New president at state's oldest firm clears flight plan.

GROWING up on military bases gave David Dittemore a love of airplanes he has continued to nourish in his professional life.

"As a kid, I always looked up to the sky at helicopters and airplanes, so I was born into it," Dittemore said. "All through high school and college, my goal was to be an aerospace engineer--not a pilot. I was never too good on merry-go-rounds."

Dittemore takes on another sort of merry-go-round as the new president and chief operating officer of Ducommun Inc., an aerospace components manufacturer and the oldest continually operating company in California, founded in 1849.

One of his primary tasks will be integrating the firm's newly acquired companies into its two business units, Ducommun Technologies and Ducommun Aerostructures. Aerostructores, which Dittemore said accounts for about two thirds of the company's revenues, manufactures commercial aircraft wing components. The technologies unit makes small motors and lights for military aircraft.

"Ducommun acquired four or five businesses in the last five years," he said. "Nobody's growing organically in aerospace anymore"

Before taking the new post, he was on the other side of the supply chain us executive vice president and chief operating officer at Cytec Fiberite Inc. in Arizona, a manufacturer of some of the fabrics used in the composite aerospace parts made by Ducommun.

The 50-year-old Denver native received a bachelor's of science degree in aeronautical and astronautical engineering from the University of Washington in Seattle in 1975.

His new position will give him plenty of opportunity to fly--as a passenger. He is commuting between his Phoenix home and Los Angeles until his wife and two teenage children can move to California.