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

N234MM, a retired Gulfstream I owned by the Walt Disney Co. and formerly used as personal transport for Walt Disney himself, will be a featured attraction at this year’s D23 Convention at the Anaheim Convention Center next door to Disneyland in September, the company announced yesterday. The exhibit will be called "Mickey Mouse One: Walt’s Plane&nbsp;presented by Amazon." The twin-turboprop was purchased in 1964 by Disney, who designed its interior with his wife, Lillian. It featured a galley, a pair of couches, a desk, and a jump seat right behind the cockpit for the ever-inquisitive Disney to occupy during flights.

 


The aircraft was used to fly Disney and his staff back and forth from California to New York to oversee the company’s installations at the 1964 World’s Fair and later for the design and construction of Disney World in Orlando, Florida. Reportedly, Disney would also take the copilot seat and operate the controls for short periods of time during the cross-country flights. Initially referred to as “Two-Three-Four Metro-Metro” by air traffic controllers, the latter part was soon replaced with “Mickey-Mouse,” giving the aircraft the nickname “The Mouse.”

 


It is rumored that while making a pass over San Juan, Puerto Rico, in the Gulfstream, Disney spied the El Morro Fortress, which served as his inspiration behind the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction in his parks.

 


The aircraft served for 28 years, carrying company employees and even special passengers such as three former presidents, and other celebrities. Its final flight occurred on Oct. 8, 1992, when it was flown to Walt Disney World in Florida, landed on a road inside company property, and was put on display in the backlot area of the Disney MGM (now Disney Hollywood) Studios theme park.

 


For most of its life, the 15-passenger aircraft carried a somewhat non-descript paint job consisting of a wide orange stripe along the windows and a small orange circle with a Mickey Mouse logo on the tail. A <a href="https://twitter.com/DisneyD23/status/1481690281455939584?s=20">video released</a> by the company shows it wearing that scheme once again. The company did not respond to AIN's inquiry if the GI, which still carries active FAA registration, is being returned to flight status.

Walt Disney's Restored GI to Highlight Disney Convention

A restored Gulfstream I formerly used as personal transport for Walt Disney, will be a featured attraction at this year's D23 Convention in Anaheim.

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