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

CitationAir founder, president and CEO Steven O’Neill has stepped down from his position but will remain with the company in an advisory capacity. He is succeeded by CitationAir executive v-p and COO Bill Schultz.


United Technologies has promoted Alain Bellemare from president of Hamilton Sundstrand to president and COO of UTC Propulsion and Aerospace Systems, with operating responsibility for Pratt &amp; Whitney and Hamilton Sundstrand.


Scott Neal, previously Gulfstream’s division vice president for the Central U.S., has been named head of its worldwide sales and marketing organization. He succeeds Larry Flynn, who was named Gulfstream’s president in September. The Savannah airframer also promoted Jace Stone, from national sales manager for Gulfstream product support sales in south Texas to director, product support sales, for the western U.S. and western Canada.


Embraer has selected Robert Knebel, most recently v-p of sales at Flexjet, as v-p of executive aircraft sales for the U.S., Canada and the Caribbean.


Geoff Berger, Piper Aircraft’s interim president and CEO for the past year, no longer holds the positions. He was replaced by Simon Caldecott, who was promoted from v-p of operations. The Florida-based airframer also announced that executive v-p Randy Groom has departed the company.


Stan Younger, formerly head of Cessna’s company-owned service facilities, has been tapped to lead Bombardier’s aircraft service center network. He succeeds Michael McQuay, who retired.


Satcom solutions provider SkyTrac Systems has promoted Steve Fuhr from v-p and director of business development to president and CEO. He replaces Kathleen Wallace, who will remain with the company as chairman of the board.


GE and Snecma joint partnership CFM International has named Cédric Goubet executive vice president, replacing Olivier Savin. Previously he was deputy to the COO at Snecma parent company Safran Group.


Norbert Ehrich, previously Jet Aviation’s senior v-p and general manager of FBO services, has been named v-p and general manager for Central and South America. The General Dynamics subsidiary also promoted John Langevin to v-p and general manager of the company’s U.S. FBO operations. Before this appointment he had headed the company’s Teterboro and Boston locations.


Hawker Beechcraft has appointed Bill Minkoff as Hawker regional sales director for the lower northeastern U.S. Most recently, he served as v-p of business development at Corporate Flight Management.


Garmin International announced that Gary Kelley, v-p of aviation marketing and sales, will retire at the end of the year. He will be replaced by Carl Wolf, previously senior director of aviation marketing and sales. Philip Straub was promoted from v-p of aviation engineering to the newly created position of v-p and managing director, aviation. He was succeeded by Frank McLoughlin, formerly director of aviation programs and systems.


Joseph DiLallo, most recently president of GetJets Aviation Consulting, was appointed v-p of corporate aviation finance at Key Equipment Finance.


French airframer Daher-Socata has named Patrice Charmey, previously a sales director with Ruag Aviation, as director of sales for TBM aircraft in Asia and the Commonwealth of Independent States.


StandardAero Business Aviation has appointed Marc McGowan, most recently v-p of international defense and space at Honeywell, as v-p of business development, strategy and product management. The Arizona-based company also promoted Tom Roche as v-p of its turboprop business unit. Before this he was v-p of helicopter business at StandardAero.


Chip Fichtner has been selected by aircraft completions specialist Associated Air Center in Dallas as its v-p of engineering. Before joining the StandardAero subsidiary, he served as director of production, engineering and program management for Gore Design Completions.


San Francisco-basedprivate aviation services provider TWC Aviation has hired Richard Thompson as director of aircraft management sales. Previously he was v-p of the technical services group for Aviation Management Systems.


Jeff Messmer, most recently Bombardier customer support manager for Midcoast Aviation, has been tapped by West Star Aviation as operations manager at its Spirit of St. Louis Airport facility.&nbsp;The Illinois-based company also added two new regional sales managers. Julie Anderson, previously with Med Air, will be responsible for the western U.S., while Tim Johnson, most recently a regional sales manager with Dassault Falcon, will take charge of the Upper Midwest region. The MRO provider named Darin Perryman accessories shop team lead at its Grand Junction, Colo. location. Most recently, he held the position of overhaul shop lead with Gulfstream.


Parker Aerospace has made several changes to its leadership. Bill Cartmill, previously general manager of the company’s hydraulic systems division, has been named the division’s v-p, while Raj Gupta was promoted from g-m of the component provider’s aircraft wheel and brake division to g-m of its Stratoflex products division. He was succeeded by Michael Walasinski, most recently business unit manager of flow controls product for Parker Hannifin’s CIC Sporlan Division.


Jeff Bosque, former Associated Air Center president, has joined Denton, Texas-based completions specialist Jet Works Air Center as part of its Large Cabin Advisory Board.


Aerospace component manufacturer PPG Industries has appointed Brent Wright, previously platform business manager for military transparencies, as global platform director for transparencies. He succeeds Mark Cancilla, who was named global platform director for coatings. He takes over from Brian Roberson, who joined the company’s architectural coatings business in Australia.


FlightSafety International has made several promotions to its training-center leadership. Gary Porterfield has been promoted to manager of the company’s Wichita facility. He replaces Craig Newall, who has retired. Porterfield was succeeded as assistant manager in West Palm Beach by Jerry Mobley. Due to the retirements of Ralph Hicks and Randy Lewis, Mitch Alexander was promoted to manager of the flight training provider’s Daleville, Ala. center and Kelly Allender was named manager of its Tucson site, respectively. Both were previously assistant managers at their locations.


Christian Duhain, most recently EADS’s corporate v-p for international development for Asia-Pacific and Latin America, has joined aviation support provider AJ Walter Aviation as a non-executive director.


Wichita aviation services provider Yingling Aviation has named long-time Cessna executive John Donatelli to the position of regional sales manager. He will assume oversight of Kansas Aviation’s flight training activities as well.


Galaxy Aviation has promoted Tony&nbsp;Sherbert, from operations manager at its Palm Beach International Airport FBO to general manager at its Orlando International Airport facility. 


MRO provider Duncan Aviation has promoted Monte Reeves to customer service manager at its Lincoln, Neb. facility. Tony Leitschuck, who was previously a project manager at the site, has stepped into the assistant manager role.


Canadian aircraft sales and services provider Innotech-Execaire Aviation has appointed Ken Moon regional manager of aircraft sales for western Canada. Previously he was a partner at BKD Aerospace International.


Awards and Honors


Sikorsky chief pilot and director of flight operations Kevin Bredenbeck has been honored by the Society of Experimental Test Pilots (SETP) with the Iven Kincheloe Award for the year’s outstanding professional accomplishment in the conduct of flight testing. Last year he flew the company’s X2 technology demonstrator to an unofficial speed record for conventional helicopters.


At this year’s NBAA annual meeting and conference, the Corporate Angel Network presented ConocoPhillips with its inaugural “Angel of the Year” Award for outstanding service to cancer patients. Since the petroleum company began its support of CAN in 1983 it has flown nearly 6,000 patients to cancer centers best suited to treat their specific types of cancer.


Final Flight


William Alderman, 76, a former president of the Aviation Insurance Association (AIA), died on September 22. A lifelong aircraft enthusiast, he served as a naval aviator from 1956 to 1960 flying the Douglas Skyraider. After his military service, he entered the aviation insurance industry and eventually rose to the position of president of AOA. Later he was one of the co-founders of the AIA. In 1998 he received the Pinnacle Award from the association in recognition of his contributions to the field.

People in Aviation: November 2011

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