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

If you have ever wanted to own one of the jets formerly owned by the late Elvis Presley but missed out on the past several auctions, you will once again get your opportunity.
While two of the five aircraft Presley reportedly owned, a Convair 880 and a 1960 Lockheed JetStar, have been restored and are on display at his Graceland mansion and museum in Memphis, Tennesee, a second JetStar of 1962 vintage that the “King of Rock and Roll” purchased in 1976, just a year before his death, is <a href="https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/business-aviation/2017-05-24/elvis-presley-jetstar-being-auctioned-again?amp">once again</a> on the auction block.
According to transportation specialist Mecum Auctions, which will feature the aircraft in its Kissimmee, Florida auction starting on January 4, the JetStar—which has lost its engines along with some of the cockpit instrumentation—has been parked in the New Mexico desert at the Roswell International Air Center for the past several decades. While none of the missing parts will be replaced, the auction does include documentation such as a copy of the aircraft security agreement document signed by Elvis Presley, a copy of the aircraft bill of sale showing its 1976 purchase price of $840,000 and official FAA Blue Ribbon documents.
The aircraft’s cabin is furnished with custom red velvet upholstery and gold-finished hardware and features the latest technology of the time, including a microwave oven, television, and a then-cutting-edge VCR player.

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