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

Canadian flight-training provider CAE (Booth 1501) announced a new partnership with Starr Insurance this week at NBAA-BACE in Las Vegas. The first-of-its-kind program aimed at single-pilot jet owners will combine a rigorous 18-month training cycle and insurance for them.

 


The curriculum will consist of scenario-based simulator training, flight training data monitoring, in-aircraft mentoring, and upset prevention and recovery training. Participants will learn in classroom simulators and aboard aircraft through mentoring sessions with specially-trained and experienced instructors.

 


“Aircraft owner pilots of single-pilot jet aircraft are a particularly difficult class to insure,” said Kyle Sparks, Starr Aviation’s senior v-p and chief underwriting officer, adding these aircraft are complicated machines to fly, even for professional career pilots. “CAE’s rigorous professional flight-training regimen will help owner pilots fly safer, and the extensive flight behavior data we’ll get from the program will ensure more accurate insurance underwriting.”

 


Trainees are introduced to the tools used by professional pilots to increase safety through all aspects of the flight, including safety management system features like flight risk assessments and practical threat and error management. With an emphasis placed on mitigating loss of control in flight,&nbsp;students will learn how to increase recognition and prevent such situations as well as develop appropriate recovery skills.

 


“We are thrilled to offer this innovative program with Starr Insurance, which makes insurance more accessible to pilots by providing them with comprehensive safety training,” said CAE group president Nick Leontidis.

 


CAE also announced along with Embraer that it will offer a new full-flight simulator for the Phenom 300E. Operated by Embraer-CAE Training Services (ECTS), the new device is required to meet the growing demand for business jet training in the U.S. With more than 600 in operation, the Phenom 300 has held the position of top-selling light jet for the past nine years.

 


This new simulator will be operational in the second half of 2022, and ECTS will announce where it will be situated in the next few months. Currently, there are six Phenom simulators across three training centers in Dallas, London Burgess Hill, and Guarulhos, Brazil.

 


Lastly, fellow Canadian company Innotech-Execaire Aviation Group (IEAG) has been named as the launch customer for CAE’s new digital ecosystem, an innovative suite of business aviation services.

 


CAE will link IEAG’s aircraft operators and pilots in a unified software ecosystem to facilitate pilot engagement, improve the efficiency of its operations, and ensure compliance with new fatigue management rules for business jet operators. IEAG will also serve as a CAE innovation lab partner, helping the training provider as it develops new digital solutions in efficiency, safety, and optimization.

 


“We are pleased to have found in CAE a partner to streamline our systems, ensure compliance with new regulations and support our innovation strategy for future operators,” said IEAG president Michael Fedele. “As Canada’s longest-serving and prestigious corporate aircraft company, we have a long history working alongside CAE from training to operations, and are excited to get a voice in the future digital solutions as a foundation lab partner.”

Issues regarding financing of aircraft; aviation insurance; tax issues for aircraft operators; new companies and people in the aviation financing and insurance industries.

CAE Partners on Single-pilot Jet Training Insurance

A first-of-its-kind program aimed at single pilot jet owners will combine a rigorous 18-month training cycle along with insurance for them.

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