" When we introduced that back in the '80s, we were trying
to figure out what pumps to use and how to do it. You had to
use positive displacement pumps, and you couldn't sheer it
and you couldn't use a pump that you use for Type I fluid - a
centrifugal pump - because it would tear it up, " Yates continues.
" It was quite a challenge. "
" When we got to talking to Rudy, he brought a lot of years
of experience of the special equipment that's needed on
the GSE side, " says Mark Kreutzfeldt, who along with Paul
Treuthardt purchased GSS from Yates in 2021.
Kreutzfeldt describes Yates as the " grand poo-bah of GSE. "
" If you go to a meeting or convention, everybody knows
him, " Kreutzfeldt says. " Everybody's worked with him or collaborated
with him.
" In the airport industry, both the airfield side and GSE
side, there's a group of guys that constantly want to get
better and that's just a fun place to work when your customers,
your end users, the vendors are all working together and
trying come up with better solutions, " he continues. " And
that's what Rudy has been part of for years, as the SAE Group
and those guys have worked together to come out with better
solutions over the years. "
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may2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of may2022