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

Rockwell Collins has named Robert Ortberg, formerly executive v-p and COO of the company’s government systems business, as president. He was succeeded by Philip Jasper, previously v-p of business development.
Gregg Slow, formerly senior v-p at NetJets, has been appointed as XOJet’s senior v-p of sales and national accounts.
Canadian MRO specialist Vector Aerospace Helicopter Services has named Chris McDowell, former v-p of sales and business development with Heli-One, as v-p of sales and marketing. 
Dan Keady, most recently Hawker Beechcraft’s v-p of international sales for China, Asia-Pacific and India, has been promoted to senior v-p of special missions.
FlightSafety International has made several changes in its training center leadership. David Davenport, previously manager of the Savannah learning center and regional operations manager, was promoted to v-p, based at the company’s New York headquarters. Daniel MacLellan will take on the role of regional operations manager and continue as manager of the Dallas/Fort Worth learning center, while Chip White, who previously led the Columbus training facility, was appointed manager of the Savannah learning center. He was succeeded by Fabio Miguez, most recently manager of the company’s Detroit Metro/Toledo learning center.
Joe Hertzler, CEO of aviation software development company Teton Aviation, has retired. He was succeeded by John Cuseo, president of Advanced Solutions.
Atlanta-based aircraft charter management provider FlightWorks has named Jay Arcemont as v-p of operations. Before this appointment he was director of operations at TWC Aviation. 
Susan Sheets Brogan, formerly the president of the National Aircraft Resellers Association, has joined business aviation industry data provider JetNet iQ as director of special programs.
Regional fractional aircraft ownership provider Executive AirShare has named Ben Clouse, previously H&amp;R Block’s v-p of audit services, as v-p of finance and CFO.
Gulfstream has promoted Pedro Mercado to national sales manager for product support interior refurbishment sales. Most recently he was a service center supervisor for interior refurbishment.
Insurance provider Starr has named Meredith Ryan-Reid as North American leader for Accident &amp; Health. Previously she was a v-p at Marsh.
Glen Golden, previously the owner of Enhanced Aircraft Systems, has joined Texas-based Superior Air Parts as its v-p of sales and marketing.
Million Air Interlink has appointed Dolores Johnson, previously with Everest Fuel, as director of sales and marketing. 
Ron Jennings has been hired as JA Air Center’s maintenance sales director. Most recently he was director of completions sales at Elliott Aviation.
Meggitt Sensing Systems has appointed Ray Rautenstrauch, most recently business development manager at Southeast Aerospace, as measurement regional sales manager for the southeastern U.S.
Rotorcraft operator and services provider Metro Aviation has appointed Amy McMullen as its customer configuration coordinator. Most recently she was v-p of finance with Allegiance Health Management.
Illinois-based services provider Elliott Aviation has hired Joe Daugherty, most recently a modification sales manager at StandardAero, as paint and interior sales director.
Grant Boast has been promoted from field service engineer with BBA Aviation Engine Repair and Overhaul to regional sales manager for Sub-Saharan Africa, while Wayne Thomson, previously a mobile repair lead technician with Pratt &amp; Whitney Canada, has joined the company as regional field service engineer for Australasia.
Duncan Aviation has announced several staff changes. Tony Gilbert, who previously headed the company’s international business, was named regional manager for the Great Lakes region, while Allan Orsi was named regional manager for Brazil. Rodolfo Rodriguez was promoted from sales representative to regional manager for Mexico, replacing Enrique Ortega, who retired. The aviation services provider also promoted Scott McKenzie from avionics line crew leader to avionics technical representative. 
Switzerland-based charter broker Vertis Aviation has appointed Julian Burrell, previously with the Charter Company, as managing director of its new London business.
Banyan Air Service has tapped George Tucker, previously with the Envisia Group, as director of the Fort Lauderdale-based FBO’s pilot shop.
John Petersen, founder and CEO of the Arlington Institute, has been elected chairman of The Charles A. and Anne Morrow Lindbergh Foundation. He succeeds Larry Williams, who has completed his three-year term. 

Awards and Honors
Well known aviation educators Martha and John King of King Schools will receive the National Aeronautic Association’s 2012 Brewer Trophy for Aviation Education at a ceremony on November 13. The trophy is presented annually for “significant contributions of enduring value to aerospace education in the United States.” The association will also present its 2012 Wesley L. McDonald Distinguished Statesman of Aviation Awards to Keith Ferris, Dick Koenig, Christopher Kraft, Henry Ogrodzinski and Dr. Irving Statler.
The Air Traffic Control Association presented its annual awards to those who have contributed to the worldwide air traffic control system in an exemplary way. John Blakeney received the Air Traffic Control Specialist of the Year Award in recognition of his 15-year career at Kissimmee Gateway Airport (Fla.) He has been at the airport since the tower opened in 1997 and is the only remaining original controller. During that time operations at the airport have increased from 58,000 to more than two million last year. Robert Carr of Los Angeles Center (ZLA) received the William A. Parenteau Memorial Award, presented to “an individual for an outstanding achievement or contribution, which has added to the quality, safety or efficiency of air traffic control.” His work in the transformation of the Pacific Ocean warning areas within ZLA’s airspace has significantly enhanced the ability of users to schedule and use the airspace efficiently, resulting in projected savings of nearly $2 million per year. Brian Graham of the Jacksonville center was the recipient of the Andy Pitas Memorial Award, presented to an “individual or group who provided flight assistance that resulted in the safe recovery of an emergency aircraft through the application of exceptional air traffic service.” Earlier this year Graham, an instructor pilot, saved the life of a pilot who inadvertently entered IMC by talking him out of a spin and down into the clear for a safe landing.
Al Ueltschi, founder of aviation training provider FlightSafety International, has joined the Giving Pledge, joining the ranks of 92 philanthropists who have agreed to give half their wealth to charitable causes. The movement, launched by Warren Buffett and Bill and Melinda Gates, is aimed at billionaires but intended to spur financial donations from people of all economic levels. Ueltschi was also the founder of HelpMeSee, a foundation that seeks to combat treatable blindness in the developing world. 
In recognition of his accomplishments, leadership and community contributions, Robert Duncan, past president and chairman emeritus of Duncan Aviation, was crowned the 116th king of Ak-Sar-Ben during a gala October pageant in Omaha. Ak-Sar-Ben is a civic organization that serves the local community and region through its fundraising efforts. Under his nearly four decades of leadership, Duncan has seen his Nebraska-based company grow from a handful of staff to the largest family-owned business aviation services provider, with more than 2,000 employees nationwide.

Final Flights
Robert Alexander, 65, a longtime corporate pilot, died at his home in Kenosha, Wis., on August 16. A 20-year U.S. Army pilot, he flew helicopters during the Vietnam War before transitioning to airplanes. His business aviation career began with Corporate Aircraft Services, out of Waukegan Airport, and he eventually served as the head of the Kemper Insurance flight department. During his 42-year piloting career he flew the Agusta A109; Bell 206, 204 and 47; Hughes 500; Beechcraft 200, 90 and 55; Gulfstream III; Citation III and X; Falcon 20, 50 and 2000; and Learjet 24, 25, 28 and 35. 
Howard “Pat” Curtiss Jr., 82, an authority on the aerodynamics of helicopters who helped design generations of vertical-takeoff aircraft for many companies, died on October 1 after battling cancer. A professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at Princeton University for 33 years, as well as a fellow of the American Helicopter Society and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Curtiss developed and taught many short courses in the fundamentals of aerodynamics at companies and universities around the world. He served on several governmental advisory groups and was an honorary professor at Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics in China. After transferring to emeritus status at Princeton he worked with Pennsylvania-based Carson Helicopters to develop a new type of rotor blade that dramatically improved the range, speed and carrying capacity of the Sikorsky S-61, a design now used on the “Marine One” Presidential helicopters.

People in Aviation: November 2012

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