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

The Gulfstream I which was once owned by Walt Disney is about to undergo a full interior restoration which will return it to its 1960’s appearance. The twin-engine turboprop&nbsp;had sat for decades in a backlot area of Disney World in Florida following its 1992 retirement and was recently <a href="https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/business-aviation/2022-01-14/walt-disneys-restored-gi-highlight-disney-convention">repainted and trucked across the country</a> to Anaheim, California, where it was one of the star attractions at this year’s D23 Convention in September. It was later announced that the airplane would go on <a href="https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/business-aviation/2022-09-09/walt-disneys-gulfstream-i-become-museum-piece">exhibit</a> at the Palm Springs Air Museum.
Now the museum, which is displaying rarely seen interior items from The Mouse,&nbsp;as the aircraft came to be known, has announced it will head up a two-year cabin restoration of the airplane in partnership with Georgia-based Phoenix Air Group which has vast experience as an operator of the type and has offered to donate any needed parts.
Disney had the interior of N234MM customized with features including an instrument panel located near his favorite seat so he could monitor flight conditions, a telephone handset so he could communicate with the cockpit, two bathrooms, a galley kitchen, a pair of couches, and a desk.
“We are so thrilled to partner with the Walt Disney Archives on this amazing restoration project,” said museum vice-chairman Fred Bell, adding that the museum&nbsp;has restored more than 60 aircraft in its 26-year history. “We know that we have a special responsibility to Walt Disney, to the archives, and to the millions of Disney fans around the world to do this work accurately as possible so that the airplane can be enjoyed for decades to come.”

Walt Disney's Gulfstream I To Be Restored

The Gulfstream I once owned and operated by Walt Disney will be restored back to its customized 1960's appearance.

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