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

At this year’s LABACE, for the first time, Brazilian aviation services provider TAM Aviação Executiva (TAM AE) will be displaying the full line of Textron aircraft products. The São Paulo-based company was named as the country’s designated Beechcraft dealer in February, taking over the role from Lider, and since then it has sold examples of all the airframer’s offerings including the Baron, Bonanza and King Air family.

 


TAM has been a Cessna distributor for more than three decades, and added Bell Helicopters to its product lineup in 2004. In this year’s static display, it will demonstrate the breadth of its new portfolio, exhibiting 11 Textron aircraft in all, including a Citation Latitude, a CJ3+, an M2, a King Air 350i, a Grand Caravan EX, and a Turbo Stationair HD 206, as well as the Bell 429VVIP and 407GXP, along with a mockup of the 505 Jet Ranger X.

 


Since Cessna will be exhibiting along with TAM, the companies will also have the latest details on the new Cessna Denali, which was announced earlier this year. First flight of the single engine turboprop is anticipated in 2018 and letters of intent for the $4.5 million (introductory price), single-pilot-capable, six-to-nine-passenger aircraft are now being accepted. The Denali is expected to have a range of 1,600 nm, a maximum cruise speed of 285 knots, and a full fuel payload of 1,100 pounds. The aircraft features a flat-floor cabin, a 53-inch-by-59-inch rear cargo door, a digital pressurization system that maintains a 6,130-foot cabin to 31,000 feet, and an optional externally serviceable belted lavatory with pocket door enclosure in the aft of the cabin.

 


In February, Brazil’s civil aviation authority (ANAC) certified TAM AE’s new maintenance center at Aracati in the northeastern State of Ceará. It began operations as the largest business aircraft maintenance park in Latin America capable of servicing up to 30 aircraft simultaneously. Combined with the company’s operations in Belo Horizonte, Brasilia and Jundiaí, near São Paulo, brings the company to more than 500,000 sq ft of shop space. Last year, the company was appointed by Textron as an authorized service center for the King Air twin turboprop family, of which more than 1,000 are currently in operation in Latin America, with the work being performed at the Jundiaí facility.

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LABACE 2016

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