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

MRO specialist StandardAero has appointed Firoz Tarapore, director and member of the company’s executive committee, as interim president and CEO. He replaces Rob Mionis, who resigned from the company. The Dubai Aerospace Enterprise subsidiary also appointed David Smoot, CEO of Dubai International Capital, as vice chairman.


Cobham has promoted two members of its management team to newly established positions. David Ashton, previously v-p of the company’s tactical communications and surveillance strategic business unit, was named executive v-p for business development and technology; Julian Hellebrand, most recently chief of staff to the CEO and group director of communications, will take on the role of executive v-p for lifecycle management and program management.


Dubai-based United Aviation Services (UAS) has announced changes to its executive staff. Mohammed Husary was promoted from general manager to executive president, while managing director Omar Hosari was named CEO. The international trip support services provider also named M. Mamoun Milli as chairman and Mohsen Felo as president.


FlightSafety International has promoted John Van Maren, most recently director of programs and customer support, to v-p of simulation. He replaces Rick Armstrong, who is leaving the company. The global training provider also named George Brady, formerly director of simulation operations support, as director of product support and simulator operations, and promoted Greg Arend to director of commercial programs for the company’s simulation design, manufacture and support facility in Tulsa. Okla. Previously he was manager of commercial program management.


David Welch has been promoted from sales manager to v-p of sales at aircraft brokerage SkyWay Aero.


Texas-based special-mission aircraft modification specialist King Aerospace has hired Gary Simpson as v-p of business development. Previously he was senior director of business development at DynCorp.


Didier Pianelli, previously head of foreign crew training with Thales Airborne Systems, was named general manager of Lyon Bron Business Airport in France.


Bombardier Aerospace has appointed Ian Ludlow, previously general director with Jet Aviation Vnukovo, as general manager of its Amsterdam Service Centre.


Vector Aerospace Engine Services Atlantic has promoted Glenn Hawley from service center manager for the company’s Dallas location to director of its service center network.


Mark Saxton, formerly U.S. West Coast regional sales director at Embraer Executive Jets, has joined California-based TWC Aviation as director of aircraft sales and acquisitions.


StarPort, an FBO at Florida’s Orlando-Sanford International Airport, has appointed Joseph Doubleday as director of maintenance. Most recently he served as manager of the FAA’s aircraft maintenance and engineering group in Oklahoma City.


John Crabtree, most recently avionics manager of Hawker Beechcraft Services, was named avionics manager by Elliott Aviation.


Missouri-based aviation services provider Aero Charter has hired Mitchell Wiedenmann as a first officer flying a Hawker 400A and Cessna Citation XLS. Most recently he served as a first officer with Express Jet Airlines.


Ryan McGinn, formerly a sales director with Callaway Golf, has been appointed as fractional aircraft provider Flexjet’s sales director for the New York City territory.


UK-based airborne catering provider Alison Price On Air has appointed Jamie Cairns as head chef. Most recently he served as executive chef at the dining venues of St. Paul’s Cathedral.


Stefan Sears, previously with Sentient Jet, has joined Pentastar Aviation as a charter sales representative.


Awards &amp; Honors


The National Air Transportation Association (NATA) presented its annual industry excellence awards for 2012 at a banquet in Virginia on April 22. The FAA’s Charlotte flight standards district office received the FAA Customer Service Excellence Award for its exceptional service, professionalism and support, ensuring safety and growth to certified entities in its region. The ATP/NATA General Aviation Service Technician Award was given to TWC Aviation director of maintenance Greg Paxson, for his more than 30 years of management and technical expertise in the aircraft maintenance field. Christopher Brown, vice president and airport manager of Washington Dulles International Airport, was selected as the winner of the NATA Airport Executive Partnership Award, presented to an airport manager for outstanding efforts to foster relationships between aviation businesses and airport operators. Maria Canosa and Vinny Billisi, president and vice president and director of operations, respectively, of Airborne Systems Flight School, were honored with the Excellence in Flight Training Award. They have trained more than 2,000 students and issued more than 3,500 certificates and ratings since the school opened in 1992.


Erickson Air-Crane of Portland, Ore., has committed to a $6,000 annual scholarship through Whirly-Girls International, a nonprofit, educational and charitable organization dedicated to advancing women in helicopter aviation. The annual scholarship will fund a full external load/vertical reference course at Western Helicopters in Rialto, Calif., and is available to organization members in good standing. The first scholarship will be awarded next year.


Final Flight 


&nbsp;


Osvil “Ozzie” York, 92, a pioneering helicopter and airplane pilot and mechanic, died on March 25 in Tulsa, Okla., following a brief illness. His flying career began in 1941 with the Canadian Air Force, in which he served as a pilot and flight instructor, later joining the U.S. Army Air Corps in 1945. He soloed in a Bell 47D in 1948 and his logbook showed more than 15,000 hours at the controls of civil and military aircraft around the world. He served Allied Helicopters for nearly 60 years of his career and was a member of the Quiet Birdmen and Twirly Birds professional societies, winning the latter’s Les Morris Lifetime Achievement award in 2003.


AMT Employer Recognition Awards


The National Air Transportation Association announced the recipients of this year’s AMT Employer Recognition Awards, presented annually to companies that employ aviation maintenance technicians and provide a minimum number of hours of new or recurrent training to them each year. Award winners receive either a one-, three- or five-star award depending on the percentage of their AMTs receiving the 12-hour minimum training.


One-Star Winners


Duncan Aviation, Battle Creek, Mich.


Duncan Aviation, Lincoln, Neb.


Epps Aviation, Atlanta, Ga.


Three-Star Award Winners


Central Flying Service-Jet Maintenance Group, Little Rock, Ark.


Clay Lacy Aviation, Van Nuys, Calif.


Duncan Aviation, Provo, Utah


Kansas City Aviation Center, Olathe, Kan


Stevens Aviation, Broomfield, Colo.


Five-Star Award Winners


AirFlite, Long Beach, Calif.


AirResource Group, Cleveland, Ohio


Aitheras Aviation Group, Cleveland, Ohio


Banyan Air Service–Avionics Division, Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.


Berwind, Philadelphia, Pa.


Bombardier Flexjet, Richardson, Texas


Broadie’s Aircraft, Fort Worth, Texas


Central Flying Service, Propeller Maintenance Group, Little Rock, Ark.


Executive Jet Management, Cincinnati, Ohio


Executive Jet Management, White Plains, N.Y.


Fargo Jet Center, Fargo, N.D.


Flight Options, Richmond Heights, Ohio


Honeywell Aerospace Flight Test Operations, Phoenix, Ariz.


Intercontinental Jet Service, Tulsa, Okla.


Jet Solutions, Richardson, Texas


JetSuite, Irvine, Calif.


Keystone Aviation, Salt Lake City, Utah


Mayo Aviation, Englewood, Colo.


Million Air, Houston, Texas


NetJets Aviation-DXTA, Columbus, Ohio


NetJets Sales–DXTR, Columbus, Ohio


Northrop Grumman, Rolling Meadows, Ill.


Presidential Aviation, Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.


FL SpiritJets, Chesterfield, Mo.


The Home Depot Aviation, Atlanta, Ga.

People in Aviation: May 2013

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