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.

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Curt Epstein

As it continues to hunt for capital funding, <a href="https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/futureflight/2024-06-07/mesa-airlines-revealed-backer-xtis-trifan-600-vtol-aircraft">XTI Aerospace</a>—which is developing the TriFan 600 VTOL business aircraft—has signed an investment agreement with FC Imperial, an affiliate of private global investment consortium Finexic Concordia Group.&nbsp;According to the Colorado-based airframer, the two companies have entered into an agreement that could result in sales of up to $55 million in stock, based on a fixed XTI company valuation of $275 million.
“XTI has had the pleasure of working with and sharing information with the investment team for over a year, and they have performed extensive technical and financial due diligence on XTI Aircraft Company and the TriFan,” said XTI chair and CEO Scott Pomeroy. “Assuming the completion of the proposed investment, we believe the additional capital will help accelerate the development of the TriFan through several major milestones including completion of the updated preliminary design review along with launching the critical design review phase in preparation for the assembly of XTI’s first test aircraft.”
Anindya Chakraborty, who is leading the investment structuring for the consortium, said, “The TriFan is unique and perhaps the most efficient, practical, versatile, and commercially viable VTOL aircraft with clear attributes of ushering in a game-changing reality to the aviation industry.” He added that the consortium is willing to work with XTI to provide more capital as developmental milestones are met.
The TriFan 600, under development for about a decade, is a fixed-wing business aircraft designed to have the vertical takeoff and landing capability of a helicopter and is intended to reach speeds of 345 mph and a range of 700 miles. Its designers describe it as an entirely new category—the vertical lift crossover airplane.

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XTI Aerospace Attracts More Investment for TriFan 600

The VTOL business aircraft has been in development for a decade

XTI Aerospace—which is developing the TriFan 600 VTOL business aircraft—has signed an investment agreement that could net it up to $55 million in capital.

XTI Attracts More Investment for TriFan 600

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