Luscombe Aircraft - Quartz Mountain Aerospace

Hi Just Curious, Yeah, Mark wowed the board of directors with all his "experience" with black belts, green belts, and whathaveyou.(We have been investigating whether he was ever in Japan to study as claimed) You have no idea how much money Mark spent on useless, unnecessary work, how many excess out-of-state employees he hired that did nothing but stand around watching the locals work. As to your earlier question, I think that the answer is that Mark is inept rather than malicious. He read a book and picked up some jargon, which he does not understand, and is able to make people ignorant of the aircraft industry think he knows what he is talking about. People who do know about the industry figure out early on that he doesn't know what he doesn't know.
The BOD should have had a forensic accountant come in and audit the books to see where all that money went. I know that the Mark & Max duo enticed a bunch of hourly employees from Cessna to come down and take supervisory positions for which they were not qualifed. They put these people up at the Quartz Mountain Lodge (not cheap), presented them with gift baskets, gave them sign on bonuses, and higher wages than the local people in same positions were getting. I believe they paid for apartments for some of them. And these were not "key" Cessna people as Mark kept saying, these were not people who had ever been in management positons. Mark got rid of lots and lots of money in questionable ways. I suspect if Paul and Don had actually been able to come up with the "up to 120 million" for QMA Mark would have managed to go through it in record time.
Did a headhunter firm recommend Mark to your company? I hold Heidrick & Stuggles at fault for recommending someone with such a poor background. Also the Board of Directors for not doing any due diligence at all. What a bloody, unnessary mess. Altus really needed a company with good paying jobs for the local people.

was Jean Ann Reed one of those out of state consultants? that was the lean manufacturing "expert" that worked very closely with. I am just curious if she was involved with him at QMA. might be more to the picture....

as for going to Japan to study this stuff??? Not as I know. at least not for the several years that he was down in AR. But I wouldnt put it past him to bolster his resume with wild outlandish claims. i know they let him go at the AR company.

I know i thought he was inept. After being told that lean manufacturing stuff wouldnt work, he plowed on full bore with it and spents 100's of thousands of dollars on it (the rumor is that it was more than than- maybe a mil- but who knows). And as i said, i believe thats why he was let go. the rumor is that he spent the money without BOD authorization or reporting and it caught up to him when the predicted profits didnt come in and they said bye bye to him

as for the headhunter, i dont know. but i'll find

btw, I dont know of any actual facts about how much he spent or why he was let go. But the rumors are that it was a lot and he was let go. perhaps if your people are looking into this matter for a possible law suit to recover money's lost, they may want to investigate his past jobs and get actual facts to see if there is a pattern of behaviour. I am not in a position to provide facts. I only heard the rumors floating around and these posts constitute my opinion.

Hi again Just Curious, Mark did hire Jean Ann as Vice President of something or other, at a very large salary. Mark, of course, was hired in at an obscene amount for a small company CEO. The board thought he was going to bring millions of dollars into the company with him (so far as I know, Mark did not bring one red cent into the company). The man Mark hired as his VP of Operations was completely unqualified for the job. He had been a Manufacturing Engineer at Cessna for several years, in one low level job (I know a lot of people who started out as Manufacturing Engineers early in their careers, but they didn't stay ME forever.) Max never moved up (he was apparently not qualified to move up at Cessna), never had more than a couple of people reporting to him at Cessna, and never had any production experience. Then Mark turned the entire production process over to him. No wonder the company floundered. They were both in way over their heads.

"Ticked"

I will make this short. I tried to end our last conversation on a kind note, check the record. Spew all you want about Mark et al. However, you (and I know exactly who/where you are) have recently perpetuated false accusations that will not be tolerated. You also incorrectly stated that you do not lie. Slander is, in fact, lying, it is not a mistake...you will want to ensure that you immediately cease and desist. Please, stick to facts and truth, it will serve you well. Have a nice evening.

No, I was not.

okiedater wrote:

Hey Former...were you there when Orange painted crosses over all of the office doors in holy water...to save the heathens?

My dear Agent Orange, Tsk, tsk. Have I used your name? True, other people know who you are because you are a little bizarre and easy to recognize. I'm not after you. I really have no interest in you at all as long as you take your vitroil elsewhere. You have not been involved in QMA for a number of years, have no knowledge or experience of the company after it went downhill. Your only interest seems to be a grudge against Mr. Daniel, who wasn't even at QMA when it hit the toilet, and carries no blame whatsoever for the bankruptcy.
I'm not afraid of you; however, I have told all my friends if I'm ever found murdered in my bed to sic the cops on you. The people who were at QMA when the insurance was cancelled, who didn't get paid for months, the fellow who was hauled off to jail for non support when his check stubs showed the support had been withheld... Those people all have legitimate beefs against QMA. You do not. Go away and threaten someone else.

Your so true, we all thought we were paying for our insurance, child support even taxes. I think anyone who would have any beef with QMA at this point are investors, suppliers and employees. We never deserved to be left in the dark, had someone just been honest with us I'm sure some of us would understand but then again there were many that did not like Mark or Max from day one. They were supper nice at first, I remember my first meeting with Mark, he did make it sound like we were going to be around for a while and he was going to help in get many things done that had not yet been done. Sure we got our PC, but a PC is no good when your bankrupt. JAR, came from a big company wanted to change evryones ways but yet some of us were just too damn stubborn to follow her, then some were right behind her. When Mark started demoting managers, we should have all left. This was not only humiliating for them it was just wrong. I'm not sure how Mark can show his face around Altus, Max still has land near Blair he left a long time agi doubt we'll ever see him. As for JAR, she's back where she needs to be, with her family. So, Agent, I don't know you but know who you are, your beef with QMA maybe from a long time ago there are more serious issues now, to me when you go messing with peoples insurance, which means they will not be able to get their medcines, chemo, etc your messing with their lives. SO, I think ticked off is right, I found this blog, it was interesting to hear all the stuff that is still being said even from former former former employees. We're not here to "sue" anyone nor are we here to piss anyone off, but you seem to be that way. Call a truce and let it be......

Tickedoffluscombeinvestor wrote:

My dear Agent Orange, Tsk, tsk. Have I used your name? True, other people know who you are because you are a little bizarre and easy to recognize. I'm not after you. I really have no interest in you at all as long as you take your vitroil elsewhere. You have not been involved in QMA for a number of years, have no knowledge or experience of the company after it went downhill. Your only interest seems to be a grudge against Mr. Daniel, who wasn't even at QMA when it hit the toilet, and carries no blame whatsoever for the bankruptcy.
I'm not afraid of you; however, I have told all my friends if I'm ever found murdered in my bed to sic the cops on you. The people who were at QMA when the insurance was cancelled, who didn't get paid for months, the fellow who was hauled off to jail for non support when his check stubs showed the support had been withheld... Those people all have legitimate beefs against QMA. You do not. Go away and threaten someone else.

TICK - not a mistake, its a blood sucking parasite.

See you are still spineless and scared of your own shadow. Boo!:o

Please feel free to utilize a legal dictionary to gain comprehension of the terms "slander" and "cease and desist".

AO left this alone quite some time ago, but you continued to spew about him. Drop it and so will he, continue and AO might just cast some evil spirits down to paint pentagrams on your place with unholy water. Buhahahaha...

Definition of slander: "the utterance in the presence of another person of a false statement or statements, damaging to a third person's character or reputation: usually distinguished from libel, which is written."

So when you wrote falsehoods about Mr. Daniel, calling him a "crook" that was libel. Mr. Daniel consulted many lawyers before signing the line to accept the tax credit money for QMA, and all the lawyers said it was legal. Nonetheless, I know he was not happy about the way Paul and Don were raising the money to get Luscombe into production. But he was never a crook, and I've not purposely told any lies about you AO.

Is it true that Mark was seen in Lawton with several different women? None of them were his wife.

Who did the most damage to QMA? John allowed his water head son to almost bankrupt the company because of his incompetence. It took several investors asking questions about Jr's background before he was finally fired. Mark on the other hand had his boyfriend Maxi Pad Trimmell play hatchet man and the blade was never aimed toward the Kansas Hotos even though it was quickly realized not a one of them was worth their weight except for maybe Bud's (uhhhhh) wife. But both guys showed a total lack of intelligence by not buying the equipment to build parts in house and continuing to buy overpriced parts from other manufacturers. But then again Mark did hire about 50 too many over payed, under qualified people with titles that would have even made a water head like J.D. Daniel laugh.

Boy, I don't know where you're coming from on that Skidmark. JD Daniel left the company (he was NOT fired) in June or so of 2006 or maybe 2007. The company was still in very good shape then. He was absolutely not in any position to affect the finances of the company in any way, too low on the totem pole for that, so I don't see how you could say he almost bankrupted the company. Not true in any way. I happen to know that young man has done very well, going on to a much better job with a large company, with more responsibility and more people reporting to him. He was fully qualified for the job he had at QMA, with an MBA and a number of years experience in purchasing in the aircraft industry. In fact, he was more qualified to be the CEO than Mark Arcierio was. From what I understand, Mark does not have a masters in business or anything else. And the experience he claims in the aircraft industry was as product support for an engine company.
Max, was not qualified to be the VP of Operations, having had little to no experience in production. A degree in civil engineering does not a production guy make. Several of us checked him out just to see what his background was, in fact.
Now, I have never been employed by QMA, but I am close to a number of the people who worked there, and I have always been avidly interested in the people and the goings on there. After all, I am an investor, and my dear friends have been nearly ruined by their assiociation with that company.

I don't know or care about Mark's life away from QMA, that is his private business. It would have made me so happy if he had lived up to his own opinion of himself. I would love for my stock to be worth something. I liked Joan the few times I met her, I hope what you imply about Mark is not true.

I was a supplier for Luscombe/QMA for several years. At last count the money owed to our company exceeds $100,000.00 plus another $150,000.00 in inventory. I also have stocks which account for several thousand more. I took a double hit with the economic downturn and QMAS's non-payment which has me now doubting whether we will survive. I had to layoff all my employees and have been a one man operation now for 7 months.
My conclusion is that if John Daniel had been left to run the company we would still be doing business. Mr Arciero began his tenior by requiring accounting to delay payments to the suppliers from 30 days to 60 plus. It wasn't that they didn't have the money it was just his way of doing business.That should have been the red flag that signaled the beginning of the end. Had I gone with my instincts it could have saved me alot of money.
His next big boondoggle (at least from my point of view)was when he opened the division in Coffeeville. BIG MISTAKE. The people of Altus were great to support the company but this was an insult to them as he was moving the jobs meant for Altus to Coffeeville. From what I understand no one was aware of the decision until it had already been negotiated and agreed to.
I don't fully understand all that took place but it smacks of Bernie Madoff, Enron and others to a lesser degree. The results are the same, just not as many people destroyed. If I survive this it will only be by the grace of God but then we are told in Psalms 127:7 "Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it." I'm just passing through this place anyhow. It makes for a tough time right now but I'm still eating and I still have a place to sleep. It even has a roof. I'm still thankfull for that.

Dear Toughtimes,

Things started going way downhill the day Mark Arcierio took over and started asigning busy work to people. He did not understand the importance of obtaining the Production Certificate and so delayed it for months. He almost immediately quit paying vendors in a timely manner. People who worked for QMA were dismayed at the changes. I hope they will be willing to talk about their experiences now that there is no hope of QMA ever coming back. I have heard stories about things Mark did that the board should hear about. Knowing the board, tho', they'll probably give Mark a glowing recommendation for his next job ruining the next small company Heidrick & Struggles places him with.
But the board of directors is at fault for everything that happned. They did not check out Mark's resume to deterimine if it was accurate. They did not give him any direction, or reprimand him when he broke company policy time after time after time. There were many things he did for which they should have fired him, and easily could have "for cause", but they ignored all the problems. Mark was being paid an obscene amount of money, and I belive they even gave him some kind of bonus (for what? Ruining a company in record time?). He and Max cooked up that Coffeyville fiasco without the board's knowledge or approval. I could not believe they just let him get away with it. Obviously Mark did not know or care anything about the history of the company with Altus. And moving work to Coffeyville was stupid anyway. They could have easily built as many planes as they could sell right there in Altus (that is if either Mark or Max had known how to build airplanes).
You are right, that if they had just left John Daniel alone and in place, the company would still be alive, and people would still have good jobs in Altus. It has made me sick to watch all the people I know and care about who worked for QMA to have their lives so damaged by an arrogant bunch of guys (the BOD) who know nothing about the aircraft industry and don't care to learn anything about it. After all, they still have their livelihoods, they were only on the board because of the power it gave them over people's lives and the prestige they received for being on a board of directors. Not one of them ever did their homework to try to learn what it takes to get an aircraft company off the ground.
The whole thing is such a rotten shame. They could have had a nice small aircraft company that paid its bills, employed local people at good wages, and was an asset to the community. All they had to do was leave John Daniel alone to do his job. Instead they brought an unknown with no aircraft experience in over his head at almost twice his salary. Not only that, but if any of you know Mark, you know about the arrogance and ego. John Daniel knows the aircraft industry inside and out, has 30 years experience in all phases of the aircraft industry. But because the board doesn't know anything about the industry, or the problems involved, they decided things were moving too slow and John needed "help". Hope they are happy with what they wrought. I don't know anybody else who is.
Toughtimes, keep your chin up. Things will get better, Cessna and Hawker are still selling planes, and it's gonna pick up.

Dear Tough....You were QMA's best and most loyal supplier, and a true gentleman. No one else is even close, with the history of performance you had there. There are hundreds of stories by now of good people who have been ruined. It is an absolute travesty. The astounding thing to me is how superficially the top decision makers have approached the management of the business, from 1992 to the present day. The day John Daniel entered the picture, the prospects of success increased 10-fold. More. He began the process to bring professionals into the business. With those 3 or 4 strong aircraft manufacturing specialists, and the existing crew of well-meaning, willing, but manufacturing-challenged staff, John was able to win the Type Certificate in less than two years. He did this with limited funds. Unfortunately, we had not seen the worst of funds shortages. Over the next several years John held the crew together and worked his ample butt off trying to bring in the funding. Ultimately, John was criticized by the board for lack of progress toward production. One director even lost his templer, saying lack of money should not keep the company from production. I was personally very disgusted with that director, whom I considered a personal friend. At that time QMA had about 25 employees. Sorry to say, the board did not have a clue (about building airplanes for profit). So, Mr. Arciero was brought in. You can't blame him for wanting the job....what a sweet deal? However, the difference between John Daniel and Mark Arciero became apparent immediately. Where John was careful and conservative in the face of short working capital, Mark didn't give a hoot about funding shortages. It was full speed ahead, putting inexperienced, untested managers in charge...and it was balls to the wall from that point forward. Mark, a Wall Street level investment banker, believed the QMA investment banking team when they told him the big (funding) ship was going to dock any day. Mark never blinked as he continued to hire people and spend money in staggering sums. He must be a great Texas Holdem player. So, Tough, it is tough times for all of us who were believers in the airplane and the potential for the company. We can't change it now, if we ever could. Stay warm and dry this Winter and Spring will bring better days.

"Mark, a Wall Street level investment banker"? I hope that was tongue in cheek. I know Mark believes his own hype, but I didn't think anyone else did. Of course, we've seen what the real Wall Street level bankers have done to our country...

Paul and Don thought they were Wall Street level bankers, too. And we watched Paul's bank go down the toilet.

Give me a good, honest, conservative pay-it-off as we go kind of manager any time over the "Wall Street level" types.

Dear Tick
Sarcasm is hard to deliver in a post.
Let's pretend you could, figuratively, take the shortest route from Main Street to Wall Street. This route is always crowded with wannabe financiers. Mr. A would not be qualified, nor invited to join the queue. In all the years of its existence, LAC/QMA entertained every kind of shyster financier. Problem is...all of that accumulated tribal knowledge was wasted on a majority of board members. One director did throw up a red flag or two. Unfortunately, it was too late. The others were already dazzled by the fancy footwork of this last Wall Street shyster. Thus, one final, fatal mistake quickly wrote the ending to QMA's seventeen years of hopeful existence.

Right on!

In looking over this document listing the QMA assets I notice that over $550,000 worth of stuff that they moved to or bought in Coffeyville is blacked out. Does that mean that all those tools and equipment are being held for ransom by the city of Coffeyville? I've been told by people who know that a good part of those tools and pieces of equipment would be necessary to anyone wanting to restart the QMA 11E line. So if someone were to come to the bankruptcy auction and purchase what they thought was the whole shebang, would they then learn that they'd have to go ransom the rest of the equipment in Coffeyville? And what is up with the QMA 11E TC? Will that go at auction? I know a fellow who thought he was buying the TC of another aircraft at auction along with all the parts, tools, equipment, etc. Turns out the TC to that aircraft is still tied up in bankruptcy court and so far at least, he's got nothing, because the FAA won't let him proceed with his plans until the ownership of the TC is decided. I would not want that to happen to someone who comes to the QMA bankruptcy auction.
I've never understood why Mark and Max moved all that stuff to Coffeyville (unless it was for personal gain) in the first place. They negotiated with the city of Coffeyville without the board of directors' approval or knowledge, and certainly without the approval of the city of Altus, to whom QMA owed so much for so long. It was a slap in the face to the people of Altus. And so unecessary. The board should have fired Mark for that right then, and prevented all those assets from leaving the state of Oklahoma.
Well, the bankruptcy hearing is going to be on 21 Dec in Lawton. I'd suggest that anyone who ever had anything to do with QMA attend and ask lots of questions.
I suspect the FBI, among others, will be there.