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

UK-based startup airframer Samad Aerospace, which is making its EBACE debut, recently launched its Starling line of vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft. At its booth (J100) it is displaying a flying scale prototype of its blended-wing concept, which uses fans integrated into its fuselage for lift, as well as a pair of aft tilting fans that provide forward thrust.

 


“The way that we have overcome the issue of transition, is we are separating the entire vertical and horizontal flight,” Samad CEO Seyed Mohseni told AIN.

 


The company has mapped out its development, from a UAV version at the end of 2019; to the e-Starling, a larger air-taxi, all-electric version capable of carrying a pilot and six passengers with a top speed of 300 mph; to the hybrid Starling Jet, which is anticipated to have a range of up to 1,500 miles with a pilot and nine passengers. According to Mohseni, the hybrid variant will be the fastest civilian eVTOL in the world, with a maximum speed of 460 mph.

 


Samad looks to fly a 50 percent scale manned demonstrator of the air-taxi version in the first half of 2020, with the full-size version to come the following year.

News and developments about airplanes, helicopters and unmanned air vehicles used in all varieties of operations, including airlines, military, business, commercial, general aviation and private.

VTOL Hopeful Makes EBACE Debut

UK-based Samad Aerospace looks to build the world's fastest civilian VTOL.

2024 Corporate Aviation Leadership Summit

Amy Wilder

News about commercial airlines, including regulations, aircraft orders, safety, acquisitions, and mergers.

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

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.

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.

German start-up Vaeridion is now getting support from the automotive division of Bosch

Electric Microliner Makes Pitch To Be a Travel Disruptor 

Since October, the group has spent 750 hours on the effort

Learjet Restoration Project To Move into NDT Phase

News and issues concerning general aviation, specifically airplanes and helicopters powered by piston and alternative engines (i.e., non-turbine powered aircraft). Subjects include aircraft, engines, personnel, acquisitions, accidents, safety, security and training.

Pilots can enjoy modern safety enhancements in a 1930's-inspired package.

With a Design Refresh, Junkers Aircraft A50 and A60 Still Honor Germany’s Rich Aviation Heritage

Charles Alcock

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

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.

Engineering v-p Sebastien Vigneron has taken over from Brian Yutko

Boeing Leadership Shuffle Means New CEO for eVTOL Developer Wisk

Hanneke Weitering

Doctors and patients in Penghu could fly in SkyDrive's eVTOL aircraft 

SkyDrive Plans Aeromedical eVTOL Flights in Taiwan's Penghu Islands

Business jets are often used by governments for diplomatic purposes.

Germany’s Fleet of VIP Bombardier Global 5000s and Airbus Jets Flies Its Leaders around the World

New developments and products in avionics, specifically about aircraft electronics in the cockpit.

EBACE 2018

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Electric Microliner Makes Pitch To Be a Travel Disruptor

German start-up Vaeridion is now getting support from the automotive division of Bosch

Learjet Restoration Project To Move into NDT Phase

Since October, the group has spent 750 hours on the effort

With a Design Refresh, Junkers Aircraft A50 and A60 Still Honor Germany’s Rich Aviation Heritage

Pilots can enjoy modern safety enhancements in a 1930's-inspired package.

Boeing Leadership Shuffle Means New CEO for eVTOL Developer Wisk

Engineering v-p Sebastien Vigneron has taken over from Brian Yutko

SkyDrive Plans Aeromedical eVTOL Flights in Taiwan's Penghu Islands

Doctors and patients in Penghu could fly in SkyDrive's eVTOL aircraft

Germany’s Fleet of VIP Bombardier Global 5000s and Airbus Jets Flies Its Leaders around the World

Business jets are often used by governments for diplomatic purposes.

Honeywell Expands Role with Vertical Aerospace’s VX4 eVTOL Aircraft

U.S. technology group will now provide inceptor controllers for pilots

Embraer Sees Strong Q1 Revenues and Deliveries

Airframer had its highest revenues in nearly a decade

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