The Duncan Download Blog: Business Aviation Advice & Observations

Hanging in Duncan Aviation's Calibration Services Lab is a poster about the History of the Egyptian Cubit. It depicts the beginning of tool calibration more than 5,000 years ago. Many similarities to modern calibrations still remain.

It is believed that around 3,000 B.C. the Egyptian unit of length was established. The Royal Egyptian cubit was decreed to be equal to length of the forearm from the bent elbow to the tip of the extended middle finger plus the width of the palm of the hand of the Pharaoh ruling at the time. The Royal Cubit Master was carved from a block of black granite to endure for all time (the equivalent of today’s primary standard).

Workers building tombs, temples and pyramids were supplied with cubit sticks made of wood or granite. The Royal Architect or foreman of each construction site was responsible for maintaining and transferring the unit of length to the workers’ cubit sticks (modern tool calibration). It was required that the cubit sticks be brought at each full moon (calibration cycle) to be compared to the Royal Cubit Master to ensure their accuracy. Failure to do so was punishable by death (OK…some things have changed).

The strict accuracy of the cubit is why many magnificent structures, such as the Egyptian pyramids, survive today. Egyptians took their metrology very seriously and as a result, their measurement accuracy was impressive. Over a distance of 230 meters, measurements typically varied by only 0.05%.

Maintaining tool accuracy through periodic tool calibrations remains extremely important to guarantee a unit or measure can transfer from one aircraft to another and one country to the next. 

The next time you reach for that torque wrench or micrometer, ask yourself, “am I getting the most accurate reading I need? How do I find out?”

Duncan Aviation Calibration Services

Duncan Aviation’s Calibration Services use NIST traceable standards to calibrate measuring & test equipment (M&TE). Bring your tools with you the next time your aircraft is serviced at one of our full-service maintenance facilities. They will be returned to you when you are ready to leave, properly calibrated and ready for use.

Can’t be long without your tools? Send them to us and we’ll have them back to you in fewer than five days.

Calibration Services

• Certified to ISO/IEC 17025:2005
• Certified ASQ-CCT technicians
• Calibration data available
• Repair capabilities on most M&TE

For a complete list of our calibration capabilities, download the Duncan Aviation Calibrations Fact Sheet.

Last month Duncan Aviation threw a party; and not just one party, but two. Team members from Battle Creek, Michigan, and Lincoln, Nebraska, came together with members of the Duncan family to commemorate Duncan Aviation’s 60th Anniversary.

They celebrated the values, spirit, and strong work ethic that formed the bedrock of the Duncan Aviation organization back in 1956 when Donald Duncan founded the company.

The Battle Creek celebration was held at the Air Zoo in Kalamazoo on Saturday, August 20, while the Lincoln team members gathered at the Strategic Air & Space Museum in Ashland on Friday, August 26.

Several members of the Duncan family, including Robert & Karen Duncan and Todd & Connie Duncan, attended the celebrations and addressed the team members present.

“When I started with the company, we were 400 people. Now we’re well over 2,200. That’s really great to celebrate,” said Todd, Duncan Aviation Chairman. “We are stronger than we’ve ever been and all of you are the reason why. Congratulations on 60 years.”

Robert Duncan, Chairman Emeritus, expressed his appreciation for the hard work that everyone at Duncan Aviation brings to their jobs. “I love the dedication and passion that people like you exhibit every day. You often work long and unusual hours in extreme conditions to do what needs to be done to make sure the aircraft is safe and ready to go. The results of your efforts, and those before you, can be seen in what Duncan Aviation has become.”

Duncan Aviation’s third maintenance facility in Provo will be hosting a 60th Anniversary dinner next month.

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2016 is a special year. It is Duncan Aviation’s 60th year of helping business aircraft operators be safe, efficient and productive. For six decades, customers have asked us for solutions and services. We are celebrating our 60 years by telling the stories about the people of Duncan Aviation who listened and took action.

Celebrate with us by subscribing to the Duncan Download blog, following us on Facebook and Twitter (@DuncanAviation) and visiting our anniversary website at www.DuncanAviation.aero/60.

501-1228-04: Lead Acid Emergency Power Supply

If you are waiting more than two weeks for an offer on your available aircraft avionics inventory, you are waiting too long. 

The business aviation industry is growing rapidly and the demand for good, serviceable avionics parts to support customers’ current and future needs is strong. So Duncan Aviation’s Parts & Rotables Sales has stepped up efforts and increased on-hand inventory of avionics parts for all makes of business aircraft, including modifications packages removed for avionics upgrades.

Every day, customers reach out to Avionics Acquisitions Manager, Jamie Blackman, and her team offering a list of inventory to purchase. Most lists average 20-50 part numbers, but can be as high as 5,000.

• Aircraft inventory companies that purchase aircraft to part-out offer us avionics units, knowing our customer base will likely be able to use the inventory.
• DOMs will sell their rotable pools if their aircraft is traded in for a larger or newer aircraft. These pools consist of good, serviceable units they no longer need. So they sell the units and then turn around and buy inventory for their new rotable needs.

“We have no limits on how large or small of a list we’ll buy,” says Jamie. “If a customer presents us with a list, we’ll take it all whether we have repair capabilities or not.” This makes it easier for the customer, she says, saving them the time it takes to go to multiple outlets to sell their inventory.

501-1712-02: Emergency Power Supply	071-01519-0101: King Ant/RCVR/XMTR	622-1270-001: Collins Transponder

Best Price First

But they won’t haggle on price and Jamie explains why, “We always offer our best price out of the gate, never low-balling or engaging in time-consuming negotiations. We won’t waste your valuable time exchanging emails or phone calls to come to pricing terms. By offering your the fairest price upfront, we save ourselves time and make you money.”

William Calgagni of the Calin Corporation explains why he selected Duncan Aviation to sell his avionics parts. “Out of the three companies I contacted, Duncan Aviation was the easiest to work with and the best fit for my needs, offering a competitive price.”

Jamie knows by offering the fairest price upfront the seller is more likely to come back again the next time they have additional units for sale. William agrees, “The next time I have any avionics units to sell, Duncan Aviation will be on the short list again.”

“We are more than happy to explain how we arrived at our offer,” explains Jamie. When a list is received, it is examined and compared to all of the historical data that has been collected by Duncan Aviation. Each Individual part number is researched to find sales history as well as repair capabilities and average repair costs. Even our own stock quantities are examined to determine the current number of units on hand. All of this information together provides the most accurate fair market value and is used to formulate the purchase offer extended to the customer.

Our offers are competitive and, in most cases, higher than others because we have more than 45,000 different repair manuals and a large team of avionics repair professionals. These in-house repair capabilities keep costs under control, allowing us to offer more money for the units. And our wide and active customer base ensures that we are able to maintain multiple units in our inventory.

Best Price Fast

071-01550-0101: King Radar Antenna

Not only will you get our best offer out of the gate, you’ll have that offer within one to two business days of receiving the list. There is no waiting up to two weeks to hear back about an offer or to find out that most of the list is rejected. We have a proprietary computer program that compares individual part numbers to Duncan Aviation’s entire historical experience with each unit. With a click of a button, we are able to replicate the thoroughness of manual line-by-line research, but have results within a matter of a few hours.

Over the past three years, the Duncan Aviation Parts & Rotable Sales has added over $2.5 million in avionics inventory. And recently started an Avionics Purchasing Program to build an inventory of avionics units for which we don’t have repair capabilities. “The market demand for these newer systems is beginning to grow,” says Jamie. “Our customers need these units and we want to be able meet those needs by being their best source.”

WeBuyAvionics@DuncanAviation.com

If you have avionics inventory, whether it is one unit or thousands of piece parts, we will be the first to respond and with the best offer. When receiving your payment you have the option of cash, trade or putting credit on your account for future Duncan Aviation work, anywhere in the company.

Contact Duncan Aviation to sell your excess avionics inventory by emailing an Excel spreadsheet of your parts list, including part numbers to WeBuyAvionics@DuncanAviation.com. We are also interested in purchasing surplus inventories of airframe and engine accessory components.

Simplifying A Puzzle of Complexity

Ever put together a 1,000 piece puzzle? How about one with no straight-edges or picture on the box? What if you only had a couple of hours to finish and the pieces kept changing shape? Sounds a little daunting, if not impossible doesn’t it. Yet this is a daily scenario at Duncan Aviation.

Getting Downtime…Down

Operations Planning Coordinators, Brian Barto, Doug Schmitt, and Jason Kinnan have the difficult job of identifying and pulling together all the loose pieces of every aircraft maintenance event at our Battle Creek, MI, Lincoln, NE, and Provo, UT, facilities to determine an appropriate downtime. On any given day, they may have 35-40 schedules to plan.

They are only able to do this with the help of a very skilled team members who are aware of every shop’s maintenance capabilities and the capacity of work that can be expected. They communicate directly with Project Managers, Team Leaders, and Tech Reps.

They know the work required, the manpower necessary, and the time needed to satisfy the customer’s need for the shortest downtime, while maintaining the quality of work they expect from us.

Read more Duncan Aviation Airframe Maintenance

Hitting the Ground Running

Because of the hard work these teams do prior to every customer’s arrival, all the factory-trained technicians assigned are knowledgeable and well-prepared to begin work immediately upon touchdown with all necessary tools and parts assembled. This is a result of hours of team members being in constant communication with each other, making sure that all work is done in the most efficient time, with no overlaps and minimal interruptions.

“We are very aware that downtime is of high importance to customers. That makes it a high priority to us, as well,” says Shawn Busby, Project Manager. “Because we are a full-service maintenance facility, we have the advantage of doing all that is required under one roof in the shortest amount of time. It also requires a higher level of communication and teamwork so we are able to reduce downtime, increase efficiency and save our customers money.”

Read more Duncan Aviation Avionics Install

Unmatched

“Our engine capabilities are so inclusive that other FBO operations use Duncan Aviation engine team members to support them,” said Mike Bernholtz, Turbine Engine Service Sales Rep. “It is difficult for them to match our expertise, capabilities and downtime with our factory authorizations for Honeywell TFE731, HTF7000 and APUs; Pratt & Whitney 300 series, 500 series, 600 series, JT15, and PT6; Williams International and General Electric CF34.”

Read more Duncan Aviation Turbine Engine Services

You Get What You Pay For

We understand that budgets are tight and you want the best value, but don’t mistake the lowest price tag as your best option. When it comes to considering an MRO for aircraft paint or interior refurbishment work, you really do get what you pay for. “We have seen customers go with the lowest offer in order to save money. But end up having to pay more for services their chosen facilities are incapable of providing,” says Suzanne Hawes, Completions Sales Rep.

Read more Duncan Aviation Interior Completions

“In the case of hidden damage and corrosion, if the low-cost service provider does not have engineering and structural capabilities, the customer ends up having to hire a separate engineering consultant to assess the damage. And potentially even a third facility to do the structural repairs..  

At Duncan Aviation we have the experience, that if the damage is beyond tolerance, we work directly with the OEMs to create a repair disposition and have a structures team able to complete the repairs in-house.

Read more Duncan Aviation Aircraft Paint Services

We Have Anticipated Your Needs

There is no simple solution to keeping an aircraft airworthy. The regularly scheduled maintenance events and those that are not expected all add to the cost of doing business by air. As an aircraft operator as well as a service provider, Duncan Aviation understands the daily complexities and has already anticipated your needs before you have.

We make it our business to take the complicated puzzle of aircraft operation and ownership and make it as simple as possible for you.

The best and most economic choice for maintenance events, all the time, every time, is Duncan Aviation. The years of experience and the long list of capabilities at all of our facilities has proven that when we promise to do a job, we are promising to deliver on time, at a fair price, and with the highest quality of work.

This isn’t a random guess disguised as a promise; it is the expert opinion of team members who make it their job to know.

Spring is here and that means storm season is upon us! Because radar is a great tool to avoid severe weather, spring is not the time to find out your radar is not functioning properly. For this reason, the Duncan Aviation avionics and instrument shop is kept very busy, servicing thousands of radar units every year.

Watch the video (below) and follow a radar as it makes a roadtrip through our Lincoln, Neb. facility during a routine inspection.

Radar Rotable Exchanges

Also every year, we process hundreds of radar exchanges. In order to meet this growing demand, we continually increase our radar exchange and outright inventory options so AOG customers don’t have to wait. There is also a loaner pool available.

To save you money and provide peace of mind, we offer one year warranties and flat rate exchange options on rotables that are notorious for add bills. To keep our pricing low and to avoid the ever-dreaded add bill, we use serviceable parts from hundreds of on-site core units.

Duncan Aviation Parts Sales is running a June promotion on radar rotables.  If we receive your core back at our Lincoln facility within five business days of the radar exchange unit shipping, we will issue a $50 credit to your Duncan Aviation account for future business.  Contact any Duncan Aviation Parts & Rotable Sales Contact. 

 

 

 

No one in the aviation industry likes to see an instrument or piece of avionics equipment labeled as No Fault Found (NFF). So Duncan Aviation technicians take great care to tackle these head-on to find faults.

Equipment is labeled NFF when the squawk it is sent in for cannot be duplicated in the repair bench environment. Additionally, many problems with avionics equipment and instruments are intermittent; the equipment doesn’t fail outright, it just periodically stops performing as needed. That makes diagnosis even more difficult.

Brian Leffers, Manager of the Duncan Aviation Avionics/Instrument shop, estimates that between 10-25% of the components that Duncan Aviation receives are labeled NFF from a different shop.

So just how does Duncan Aviation tackle these diagnostic dilemmas?

EXPERIENCE SAVES MONEY

There are hundreds of years’ worth of experience among the technicians working on gyros, weather radar, antennas, autopilot equipment, and navigation/communications systems sent to Duncan Aviation. Brian believes that this experience is the main reason Duncan Aviation is known for its ability to resolve NFF problems.

Because Duncan Aviation technicians are assigned to dedicated stations and work all day, every day, on the same types of components and instruments, they become familiar with even the most uncommon problems and failures.

Randy Bauer has worked at Duncan Aviation for 28 years. As a Gyro Master Tech, Randy explains that a faulty gyro could cause wing rock. However, determining what’s wrong in a gyro isn’t that easy. “In the vertical gyro, wing rock may be caused by defective gimbal bearings, low liquid level, or free drift rates. And in rare instances, the directional gyro could cause the same wing rock discrepancy if it has defective gimbal bearings or if the free drift rates don’t conform to specifications.”

Instrument Master Technician Steve Joe, who has 30 years of experience, specializes in repair and overhaul of attitude indicators. Some of these indicators have a new replacement cost of up to $40,000, so repair is preferred. The motors used to drive the attitude and command displays in some attitude director indicator models have intermittent failures. If the motor fails just once every 300 cycles, that would prevent it from being acceptable for continued service. These parts are carefully inspected to minimize the chance of in-flight failures.

ENVIRONMENTAL TESTING

Duncan Aviation’s Avionics and Instrument Shop uses chambers that simulate the temperature extremes equipment experiences in flight. For instance, a weather radar antenna in an aircraft’s nose cone may experience 100-degree temperature swings from ground to altitude. To duplicate and diagnose problems, Duncan’s chamber can re-create those extremes (-40C to +70C).

Randy explains that all gyros are subjected to temperature extremes: They go through a hot (oven: 200 degrees) and cold (freezer: 20 degrees) soak to simulate the real-life temperatures the gyro may experience during flight or on the ground.

In addition, the shop houses an altitude chamber to simulate the changes in altitude and pressure that equipment undergoes during flight. And a vibration simulation re-creates the shaking and shuddering of an aircraft under various flight conditions.

STATE-OF-THE-ART DIAGNOSTIC EQUIPMENT

Duncan Aviation also invests in the most current tooling and repair manuals. When Team Leader Barry Burkey works on autopilot instruments, he uses a Duncan-developed automated test set called Date-1B. Instead of spending eight hours standing and monitoring the diagnostic test on a faulty autopilot, he hooks the unit to a computer for testing. While the tests are running, he’s free to work on other units.

Developed by Duncan Aviation’s Research & Development experts, the test set performs diagnostics and produces an analysis that Barry and his team use to pinpoint the problem. A major benefit of this automation is that it allows technicians to repeat lengthy tests many times in an attempt to duplicate intermittent problems that would normally take days to find, making this not only more cost effective but creating a higher probability that the fault will be identified.

NARROW THE FIELD

Duncan Aviation also has four Avionics/Instrument Tech Reps who provide support for the Avionics/Instrument shop by speaking directly to customers troubleshooting problems. Brian says, “Parts may arrive with a tag that says, ‘broken’ or ‘doesn’t work’.” From that brief assessment, it’s very difficult for a technician to discern what’s wrong. Tech reps call the customer and talk through the problems he or she has been experiencing to help pinpoint the source of the malfunction.

“Sometimes,” Brian says, “we have a unit here to work on. But after talking with the customer, our techs realize that unit may not be the source of the problem. So troubleshooting with the customer is an important step that helps ensure the customer doesn’t waste money sending in the wrong boxes.”

Randy agrees. “If an aircraft is experiencing wing rock, we might suspect a faulty gyro. However, it might also result from the autopilot sending a faulty signal to the servo. If the customer simply sends in the gyro and says the problem was wing rock, we could work on that gyro for months and never diagnose a problem.”

UP TO THE CHALLENGE

Locating the true nature of problems with avionics and instrument equipment is not always easy. The technicians at Duncan Aviation go to great lengths using experience, knowledge, environmental and diagnostic testing equipment and sheer determination to find solutions to components problems and save customers time, money and frustration.

ADS-B (Automatic Dependent Surveillance Broadcast) flight operations are quickly becoming a reality in the United States. The shift from the primary use of radar to ADS-B for air traffic management is one of the biggest technological changes that the aviation community will experience in the next decade. While there are many benefits associated with this change, there is also a great deal of confusion among many operators on how to comply with the regulatory mandate requiring aircraft to be equipped with ADS-B by Jan. 1, 2020, in the United States. 

Across all segments of aviation, there are still operators, installers and other stakeholders who have questions about what exactly is required to get their specific aircraft upgraded and compliant with the FAA’s ADS-B to DO-260B mandate, which is the most stringent among all regulatory authorities that have ADS-B mandates in place. Class of airspace, functionality and certification requirements, and availability of solutions all remain issues as well. 

Join Gary Harpster, Duncan Aviation's Avionics Installation Sales Rep, to get the answers to these questions and more during an upcoming webinar geared toward business and general aviation operators. 

May 18, 2016

11:00am-12:00pm EST

 

Joining him: 
Alex J. Rodriguez, Aerospace Engineer (AIR-132), Avionics Systems Branch, FAA 
Tom Dooling, Honeywell Aerospace; Technical Sales 

Moderator:
Woodrow Bellamy III, Associate Editor, Avionics 
Click here to register.

That screwdriver that mysteriously went missing from the toolbox, a scrap of wire or a pack of Lifesavers might not look threatening. But as any A&P Tech will tell you, anything that’s somewhere it doesn’t belong sets the stage for a potentially dangerous situation. Such objects are known as FOD, and Duncan Aviation’s technicians are finding more of them more frequently.

It is common knowledge that any foreign object in, on or around an aircraft can have tragic results. Yet some of our airframe techs have discovered many of these objects during inspections across all makes and models of aircraft. Everything from small bits of trash to misplaced pieces of on-board equipment have been found trapped under floorboards and lying on top of wire bundles.

The definitions of FOD can be as varied as the objects that can cause it: Foreign Object Damage, Foreign Object Debris, etc. One thing all aviation experts agree on is that if FOD is in your aircraft or if it affects the external areas of your aircraft it can lead to an extremely serious situation. FOD comes in many forms–typically debris from other aircraft. It can be nothing more than a small rivet or any other type of object on the ramp or runway.

Tire punctures are common with runway FOD. Hopefully this type of debris is caught during pre-flight inspections and the result is only an inexpensive tire replacement and not a blowout during takeoff.

Internal FOD can result from work crews leaving an object trapped behind a panel or floorboard somewhere on the aircraft. It can even be a part of the airplane that was moved and not returned to its proper place.

During inspections, our techs have discovered items ranging from tie-raps, avionic control buttons, pencils and even an auxiliary gear handle that was lying on top of the flight control pulleys under the co-pilot floor. Any FOD trapped under floorboards can be a potential hazard to the safe operation of an aircraft. Sharp objects found lying on wire bundles, hydraulic lines, pitot static lines, etc., are especially dangerous and can have a chafing potential which can again lead to a catastrophic failure.

Consider this fictional nightmare scenario: After a maintenance event, an auxiliary gear handle is left under the pilot’s floor lying on top of the flight control pulleys. The crew has done a thorough preflight, but does not have X-ray vision and has no idea what’s below them. They start down the runway for the flight home and just as the PNF (pilot not flying) calls V1 (the decision speed to abort the takeoff or fly) one engine quits, so the PF (pilot flying) immediately adds rudder for directional control. The auxiliary gear handle slips from its resting place due to the abnormal side loads and wedges into the rudder cables. The rudder is designed to travel a set number of degrees to give a pilot the required directional control at the speed above V1. Since the handle is now restricting the designed amount of deflection, the pilot’s only option is to reduce power on the good engine to match what rudder is available and PRAY that is enough.

Depending on the type of FOD, a loss of any system aboard an airplane is possible. This can lead to a life-threatening scenario during takeoff, flight and landing. Normally these types of FOD issues don’t arise because of the professional training and maintenance ethics of A&Ps. Vigilance to the task at hand can eliminate many forms of FOD.

When it comes to FOD, carelessness should never be tolerated and strict procedures must be followed. Duncan Aviation is extremely serious about FOD and has an inspection system in place that is strictly adhered to in order to ensure that all foreign objects, regardless of area of origination, are secured prior to panel/floor close up. At Duncan Aviation a task on or around an aircraft is not completed until FOD is eliminated. Make sure to review the FOD procedures at any maintenance facility you might choose and make sure they take FOD as seriously as they should.

Engine FOD Potentially Catastrophic

Engine FOD can be the most dangerous of all FOD. Any material that rips through any engine can cause a catastrophic failure. Engine FOD is both internal and external. Internal FOD can be mitigated through the use of strict procedures. (Check to see the procedures your service provider uses.) External FOD requires proper planning and observation to eliminate.

Internal FOD may include any tool, part or anything a technician may use while servicing an engine. Rivets are common FOD elements for engines. Years ago, a chief pilot decided to test his flight crew’s FOD procedures by placing his hat inside an engine intake. Before he could warn them of his plan, they tested the engine. Several thousand dollars of damage resulted.

External FOD is much more dangerous if the aircraft is in flight. External FOD may include airborne debris such as a sand storm or volcanic ash from an eruption or even hail or ice ingestion. Be aware of FAA NOTAMs in the area of your flight plan. Also be careful when taxiing behind large aircraft as their jet blast and general size can kick up quite a bit of debris.

The damage to the TFE731 engine above was caused by a bird strike. We found damage to the fan blades, nose cowl leading edge, fan stator, and compressor impeller... just to name a few. Depending on the strike, one bird can cause more than half-a-million dollars in damages.

Duncan Aviation’s aircraft paint experts never cease to amaze. Watch this time-lapse video of our team in Lincoln, Nebraska, as they create custom ghost artwork on the left- and right-hand fuselage of BurgerFi’s Bombardier Global.

Look close. Can you see the company name and logo in silver sparkle flake?

Colors used:

AkzoNobel Matterhorn White
Axalta Carbon Black
Axalta Gray
Axalta Silver Sparkle
House of Kolor Silver Mini Flake
House of Kolor Ice Pearl
Sherwin Williams Acry Glo Clear

 

“When I’m told I’m going to get my unit back in three days, I get my unit back in three days, usually before.”
—Paul Paxton, Director of Maintenance

Paul Paxton runs a tight flight operation for Herzog Contracting Corp., performing a delicate balancing act keeping their fleet operational and ready for their weekly flights. “Wherever we have business, the aircraft have to be ready to go,” says Paul.

Headquartered in St. Joseph, Missouri, their weekly flights have taken them to 46 states and six countries. Herzog supports the growth of community and state infrastructures by building commuter rail and freight systems, as well as road, highway and airport construction projects.

Their flight hours fluctuate widely from week to week and month to month. This heavy flying schedule takes a lot of planning and constant communication. As the director of maintenance, Paul follows a detailed plan to keep the aircraft and all of the hourly components up-to-date with their maintenance schedules.

But as we all know, things happen and not always according to a set schedule. And when they do, it is important to have a back-up plan to get things back on track.

Paul recently found himself in a situation where his aircraft were going to be down at the same time due to the actual hours flown being nearly double what was expected. That caused one of the starter generators to get critically near the end of its hours. It needed to come out immediately and get sent in for overhaul.

Paul doesn’t keep a lot of spares on hand. Therefore, when he pulls a component for overhaul or repair, it essentially creates an AOG situation. “I either have to exchange it or have it expedited through the overhaul.” Preferring to have his own component back, he picked up the phone and called his back-up plan, Joy Damian. Joy is a customer account representative for Duncan Aviation’s Accessories department.

It was 4 o’clock in the afternoon on a Wednesday when Joy received Paul’s call. “I’m pulling a starter and I need it back ASAP. Can you help me out?” To which she replied, “We’ll work it in.”

After Paul made the two-and-a-half-hour drive to Duncan Aviation in Lincoln, Nebraska, the starter generator was entered into the work order system and on the bench by 7:30 p.m. that same night. Once the overhaul was performed with brush replacements and final inspections, the work order was signed off at 6:37 a.m. Friday morning.

It was delivered back into Paul’s hands Friday afternoon and was installed and ready well ahead of the following week’s busy schedule.

Paul explains why he turns to Joy and Duncan Aviation when time is critical. “When Joy tells me I’m going to get my unit back in three days, I get my unit back in three days, usually before. There’s a high level of comfort knowing that I can confidently schedule future flights and other activities based on the date she promises.” Paul goes on to say the reason Joy is successful in her position is that she is backed by a team of skilled technicians who tackle the work. “I can rely upon what she says. That’s huge.”

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Read more from the Fall 2015 Duncan Debrief Magazine