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

Bombardier manufactures a variety of business aircraft models, provides engineering, and aircraft maintenance services.

Curt Epstein

Classic Lear Jet Foundation, the nonprofit group looking to <a href="https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/business-aviation/2023-09-05/bringing-lear-003-back-flight">return</a> the first production Learjet (23-003) to flight status, is continuing to mark progress on the restoration project in Wichita.
The group, which will be exhibiting at the upcoming Farnborough Airshow&nbsp;at the “Air Capital of the World” booth in Hall 4, acquired the airplane from a private owner in 2023. Since then, a team of volunteers—some of whom worked on the now-defunct Learjet production line, supported by companies that have donated their services to the cause—has been steadily dismantling the light jet, an iconic vanguard of the private jet era.
Upon receipt of the aircraft, its&nbsp;GE CJ610-1 engines were removed and, along with the engine maintenance records, sent to International Turbine Industries in Michigan for refurbishment. International Turbine will convert them to CJ610-4 standard as an in-kind donation.
Last month, the leading edges of the horizontal stabilizer were removed at the start of the tail unit’s structural inspection. Once that is accomplished, it will be transported to DAS Aviation for full overhaul.
The wing assembly from a later Lear 23 (23-028), which was acquired for parts, is now on a work stand undergoing a leak test before the removal of wing systems. The group has not yet determined whether this unit will be swapped for 003’s original wing. The aircraft’s existing 62-year-old wiring was removed early on in the process and deemed unsalvageable, so a new harness is being fashioned.
The twinjet’s landing gear was removed and driven down to Daytona, Florida, where it will be refurbished by Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. Accompanying it was a box of hydraulic actuators that will be tested and restored by Nobel Jet in Fort Lauderdale.
Earlier, fuselage skins were removed to expose areas of suspected airframe corrosion and allow for more detailed examination to determine if repair or replacement is required. The cabin will be restored to factory-new condition, as it was when delivered in 1964.
According to Bill Kinkaid, president of the Classic Lear Jet Foundation, no estimated time of completion is being shared at this time. "It will be finished as fast as donations and volunteer labor will allow," he told AIN. To help fund the restoration, it recently launched an online <a href="https://store.classiclear.org/">store</a> offering expanded merchandise, mission collectibles, apparel, drinkware, and more, with all profits fueling the goal of returning 23-003 to the sky.

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