A lifelong aviation enthusiast who joined&nbsp;AIN&nbsp;in 2007, Curt came to&nbsp;the publication&nbsp;from the broadcast industry where he was a national science and technology television reporter and producer. He writes on the FBO field, aviation finance, and sustainable aviation and occasionally contributes to&nbsp;AIN&nbsp;sister publication&nbsp;Business Jet Traveler. Curt was a member of the AINtv reporting staff that won the 2008 Aerospace Journalist of the Year award for Best Airshow Daily. That same year, he was a finalist for another AJOYA award. He earned an AJOYA for Best Business Aviation Submission in 2018 and was a finalist in that category in 2021. He received the National Air Transportation Association’s&nbsp; Aviation Journalist Award in 2012 and won a Pegasus Sapphire Business Aviation Award for outstanding journalism in 2021.
Before joining AIN, Curt worked with&nbsp;Consumer Reports’ television division, CRTV, and for several local television news staffs. An honors graduate of the State University of New York at Stony Brook, he earned a master’s degree in broadcast journalism from Boston University in 1995. Curt lives in New York State with his wife and two young sons.

Business Aviation Services Editor

Curt Epstein

A year after training school Silver State Helicopters shut its doors and declared bankruptcy–leaving 2,400 students deep in debt with their professional pilot training incomplete–helicopter flight schools are facing the double burden of tight credit and suspicion by lenders about students’ ability to repay loans. The Silver State collapse saw student accounts emptied of tens of thousands of dollars apiece by the company’s management, and lawsuits are multiplying. Today the helicopter flight training market is hurting, and many say it’s not only the economy’s fault. “Student enrollment is down,” said John Stonecipher, president of Guidance Helicopters, a flight school in Prescott, Ariz. “We’ve got a waiting list of 25 students trying to find financial aid.” Many are turning to mom and dad for loans rather than banks. The silver lining to the Silver State mess, if there is one, is that other flight schools have been able to buy many of the failed firm’s 200 Robinson R22s and R44s at bargain prices.

News about simulators and training procedures, as well as workforce.

Silver State Mess Still Being Felt a Year Later

A year after training school Silver State Helicopters shut its doors and declared bankruptcy–leaving 2,400 students deep in debt with their professional pi

2024 Corporate Aviation Leadership Summit

Sheryl Barden

News and issues relating to business, corporate and private aviation, primarily regarding turbine-engine-powered airplanes and helicopters. Subjects include aircraft, engines, maintenance, operations, personnel, acquisitions, accidents, safety, security, and training.

Business aviation leaders must keep growing while developing others along the way

AINsight: The Blind Spot Called ‘Experience’

Kerry Lynch

FAA is furnishing $1,000 grants for pilot and maintenance workforce development

Aviation Workforce Grant Application Deadline Approaches

Charles Alcock

News and information on safety procedures and concerns.

News and issues relating to international air transport and cargo carriers, national airlines and regional airlines, including aircraft, engines, personnel, acquisitions, accidents, safety, security and training.

Courses will combine artificial intelligence with other teaching methods

Safety Training Provider Seeks Input for New Approach

News and issues concerning the aviation charter and fractional-ownership industries and markets, including company announcements, regulations, new developments and labor issues.

15 young men and women will receive training and career opportunities 

ACA’s Charter Interns Prepare to Start Training 

Amy Wilder

First recipient is Embraer Phenom 300 captain Robert Milner

Nicholas Air Launches Pilot Loyalty Jet Card Program

Matt Thurber

News and issues regarding all manner of civil and military rotorcraft and their powerplants, including helicopters, tilt rotors and unmanned air vehicles.

Instructor controls the opacity to replicate flying in clouds

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Jessica Reed

News and issues relating to the aerospace industry that are related to the science, engineering and business of flight in space involving civil, industrial and military applications, and similar topics related to flight in the atmosphere of the Earth that are not covered more directly by other AINonline subject channels. In other words, both astronautical and aeronautical subjects, except for those aeronautical topics that are specifically covered elsewhere on this website.

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