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

Naples Municipal Airport expects its main runway–5/23, closed since the end of July–to reopen later this month, just in time for the Thanksgiving rush, after a $3.6 million paving project (paid for entirely by the city of Naples airport authority), which saw the runway’s declared takeoff distance increased from 5,000 to 5,800 feet. By paving the safety areas at both ends of the runway, the airport expects it will mitigate noise by allowing aircraft will reach higher altitudes before leaving the airport property, thus reducing noise under the flight path–one of its key priorities.
While the landing distance on the runway will remain unchanged as result of the project, the airport authority said the additional runway length will improve safety by providing more room for aborted takeoffs and other emergencies as well as possibly attracting regional commercial service. The airport also added U.S. Customs and Immigration services in a dedicated building at the end of last year.
The runway expansion project at Cherokee County Airport (CNI, formerly known as 47A) in Canton, Ga., has been completed. The airport’s 3,414-foot main runway has been extended to 5,002 feet, which will allow most general-aviation aircraft to land and take off from the airport. In addition, the project will include a full-length taxiway. The airport has Rnav (GPS) with Waas approach to 250 feet.
S&amp;S Aviation, which is currently building a 12,000-sq-ft hangar to accommodate the additional aircraft based at CNI, provides maintenance and full-service and self-service avgas and jet fuel. The airport plans to purchase land to accommodate the construction of seven more hangars, including a new maintenance hangar next to the existing 10,000-sq-ft terminal building and 16,800-sq-ft hangar. CNI is located 30 miles northwest of Atlanta, in one of the fastest growing counties in Georgia.
At the beginning of September, the Dallas area’s Addison Airport completed the four-and-a-half-month replacement of its 7,200-foot Runway 15/33. The $11.6 million project, funded primarily by FAA grant money, involved repaving and regrooving the runway, while upgrades to the lighting system involved nearly 22 miles of electrical cable. In the process of completing the job, construction crews laid enough new sod to cover 35 professional football fields. The airport is a prime reliever for Dallas-Fort Worth International and Dallas Love Field and has 24-hour a day U.S. Customs facilities.

 Ga Airports Complete Runway Projects

Naples Municipal Airport expects its main runway–5/23, closed since the end of July–to reopen later this month

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