Duncan Aviation today announced that the company plans to build a new business aircraft maintenance, modifications and paint complex at its Provo, Utah, location. The expansion will include a large maintenance and modifications center and an innovative paint facility.

Building on nearly 45 acres of land at the Provo Municipal Airport, Duncan Aviation will add nearly 220,000-square-feet of buildings with its 166,000-square-foot maintenance and modifications center and its 53,000-square-foot paint facility.

The maintenance and completions facility will have large hangar spaces along with backshop and office space.

The new paint structure will have the latest down-draft air flow technology, including automatic monitoring and alarms, to provide the best paint environment possible for aircraft. To increase efficiency, the paint hangar is designed to accommodate multiple aircraft at once, utilizing a two-zone airflow system. With this design, Duncan Aviation paint teams can perform stripping, sanding, painting and detail work on multiple aircraft simultaneously.

The facility will allow input of some of the largest business aircraft in use today, including Gulfstream’s 550, Bombardier’s Global Express and Dassault’s Falcon 7X.

Duncan Aviation plans to break ground in the first quarter of 2017. The expansion will cost nearly $50 million and is expected to be completed by the first quarter of 2019.

“We consistently hear from operators in the Western United States that they would like to see more investment in a Duncan Aviation location closer to their home base,” says Aaron Hilkemann. “The Provo area is the perfect complement to our other full-service facilities in Battle Creek, Michigan, and Lincoln, Nebraska. That is why we intially started our Provo facility. Although the economy prevented us from building an all-new facility there at the time we initially planned to, we are pleased to finally begin work on the infrastructure needed to care for upcoming maintenance and completions demand from in the area and around the world.”

On August 1, 2010, Duncan Aviation opened its doors in Provo. Since then, the Duncan Aviation Provo team has provided major and minor hourly and calendar inspections, line-level engine and avionics support, and interior work for business aircraft from across Europe, the Pacific Rim and the Americas.

“Six years ago, 14 Duncan Aviation team members ventured west to start Duncan Aiation's newest heavy maintenance location,” says Bill Prochazka, Chief Operating Officer of Duncan Aviation’s Provo location. “We were met with enthusiasm and professionalism from every direction, through our discussions with the State, Utah County and Provo City.  Today we are 40 strong, on our way to 400+.  It's an exciting time to be in the Business Aviation Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul sector, and to be a part of this great company as we provide high quality and responsive service to corporate business jet operators from around the world.”

In addition to this upcoming expansion, Duncan Aviation has invested nearly $200 million in facilities, tooling and new capabilities and nearly $48 million in training over the last 20 years. “We are dedicated to business aviation, our customers and team members and every decision we make is made with them and the future in mind,” Hilkemann says.

Duncan Aviation avionics installation technicians this week turned power on to the Rockwell Collins Pro Line Fusion® flight deck upgrade being installed and certified in the Citation CJ3. Duncan Aviation avionics technicians have been installing and testing the equipment since mid-May. The airplane is expected to fly in the next few weeks and be certified by the end of 2016. 

 The Fusion upgrade provides Citation CJ3 owners with an aftermarket option for meeting mandates while simultaneously enhancing ownership and the flying experience by replacing the factory-installed portrait displays with larger 14.1-inch landscape touchscreen primary flight displays. The new system includes intuitive, touch-interactive maps, and easy-to-use icons, giving the pilot the ability to control items on the screen through touch. It also eliminates the need for FMS (Flight Management System) control display units originally installed in the pedestal.

To see progress on this exciting flight deck enhancement, visit Duncan Aviation’s CJ3 Pro Line Fusion Progress Gallery 

Duncan Aviation and Rockwell Collins are offering 25 early adopter incentive packages for interested operators. Half of those incentive slots have already sold.

For more information about the upgrade, visit www.duncanaviation.aero/cj3prolinefusion or call one of the Duncan Aviation’s technical sales experts:

Jeff Simmons

402.470.4517

Jeff.Simmons@DuncanAviation.com

Hundreds turned out for the ‎GAMA ‎Michigan ‪‎Jobs Rally held last Friday at Duncan Aviation in Battle Creek, MI, to recognize the importance of aviation and its contributions to our communities and state.

Duncan Aviation's President, Aaron Hilkemann, along with U.S. Senator Gary Peters, from Michigan, and other aviation business leaders from Avfuel Corporation, L-3 Communications, and Williams International spoke in front of those gathered. 

Hundreds gather at rally, U.S. Sen. Gary Peters speaks, and Duncan Aviation employee Mark Strong listens.

Duncan Aviation's President Addresses Crowd

Below is the speech Aaron Hilkemann gave before several Duncan Aviation employees, aviation industry leaders, and students from Western Michigan University. 

2016 is a special year for Duncan Aviation. We are celebrating 60 years of providing business aircraft operators with safe, efficient and high-quality services. In 1956, Duncan Aviation was started by Donald Duncan when he bought a Beechcraft distributorship in Omaha, Nebraska. He had a passion for flight and an entrepreneurial spirit. He passed both along to his son, Robert, who ran Duncan Aviation for more than 40 years, and his grandson, Todd, who took over as Chairman in 2007 and is still very involved today.

The Duncan family operates several businesses, but Duncan Aviation is the one they identify with the most. They love flying, they love the people involved with flying, and they’re proud of the culture they have built at the Duncan Aviation facilities. As a family owned aviation company, a culture of constant improvement, teamwork, focused vision and family atmosphere is vital to our growth. And it is a culture that we work hard to instill in all of our locations.

In Battle Creek today we employ more than 600 people and we are currently hiring and expanding the team.  These are interesting, career-inspiring jobs at many levels that include good health insurance,  vacation time, 401(k) opportunities, a wellness culture and many other benefits.

This is a place where people want to work.  We see that in the number of job applicants who have been recommended by current team members, many of them family members.  96 Duncan Aviation team members have a family member working here in BTL, with more than 40 different families represented. We love it when our good, hard working team members recommend their own family members.  One example is the Slee family. The Slees have had three generations who have worked here. Four Slees are currently employed by Duncan Aviation. Tom Slee Senior, who is now retired, started the tradition by taking a position in the paint shop. He was followed by his sons, Matt, who works in Structures, and Tom Jr in Paint. Now, Matt has two sons working here, Josh in Structures and Mike with the Fuel Team. 

In addition, we have nine husband and wife combinations employed here at Duncan Aviation Battle Creek. Some even initially met their spouse here.

Our company and general aviation as a whole offer a broad range of career progression opportunities. One example would be Tom Burt, who spoke earlier at this rally. He worked his way through college as a flight instructor and then started at Duncan Aviation as a beginning airframe mechanic.  He progressed through customer service, sales, sales management and eventually into senior management. 

This is also an industry that provides long, solid careers for many team members.  Here at our Battle Creek facility, we have 24 team members who have been working in the company for more than 30 years. In fact, this year, Dale Vandelare celebrates his 40th anniversary. That is a nice, long, career and we want to congratulate him on that longevity.

Our industry is also well-known for providing opportunities to veterans and those transitioning from the military. At Duncan Aviation, we have hundreds of team members who have served or are serving in the military.  In Michigan, nearly 22% of our team members have military experience.  We are proud to be in an industry that employs so many veterans!

But our influence goes much further than the jobs we directly support. Our aviation business also supports a lot of good jobs in our communities. Because most of our customers come from a great distance, they often stay in local hotels, rent cars, eat in our local restaurants and spend money in our stores.

We estimate that every year our customers buy 4,500 hotel nights in Battle Creek or Kalamazoo. They purchase more than 13,500 meals at our restaurants. They rent cars more than 5,000 days per year. And some, especially our international customers, leave with aircraft full of products purchased in our local stores.

And we’re not alone. General aviation companies and jobs are good for our communities and states and we must be sure they continue to be properly supported and recognized for their contributions.

Technology is amazing. Most pilots and flight planners use smart phones and iPads for everything from researching FBO stops to finding a great caterer. But several are still using floppy disks to update the on-aircraft navigation database. That’s right. Floppy disks.

If you fall in that category and use a Honeywell DL-900 data loader, there are five very good reasons to look at upgrading to the DL-950 or DL-1000.

1. Floppy disk technology is just plain old. 
   • Many companies, including Honeywell, will no longer support these units after December 31, 2016. And since you need up-to-date navigation information, you need to look for a solution. In addition, the DL-900 is no longer covered by the Honeywell Avionics Protection Plan (HAPP). The DL-950 or DL-1000 is covered by HAPP.
2. Loading is Faster. 
   • Floppy disk loading (which is going away) requires several floppy disks and takes quite a bit of time to load new approaches every month. With Honeywell’s USB loading, you can load new approaches into your navigation database in as little as 10 minutes. This process can eliminate loading errors commonly associated with floppy disks and can save you some serious time waiting on the ground during your next trip.
3. Installation is Easy.
   • DL-900 operators don’t have to worry about a lengthy installation and extended downtime on their aircraft. Honeywell’s DL-950 and DL-1000 are designed as form-fit replacements and use the existing mount and connector. Duncan Aviation can complete this installation, including paperwork, in less than a day.
4. Downloading Data is More Efficient. 
   • Every month when you receive an update from Honeywell, you no longer have to spend hours in front of a computer loading multiple floppy disks to get the data you need. In fact, with our latest technology, you can download from the convenience of your laptop and take your USB on-the-go – it’s that simple!
5. Duncan Aviation’s Satellite Avionics Shops and Rapid Response Team offices are Located Across the United States. 
   • Duncan Aviation has experienced avionics technicians who can assist with the upgrade from any of the company’s locations, including its full-service locations in Battle Creek, Michigan; Lincoln, Nebraska; and Provo, Utah; at its 20+ avionics satellites; or through the company’s Rapid Response Team offices. For a complete list of Duncan Aviation locations, go here: http://www.da.aero/locations/index

For more information about the Honeywell DL-950 or DL-1000, visithttps://aerospace.honeywell.com/pages/update-your-navigation-database-before-the-dl-900-support-ends, feel free to contact me at +1 402.479.4202 or via email Matt.Nelson@DuncanAviation.com.

Note: Three of the five reasons above were picked up with permission from an earlier Honeywell article, which can be found here: https://aerospace.honeywell.com/en/news-listing/2016/march/three-reasons-to-upgrade-to-the-dl-950

ADS-B Out

• Reduced separation and highly accurate departure and arrival times
• Surveillance in areas that do not currently have radar coverage 
• Information to tower for a clearer view of aircraft and vehicles on runway to avoid collisions and or delays
• More efficient spacing and optimal routing in non-radar environments, including the busy airspace in the Gulf of Mexico, mountainous regions of Colorado and the lower altitudes of Alaska
  

Honeywell's Primus II Radio System

When you upgrade your existing Honeywell Primus^® II Radio and add a stand-alone GPS receiver, you’ll enjoy a cost-effective solution combined with the latest configuration to meet the ADS-B Out mandate. And, when you replace your old CRT display units with LCD displays with Duncan Aviation's ADS-B Out STC, you'll receive two new RMU-855's, designed to increase visibility and seamlessly integrate with your current configuration. Fly with confidence with Honeywell's Primus II Radio equipped with a Mode C transponder to fulfill ADS-B Out requirements and ensure your future travel plans.

Duncan Aviation's ADS-B Out Program

As an added benefit, Duncan Aviation's ADS-B Out STC offers Hawker 800/800XP operators an exclusive discount on Honeywell's Avionics Protection Plan. Learn more about this offer and upgrade your Hawker 800/800XP with an integrated solution at a Duncan Aviation maintenance facility: Lincoln, Nebraska; Battle Creek, Michigan; Provo, Utah; or at one of their satellite shop locations throughout the United States*.

 For More Information

Contact Gary Harpster, Duncan Aviation Hawker Avionics Install Sales Rep.

Innovation is vital to continued viability in business. The ability to innovate is the ability to provide continually improving services and, ultimately, more value to our customers.

As we reflect on our 60th anniversary throughout 2016, I am reminded of the entrepreneurial spirit that is really a way of life at Duncan Aviation. It is obvious from the guts my grandfather showed when he followed his passion and founded Duncan Aviation to my father’s ability to provide vision and direction as former President and Chairman of the company throughout his working life. But innovation at Duncan Aviation is seen far more broadly than in my family.

Many Duncan Aviation team members have entrepreneurial tendencies that have manifested themselves in the service improvements and expansions that have made Duncan Aviation the company it is today. An untold number of customers have made requests, pushed us to add capabilities, and inspired us to look for new and better ways to meet their needs. And our industry partners have teamed with us to collaborate on new products and technologies that have ultimately improved business aviation as a whole.

In the lastest issue of the Duncan Debrief, we explore some of the ongoing innovations in work at Duncan Aviation today. We look at the development of the online myDuncan project management tool, the collaboration our European Board of Advisors has seen with EASA, the desire of our team members to reach customer requests worldwide, NextGen upgrade solutions, and engine and avionics AOG assistance. 

We thank our team members, customers, and partners for helping us improve and find new solutions. And we encourage them to keep making requests, asking questions, and telling us how we can improve our services. After all, innovation is the key to moving forward. 

—Todd Duncan, Chairman

We talked with many customers. 

Conducted a lot of business.

Gave away many gifts!

Saw many impressive aircraft.

We had a lot of fun. We hope you did too. See you next year. 

Dennis Kruse, Benjamin Viveros, Rodolfo Rodriguez, Gabriel Gonzalez, Joe Tulowitzki, Alfredo Garcia, Chris Gress

“I love turning flying machines into eye candy.”
—John Stahr, Artist

When aircraft owners come to Duncan Aviation with a paint idea, whether it’s digital camo, Matterhorn white with a stripe or a concept that belongs in a Jackson Pollock exhibit, our team makes it happen.

With a team full of talented artists and detail-oriented paint experts, Duncan Aviation can produce almost any aircraft paint work in-house. Sometimes, though, projects come up that, due to schedule and workloads, require collaboration with outside artists. When those extra-special projects pop up, Duncan Aviation’s paint team often calls up artist John Stahr.

“When we scheduled the paint job for Virgin’s Galactic Girl at our Battle Creek, Michigan, location, we knew John was the extra team member we needed to complete the paint scheme the way we envisioned it,” explains Completions Sales Rep Nate Darlington.

John has 40 years of custom paint experience and can airbrush the most intricate designs. He started in the mid-1970s working on vehicles, adding vans, motorcycles, race team trucks and luxury coaches to his portfolio. In 2003, he started painting aircraft exclusively.

“Painting something unique on a business jet brings me a great deal of satisfaction, especially when I see my creation parked next to the traditional white aircraft with three stripes,” explains John. “I love turning flying machines into eye candy.”

Watch a time-lapse video of Virgin’s Galactic Girl’s paint process.

While each airbrushed paint scheme is wildly different, the backend process is fairly standard. For this paint scheme:

1. Nate collaborated with Duncan Aviation’s in-house design team to develop a detailed rendering that fit the aircraft. The customer wanted the Dassault Falcon 900EX to mesh well with the rest of Virgin’s aircraft fleet, specifically SpaceShipTwo. Duncan Aviation Designer Lori Browning collaborated with the customer to craft several interpretations that incorporated a handful of SpaceShipTwo characteristics, including the black belly and strategically placed logos.
2. John and the paint team created full-scale patterns by projecting layout sketches onto white paper.
3. The paint crew prepped a substrate surface for John to transfer the drawings, using his pattern.
4. Duncan Aviation’s paint layout team constructed two graphics: one showcasing the evolution of spaceflight and another displaying the Galactic Girl herself.
5. Then, the fun began.

“I paint by hand, using spray guns and airbrush. Sometimes I’m very precise with measurements. Other times, I paint by eye. I do whatever it takes to make the final piece turn heads,” says John.

Painting large aircraft like Virgin’s Galactic Girl requires two sets of skills: artistic and physical.

John and the rest of the paint team do a lot of climbing and balancing. Operating a lift or climbing a ladder while wearing fall protection isn’t easy. Sometimes, it’s downright unnerving for an artist who needs a steady hand.

After John completed the Virgin Galactic eye logo on the aircraft’s belly, he added two more to either side of the vertical stabilizer. Duncan Aviation’s paint layout team added graphics to the forward portion of the aircraft, completing the artistic aspects of the paint design.

The paint team added clear coat to preserve the delicate airbrushing and graphics, as well as set off the detailed artwork. They sprayed a urethane clear coat to shield the artwork from extreme flying conditions.

Then, the aircraft entered its final step: the detailing phase. Duncan Aviation’s paint team reviewed every square inch of the aircraft, correcting any minor errors. After buffing the jet one last time, the team delivered the aircraft. With the Galactic Girl, they did so ahead of the original schedule.

“The people at each of Duncan Aviation’s locations must be from special aviation bloodlines or something,” explains John. “They all really care about their work, and they make sure every aircraft they touch has the highest level of attention to detail and quality.”

And that’s why when John and several Duncan Aviation teams collaborate, the customer wins.

Read more from the Duncan Debrief Magazine

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.