The Duncan Download Blog: Business Aviation Advice & Observations

1982 had barely flipped a calendar page when Duncan Aviation opened its brand spankin’ new Interior shop, and 19-year-old Matt Spain was one of the shop’s first five employees.

He’d been working for a company that refurbished aircraft interiors in 1981 when his good friend Chip Mosley encouraged him to take a look at Duncan Aviation.

Matt liked what he saw, was hired by Bob McCammon. Matt began his career here on June 22, 1981 in the Paint shop, and he moved to the new Interior shop a few months later when it opened.

“On the day the new Interior shop opened its garage door, I was there,” says Matt. “We didn’t yet have a Design Center or a Cabinet shop, and we mostly did soft good replacement and Interior repairs. We fixed broken seats, hinges and armrests and installed carpet, headliners and side ledges. And we sewed. We all knew how to sew, or we learned on the job.”

Matt, who will celebrate his 34^th anniversary with Duncan Aviation in June, is the only one of the original Interior shop employees who’s still at Duncan Aviation. Housed in a garage in one of the old hangars, Matt worked with Ray Butkus, Arnold Goodlett, Dennis Hansen and Mike Harris, and Mike Winters supervised the small staff.

“Ray and Arnold were the upholstery specialists, Mike could do a little of everything, and I focused on completions and modifications,” says Matt.

During those early years, the guys in the Interior shop worked on primarily 25 and 30 series Learjets, Jetstars and Sabreliners. The biggest aircraft they touched was a GII.

“In addition to the fact that I got to work on an airplane, I loved working with my hands and seeing the difference between before and after,” says Matt. “It is so rewarding to see the look on owners’ faces when they pick up their aircraft and say ‘Wow! You guys are really good at what you do!’”

Cabinet work was outsourced to Dwight Moody’s cabinet shop in the Haymarket. In 1983, Duncan Aviation bought that cabinet shop and many of its employees became Duncan Aviation employees. Gerry Hilde, who retired in October 2015 after 32 years, was one of the original Cabinet shop employees who transitioned to Duncan Aviation after the acquisition.

Around that time, the Interior shop and the newly acquired Cabinet shop moved from the garage to the backside of the LAI hangar (now Hangar C). Duncan Aviation also hired Interior Master Finish Specialist Steve Reznick as its first finish guy. 

“Before Steve, we did whatever we could to get by,” says Matt. “He knew and taught us materials, products and methods that we just didn’t know. Steve showed us how to match stains and fix damaged areas, he introduced a whole new interior painting system and he taught us about faux finishing, too. He knew clear coats and materials that worked on wood. With his knowledge and experience, Steve took the shop to a whole new level.”

In 1985, Matt transitioned to the Interior shop Team Leader, and he says he was a man on a mission.

“As a brand new Team Leader I was a hard driver focused on getting aircraft finished and delivered on time,” says Matt. “I was learning how to be a manager and how to conduct business in a professional manner, but I had high expectations. I worked right alongside my team, but if we were told something had to be done by Friday, I’d make sure it was done by Friday no matter how many hours we had to work.”

As Duncan Aviation’s reputation grew in the industry and the Interior shop grew (by roughly 18% each year), Matt grew professionally. He was managing the Interior shop, was married and had two children, and Skip Madsen and John Slieter encouraged Matt to go to college. With tuition assistance from Duncan Aviation, Matt went to Doane College and graduated with a degree in Business Administration, with an emphasis in management.

“It was an interesting time, but my education was timely and extremely valuable,” says Matt. “I was insanely busy, but I’d go to school at night and apply the principles I had learned the next day on the floor.”

Matt began managing the Interior shop in 1991, and he oversaw the growth of the production team from 35 people to more than 200, with 28 team leaders. As business picked up and aircraft transitioned from small to mid-sized cabins, the Interior shop outgrew its space.

Members of the Interior shop, including Matt, were called upon to submit their ideas to Tectonic Management Group who asked for our input on the design and layout of the new shop. In 2001, on the day President George W. Bush was inaugurated, the Interior shop opened in its current location in Hangar D.

In 2007, Matt left the Interior shop to work with our NetJets Program.  He transitioned to Project Manager in 2009 and then on to Paint and Interior sales in 2010. He spent nearly 30 years on the production side, managing and building teams.  When Mike Minchow, then Manager of NetJets and Sales, asked him to join the sales team, Matt jumped at the opportunity.

“I often thought sales would be a good next step for me” says Matt, and he credits Senior Sales Representative in Completions and Modifications Service Sales Tracey Boesch for teaching him the art of selling interiors for Embraer and Bombardier aircraft, even though she specializes in sales for Dassault Falcons and Learjets.

“I love sales, and it’s been a welcome change from managing people,” says Matt. “The experience of working on the floor and managing people has given me an advantage in sales, though. I know what we’re capable of, and I know what questions to ask. From a customer’s perspective, the whole process should be seamless from proposal to production. In order to offer that kind of experience, it’s important that we sales people ask the production folks a lot of questions. Learn from them; let them help you when you’re writing a quote. Go and ask them questions.”

During Matt’s tenure with Duncan Aviation, the Interior shops’ capabilities grew from the original handful of airframes to dozens, including Falcon, Gulfstream, Global, Challenger, Hawker, Citation, Learjet, Embraer, Hawker, King Air, Astra/Westwinds, and more.

The Interior Mods/Completions shop is in Manager Jared Stauffer’s capable hands now, and in partnership with the Duncan Aviation Design Center, offers custom designs by professional designers, quality products and meticulous attention to detail. Over the years, the Interior shop has evolved from its humble beginnings to a production crew that’s capable of refurbishing headliners, building custom cabinets, upholstering chairs and divans, constructing executive tables, and much more.

Duncan Aviation began providing aircraft fuel services in 1963, when the company opened a state-of-the-art facility at the then-new general aviation side of the Lincoln Municipal Airport in Nebraska. Aircraft at the time couldn’t make coast-to-coast trips without stopping to refuel and customers expressed to Duncan Aviation team members that they wanted fast service that would allow them to get back in the air quickly. Duncan Aviation soon became well-known for the Duncan Quick Turn, which promised a fuel stop in 10 minutes or less.

Bob McCammon, now an Aircraft Sales Representative, has been with Duncan Aviation since 1968. He spent several years in the early 1970s as the Line Service Manager. He remembers the early Duncan Quick Turns well.

“We had 10 to 20, sometimes as many as 30 aircraft a day visiting Duncan Aviation for Quick Turn fuel,” Bob says. The company offered pilots unique ways to better meet their fuel service. A Falcon pit was constructed that gave Falcon 20 pilots a lower point for their nose gear, tipping the fuel tanks and allowing the aircraft to take on more fuel. And the company would have three fuel trucks available with two hoses each to more quickly service the six-tank Jetstar, he says. “We also provided maintenance help and troubleshooting if the operator had any issues. This really helped expose future customers to our small FBO in the Great Plains.”

Duncan Aviation still offers Quick Turn fuel service at all of its main FBO locations (Battle Creek, Michigan; Kalamazoo, Michigan; and Lincoln) along with many other amenities and access to nose-to-tail support services. Our line crews are known for quick and convenient line service and our front desk personnel are known for hospitality. Repeat customers are greeted by name and new visitors are welcomed and shown the services they can expect: office space, conference rooms, pilot lounges, advanced weather planning, and café service, to name just a few. See a full list of FBO amenities here.

If you are attending the NBAA Schedulers and Dispatchers show January 19-22 in Tampa, Florida, this week, stop by Booth #1219 to talk with our Line Service team members to hear about how we have met needed FBO Services for customers for decades.

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.

Lori Johnson has been the Marketing Communications Manager for Duncan Aviation for more than 20 years. She enjoys working with the smart and passionate aviation experts at Duncan Aviation, helping them connect with and educate customers about important industry topics.  

At Duncan Aviation, we don’t wait for others. We lead while others follow.

It is in the very fabric of our culture with every team member to stay at the front of business aviation, providing innovative, responsive and revolutionary customer service.

We listen. We act. Our customers are loyal.

Listen as our team members talk about what excites them about the future of Duncan Aviation

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.

We all know the drill. As soon as the ball drops we make promises to ourselves to improve life in the coming year. The most common resolutions are to improve fitness, stop vices or change a behavior.

But this is also a time to make and renew commitments to improve our work for the benefit of our customers.

A group of Duncan Aviation team members from all levels and across the country were asked ‘What is your Duncan Aviation New Year’s Resolution?’

Here’s what a few of them had to say.

Todd Duncan Aviation Duncan Aviation Chairman

For me personally, I want to fly more. I’m not in the aviation business just for the benefits of the transaction, I’m in it because I love to fly and I want to spend more time in my personal aircraft.   

On a business level, I am going to celebrate all year the fact my family has been in this business for sixty years and have remained family-owned. In an industry where everyone is for sale, I am committed to remaining independent. For sixty years, we have built our brand around our team members, their families and the American craftsman. We are up for sixty more.

Michael Hill Manager, Engineering Services, BTL

Continue to educate myself and others on Duncan Aviation’s Certification and Engineering processes so we can all understand why we do what we do.

Chris Gress, Manager Duncan Aviation Parts and Rotables Sales, LNK

My goal for 2016 is to get more of our Parts & Rotables Sales Team out to meet Duncan Aviation customers at industry events throughout the year.

Jeff Schipper, Project Manager, PVU

During the coming year, we will continue to seek new offerings and capabilities for our customers at our Provo, UT, location, as well as improve responsiveness to AOG events.

Steve Gade, Vice President of Marketing and Business Development, LNK                                    

Do a better job of asking our customers the right questions and listen carefully to their responses so that I may better understand exactly how we can better serve them so they can better serve their customers.

Andrew Arcuri Assistant Manager, Engine Rapid Response Teams

Duncan Aviation Rapid Response Team has grown significantly in 2015, adding seven new technicians alone to the east coast. No matter how carefully we select the technicians for the Rapid Response Team or how thoroughly we prepare them with product knowledge training, there is no substitute for reinforcing customer service communication skills. For my 2016 resolution, I look to better communicate with our customers regarding aircraft/engine workscope, aircraft return-to-service time and an accurate cost of service. I look forward to a great 2016 and thank you to all our customers that make working for Duncan Aviation a great personal experience.    

Melissa Raddatz Avionics Sales Representative, BTL

To continue be a person of integrity, to provide high quality customer service and to seek excellence in all I do.

Joe Tulowitzki Turbine Engine Service Sales Representative

For the coming year I am committed to working closely with my team to say what we are going to do and then deliver exactly what we say, leaving no surprises for the customers in the end.

A Culture Unchanged 

From the beginning, Donald Duncan, Duncan Aviation’s Founder, believed that if you take care of employees, employees will take personal pride to improve and then care for customers. 

To this day, this belief is unchanged. During 2016 as we celebrate our 60th anniversary, we resolve to take personal accountability towards improvement so that we are better able to serve you, our customer.

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.

The business aviation industry is highly technical, highly regulated, extremely dynamic and full of acronyms. If you are like many in the industry you don’t have the luxury of time or resources to do proper research and fact-finding on the most important issues facing your flight operations.

That’s why we do it for you. It’s free of charge and yours for the taking.

Todd Duncan was recently asked why, in this highly competitive industry, the company gives away such robust technical resources to operators. Here is what he had to say.

“This is not a new concept by any means. Duncan Aviation has been educating customers for decades. Aviation is highly regulated and mandates can be confusing to those who don’t live and breathe them every day. Ultimately, our goal is to guide operators to make the most of their assets and be able to use them efficiently and effectively. The best way to do this is to ensure they are able to make informed decisions for their aircraft and their flight department. Doing so ensures that they will continue to operate their aircraft, and we will be able to continue providing them with meaningful and valued services. If operators really understand the work they need and want to have completed on their aircraft, they are able to make decisions that allow them to maximize their downtime and, in turn, make more efficient use of their asset.”

That’s why we do it. Now here’s how.

Straight Talk Books

The first Duncan Aviation Straight Talk book was written in the early 1990s by our avionics experts when the mandates for Traffic Alert & Collision Avoidance Systems (TCAS) in business aircraft were being discussed and implemented.

Since then many Straight Talk books have been published to address complicated avionics mandates and other industry initiatives, such as NextGen, FANS, ADS-B and RVSM. The same Duncan Aviation technical experts who author these informative books are available to operators by phone anytime they wish for clarification or more information.  

Download Straight Talk books here: http://www.duncanaviation.aero/resources/straight-talk/

Duncan Intelligence newsletters

Twenty years ago, we started a quarterly technical newsletter with airframe-specific information that was faxed to operators. Our goal was to share technical tips and information that operators could use to better maintain and care for their aircraft.

Our goal has remained the same, but now the Duncan Intelligence is a monthly e-mail subscription for business aircraft operators around the world. All articles are written by our team of airframe-specific technical representatives.

Subscribe to the Duncan Intelligence here: http://www.duncanaviation.aero/intelligence/

Presentations and Seminars

In keeping with our goal of educating aircraft operators, we have held a variety of seminars and educational courses over the years, from two-day-long conferences at our facilities to hour-long presentations at major industry tradeshows and events.

In 2016, we will continue this tradition. Those events will include our popular ADS-B and NextGen seminars.

Check out all future Duncan Aviation events here: http://archive.da.aero/events/

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.

With only $30,000 and 90 days, Ed Gilmore, then Duncan Aviation Avionics Bench Tech was challenged to design and develop a working prototype to replace the Collins 980L autopilot test set.

He did it. That was 1981 and only the beginning.

Original R&D Team circa 1984 

With the help of a local community college instructor and another former Duncan Aviation team member, Ed designed and built the DATE 1 (Duncan Aviation Test Equipment).

It was probably the first-ever computer controlled test set in General Aviation. It used an Apple II-E computer with whopping 64K of memory. It was functional and remained in service for many years.

This test set laid the innovative foundation for what would eventually become Duncan Aviation’s Research and Development (R&D) team. Established in 1984, the R&D department was initially created to support Duncan Aviation’s Avionics Satellite network.

The initial Avionics Satellite shops opened up across the country with the first generation DA test equipment that consisted of large panels taking up a lot of space. In order to grow, the equipment needed to shrink. R&D’s task was to develop test equipment that integrated the current equipment into smaller boxes with increased testing capabilities. But another important requirement was for the equipment to look high-tech and “cool”.

Photo of an original Softset developed by the Duncan Aviation R&D department. 

By 1985 the team began the development of equipment that used software rather than hardware called SoftSet. SoftSet was able to test 80 percent of the avionics units that arrived at Duncan Aviation for repair or overhaul.

By 1990 DATE 1 was upgraded to DATE 1A, converted to run on a Macintosh computer and included the addition of Artificial Intelligence (AI). AI assisted in troubleshooting units and offered solutions based on repair history. The equipment got smarter with each test and became more accurate with repair recommendations.

By the mid-90s, both SoftSet and DATE 1 were advanced further with the ability to handle an advanced number of capabilities with a significantly smaller footprint…and they looked “cool”.

DATE 1B became fully automated in 1996 significantly reducing test times. For example the 4.5 hour test of a 562A-5M5 Collins A/P was reduced to 50 minutes and the eigh hour test of the CA-200 Sperry A/P was able to produce results in only three hours. This freed the technicians to do other things and get the units returned to customers quicker.

For the last 30 years, Duncan Aviation’s R&D has provided far more than just support for the Avionics Satellites. The lion share of their projects are smaller dedicated circuits, mockups, test boxes, modules, and mechanical jigs for the rest of the company.

These projects have helped facilitate Duncan Aviation to hold and grow in the avionics repair market, by providing quality test equipment, support documentation and assistance with certification.

Chris Hogg, R&D Tech, says that this innovation is a partnership between R&D and the technician on the floor. “When the technician sees an opportunity to make how they do their job better, faster or more efficient, they get us involved. We work together to provide services that bring the idea to reality, which is very gratifying. We have had more than a thousand such projects, each a story unto itself.

Other R&D Designed Projects

The Falcon Flight Control Force Tool measures the force required by the pilot to move the control wheel and rudder pedals on Falcon 2000, 900 and 50 series aircraft. It has been recently granted ‘tool equivalency’ status by the FAA after an extensive comparison to the original factory tool.

The R&D also crafted Tail Stand Alarms that notify the mechanics prior to the aircraft making contact with the tail stands.

R&D utilizes 3D printing technology to reduce fabrication time and project costs. It has also been used to provide mockups of in-house developed antenna mounts for aircraft.

DATE 1C upgrade is in development and will replace the current Mac computers used in the Duncan Automated autopilot/flight director Test Equipment with PCs.

The development of this software and equipment is one of the many examples demonstrating how Duncan Aviation employees strive to stay at the front of business aviation, providing innovative, responsive and revolutionary customer service.

Innovative technology has a ripple effect that doesn’t end when a project is over. Today’s fresh new ideas become the foundation and infrastructure for tomorrow’s next big thing. This natural evolution allows those who are willing, the ability to think creatively and find the next step.

Donald Duncan believed that if you took care of your employees, your employees would, in turn, take care of customers.

It is a belief that empowers all Duncan Aviation team members to take the initiative, often times stepping outside their normal job requirements, to discover and deliver what customers need and want, sometimes before they know they need or want it.

We are listening. 

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.

In 1966, Don Fiedler, who is now the Manager of New Business Development for Components, joined the very young Duncan Aviation avionics team as its fourth employee. Then called American Learjet, the company (Duncan Beechcraft) had recently relocated from Omaha, Nebraska, to the Lincoln Airport, and Don primarily worked avionics, doing repairs and installations in Bonanzas, Barons and King Airs. One Learjet 23 was located on the airport, and he worked on that as well.

Don will wrap up his 50^th year in the aviation industry—all of which he has spent at Duncan Aviation—with his retirement in September 2016. He has distinctive memories of every one of his five decades, and he fondly remembers the 1970s as a decade in which Duncan Aviation expanded and grew its avionics capabilities. 

“We did some avionics installs on Cessnas and some on helicopters for Harry Barr’s company called Panhandle Aviation,” says Don. “But once Donald [Duncan, the founder of Duncan Aviation] and Bill Lear finished their negotiations in the ’60s, we were one of only five Learjet service centers in the United States, and by 1970, we were doing a lot of avionics work on Learjets, too.”

Thinking of Learjets reminded Don of how much the late Bill Lear loved the hamburgers from the King’s Food Host on 15^th & Cornhusker. Although the Lincoln institution was eventually franchised, there were no King’s restaurants in Wichita, Kansas, where Learjet was located.

“Whenever Bill flew a Lear to Lincoln, he’d radio ahead and ask us to have 10 or 15 King’s hamburgers waiting for him. He’d take most of them back to Wichita with him,” says Don, laughing.

After becoming an authorized Learjet service center, Duncan Aviation acquired all of the test equipment and began repairing and installing avionics equipment in Learjets. Donald Duncan was the best Learjet salesman in the country. In his lifetime, Don Fielder remembers that Donald sold more than 450 Learjets.

When an aircraft was in for an avionics installation, Don says Donald could be a bit of a mercenary about getting the work done.

“Donald would say, ‘We’re paying interest on that airplane until it’s sold’,” Don says. “One time, we had a Beechcraft Baron in here that we were selling to King’s Food Host, and we installed a complete avionics package in it, including an autopilot. I worked autopilots in those days, and I had been working on the install and checkout for more than 20 hours. I went home, took a little nap and then kept working. We finally got it working; Larry Collier and I installed it. We tested it at 1 a.m., and it was out the door the next morning!”

Another time in the early ‘70s, Don remembers doing an installation on an older DC-3 for Forke Brothers Auctioneers.

“Back then we didn’t have two shifts—we had the day shift and overtime,” says Don. “It was New Year’s Eve, and we were installing new avionics on an older DC-3. It wasn’t going well, but we had to get it done. We stopped briefly at midnight to acknowledge the New Year, but then we just kept on working through the night and into the next morning.”

In 1974, the Avionics shop was split into two departments—the bench and installations. Don managed the five guys who worked the avionics bench, and Ron Hall ran install, which also had about four guys.

Soon after this split, Clay Lacy brought his aircraft to Duncan Aviation for the first time. He’d acquired a really early Learjet 25, and it had a mixture of autopilots, servos and other older avionics equipment that he wanted to modernize.

“The Learjet was a really early serial number, a prototype, and we were modifying it to match the avionics equipment that was routinely installed in new Learjet 25s in the factory,” says Don. “It needed a whole lot of work, though, and it ended up spending six months in Lincoln so we could modify, install and test all of that equipment.

“That was the start of our more than 40-year working relationship with Clay Lacy,” adds Don.

Ron Hall was the Installation Engineer back in those pre-AutoCAD days, and installations sometimes started out as drawings on the back of a napkin.

“Ron knew those Learjet prints backward and forward, and he knew what had to be disconnected or reconnected and to what. The formal drawings were in a big, bound book, but when he was making changes, he’d always make changes on copies of the original prints,” says Don. “Later, he’d go back and render a formal drawing, but he still drew it by hand. Then, we’d add that formal, final drawing to the prints that went with the aircraft.”

In the late 1970s/early 1980s, Larry Collier who was managing the avionics department at the time pushed to get a license for AutoCAD to render avionics prints.

Larry presented his idea to then President Robert Duncan, who agreed. “After that, rendering formal drawings was much easier. Before AutoCAD, Larry or Ron would have to redraw the whole print every time anyone made a change. With the computer program, they just made modifications to the drawing,” Don says.

One of Don’s favorite memories from the 1970s was related to electronics but not necessarily avionics. He remembers the bag phone that Donald Duncan had in his Cadillac. It was one of the first mobile phones anyone at Duncan Aviation had ever seen.

“He loved that phone,” recalls Pam Orr, Travel Coordinator and 39-year Duncan Aviation employee. “When Donald suffered his heart attack and died in 1981, the phone was buried with him.”

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.

In the early 1960s, Donald Duncan was operating a Beechcraft distributorship in Omaha, Nebraska. Business airplanes at the time couldn’t fly nonstop from one coast to the other. Donald’s customers expressed the desire to have an executive lounge and meeting spaces available at a centrally located fuel stop.

In 1963, the city of Lincoln, Nebraska, was developing a new Municipal Airport for general aviation. Donald acted and built a first-class facility with a warm reception area, a plush executive lounge, a flight planning room, and catering services. In addition, the facility boasted hangar space for complete, certified aircraft maintenance and repair.

In 1965, Donald’s son, Robert Duncan, was fresh out of college and began working at Duncan Aviation. He flew charters, pumped fuel, swept floors and answered telephones. Duncan Aviation had only 15 employees and was just beginning its transformation from an aircraft sales organization to what would become its future: aircraft service and support.

Duncan Aviation was a distributor for both Beechcraft aircraft and Learjet aircraft. With Learjet manufacturing increasing and Beechcraft sales still growing, Duncan Aviation was beginning to get very busy servicing the aircraft it sold. The company sold its Omaha offices and consolidated at the hangar in Lincoln. 

They have been breaking ground in Lincoln, Nebraska, ever since

Donald’s reputation for fair deals and excellent customer service, which so impressed buyers of new aircraft, now impressed those who needed servicing of those same aircraft. Knowledgeable people in the industry began to talk about the small aviation company located in the central plains of the United States. And Duncan Aviation became the place to receive aircraft maintenance and excellent service.

Soon the company had 200 team members, then 300 and 400. But one thing remained consistent: a team philosophy that included listening to customers and acting to meet their needs.  

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.

Lori Johnson has been the Marketing Communications Manager for Duncan Aviation for more than 20 years. She enjoys working with the smart and passionate aviation experts at Duncan Aviation, helping them connect with and educate customers about important industry topics.  

Iowa farmer and automobile salesman Donald Duncan learned how to fly in the 1950s. As he gained aircraft experience and developed deep friendships with aviators, he heard business operators asking to utilize aircraft as business tools. In 1956, he acted, buying into the Omaha, Nebraska, Beechcraft dealership that would become Duncan Aviation.

In addition to selling aircraft, Donald used them extensively as he spent two years commuting daily from his home in Clarinda, Iowa, to Omaha. One day, while preparing for the commute, Donald’s aircraft experienced a technical issue and he became intimately familiar with the term AOG.

Harry Barr, now Duncan Aviation’s Senior Captain and its longest-employed team member at 58 years, came over to help Donald. During the course of conversation, Donald discovered that Harry’s radio needed work. Donald had the connections to get the radio fixed and Harry had an operational airplane that could get Donald to Omaha.

That summed up Donald’s business sense: when two parties can both benefit from a single collective act or exchange. And so it was with Donald’s business actions; both parties always benefitting.

In addition, Donald’s word was his bond; he never went back on a deal. Once Donald committed, the entire resources of Duncan Aviation were also committed to making the deal work for the customer and the company. And although Duncan Aviation drew up written contracts, when a deal was made over the phone or with a handshake, it, too, was considered solid.

“Donald could read a customer better than anybody I’ve ever known,” remembers  J. Robert Duncan, Chairman Emeritus of Duncan Aviation and son of Donald Duncan. “He demonstrated great care and concern for his customers, and he always seemed to understand what their needs were.”

In addition to his ability to listen to customers and act to meet their needs, Donald had a strong sense of  creativity, drive and integrity. And he planted those seeds within the early company culture at Duncan Aviation, where those values continue to provide the solid foundation on which Duncan Aviation’s reputation rests.

Largely through the efforts of Donald Duncan, an entire generation of businesses learned what kind of freedom and flexibility could be attained through owning a business aircraft.

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.

Lori Johnson has been the Marketing Communications Manager for Duncan Aviation for more than 20 years. She enjoys working with the smart and passionate aviation experts at Duncan Aviation, helping them connect with and educate customers about important industry topics.