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.

Senior Editor

Curt Epstein

Jet Aviation has appointed Jakob Straub vice president and general manager of the company’s Zurich maintenance and FBO operations, succeeding interim general manager Paul Kempf. He joins the company from SR Technics Ireland in Dublin, where he was senior vice president and COO. 
Hong Kong-based Asia Jet has named Mike Walsh v-p for marketing and sales of the Asia Jet Card. Immediately before joining Asia Jet, he was a director for Air Charter Service, Hong Kong.
San Jose, Calif.-based on-demand jet charter specialist ACM Aviation has added two management executives. Paul Class, previously senior v-p of charter services with Tag Aviation USA and its successor Sentient Flight Group and Jet Direct Aviation, will take that same title with ACM. Mark Dennen, formerly senior v-p of finance with Tag Aviation USA and its successors, was named senior v-p and CFO.
First Aviation Services has named Millie Becker v-p for business development at its new Teterboro Airport FBO. Most recently she was v-p of marketing and sales for Landmark Aviation. 
Gulfstream Aerospace has promoted Neil Vernon from chief demonstration pilot for the company’s large-cabin aircraft to director, demonstration and corporate flight operations, replacing Roc Miles, who retired on April 24. The Savannah-based airframer also named Terry Freeman manager for product support warranty. He most recently served as the warranty supervisor for Gulfstream’s large-cabin aircraft. Vince Ruscitti was appointed director of service center operations in Dallas, overseeing both the Gulfstream and General Dynamics Aviation Services (GDAS) maintenance facilities at Dallas Love Field, where he most recently served as the GDAS senior service operations manager.
Florida-based GA Telesis has promoted Kay Lai Tay to senior director of sales for its Asia aerospace spare parts redistribution and MRO services. 
Donald Lownds has joined the helicopter division of Connecticut-based Kaman Aerospace as senior manager of subcontract business development. Previously, he managed a range of business development programs for Goodrich.
John Brown, a member of the board of directors for Bye Aerospace, has been named president of Denver-based subsidiary Bye Energy, an integrator of clean energy solutions for aviation.
Universal Avionics Systems, based in Tucson, Ariz., has selected Matt Cowan for the newly created position of Southeast regional marketing manager. He previously held sales positions at Cirrus Aircraft and Avidyne.
Heinrich Loechteken, former chief investment officer of AerCap, has joined Seabury Aviation &amp; Aerospace as senior advisor.
Andy Ellwood has joined Marquis Jet as v-p of sales for Dallas and North Texas. He was previously a v-p for West Coast sales with luxury vacation home provider One Key.
Bear Huber, formerly a senior program manager with DeCrane Aircraft Seating, has joined Palm City, Fla.-based PAC Seating Systems as director of program management. 
Anne Ellefson has been appointed to the South Carolina Technology &amp; Aviation Center’s board of directors. 
Avionics specialist Pro Star Aviation has appointed Earl Tempelmeyer–previously with Duncan Aviation–as its OPS initiative director. The N.H.-based company also promoted Lynn Bell to its OPS team. 
TAC Air has promoted Teresa Yates to general manager of its FBO on Raleigh-Durham International Airport. 
Lincoln, Neb.-based Duncan Aviation has added PAMA board member and former K-C Aviation director of engine programs Sharon Close to its turbine engine service sales team. 
Canada’s TrueNorth Avionics has hired Jeff Beutel, formerly with Electronic Cable Specialists, as a regional sales manager. 
Uvalde, Texas-based Citation modifier Sierra Industries has added David Welch to its sales staff. 
Genesis Lease, based in Shannon, Ireland, has appointed Orla Gillen its new legal counsel. Before joining Genesis Lease, Gillen was a partner at LK Shields Solicitors.

<h3>Awards &amp; Honors</h3>
The Canadian Aeronautics and Space Institute has awarded Larry Dufraimont, Bombardier Aerospace’s director of flight test and flight operations at the OEM’s flight test center in Wichita, Kansas, Canada’s oldest aviation award, the Trans-Canada Trophy. Dufraimont was honored for his outstanding achievements in the field of air operations.
PHI chairman Al Gonsoulin has received the 2009 Offshore Leadership Award from the Minerals Management Service. The award was given in recognition of Gonsoulin’s successful efforts to develop a “deep water air medical transport system.” The specially equipped Sikor- sky S-76C++ has a med- evac interior dedicated to servicing offshore energy platforms. 
This year’s Air &amp; Space Museum Trophies for Lifetime Achievement were awarded to John Casani and Gordon Fullerton. Casani was recognized for his work as chief engineer or project manager for pioneering NASA deep-space missions such as Mariner, Voyager and Galileo. Fullerton’s aviation career spanned more than 50 years and included service in the USAF (he retired as a colonel). Fullerton was an astronaut in the Apollo, Skylab and space shuttle programs and served for more than 20 years as a test pilot at NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center. Along the way he accumulated more than 16,000 flight hours in 135 different aircraft types.
Richard Schuller, owner and operator of business aviation maintenance support company Schuller Aerospace Services International and a founder of the business aviation professional services firm Sextant Advisory, was awarded the FAA’s Charles Taylor Master Mechanic award, which recognizes the accomplishments of master mechanics with more than 50 years in the aircraft maintenance profession.

<h3>Final Flights</h3>
Ernst Saxer, 75, former managing director of the ALG Aeroleasing Group (now Tag Aviation), died in Geneva on May 1. Saxer started his aeronautical career as a mechanic with Swissair before pursuing piloting. The founder of the first IFR flying school in French-speaking Switzerland in the early 1960s, Saxer joined Aeroleasing in 1969 and became its chief pilot in 1972, flying VIPs all over the world. His burial on May 6 gathered business aviation experts from Geneva and throughout Europe.
John Spoor Broome, 91, pilot, philanthropist and former NBAA board member, died on April 10 at his home in Ventura County, Calif. He had suffered several recent strokes. Nicknamed the “Flying Rancher” for his frequent use of a Mitsubishi MU-2, Broome soloed at age 17 and served in WWII as a pilot trainer and pilot for the Army Air Force’s Air Transport Command. Later he was involved in the local chapter of the Quiet Birdmen and hosted their annual meetings. Fifty years after his first solo flight, he commemorated the event by flying a solo roundtrip over the Atlantic. Broome is survived by his wife, Patricia; two daughters, one son and eight grandchildren. 
Richard John Adams, 66, a research psychologist for the FAA’s Flight Standards Division, died May 1 at his home in Williamsburg, Va. Known for his work on synthetic vision, the small aircraft transportation system (Sats) and unmanned air vehicle projects, Adams was instrumental in the research and the writing of numerous technical reports on aeronautical decision making for commercial pilots, EMS pilots and hospital administrators. His career started at Pratt &amp; Whitney as a test engineer and later he was v-p of the consultancy firm Advanced Aviation Concepts. He also served as an associate professor of aeronautics at Florida Institute of Technology. He is survived by his former wives Catherine and Judith Adams Deskin; his son Kyle, his daughter Kara, and three grandchildren.

People in Aviation: June 2009

Jet Aviation has appointed Jakob Straub vice president and general manager of the company’s Zurich maintenance and FBO operations, succeeding

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