The Duncan Download Blog: Business Aviation Advice & Observations

In the fall of 2016, Duncan Aviation refurbished a 12-year-old Gulfstream G550, giving it a whole new interior, a new exterior paint scheme, and an upgraded CMS (Cabin Management System). During this refurbishment, we also performed scheduled maintenance to minimize the impact of the downtime for the client’s flight schedule.

Duncan Aviation Lead Designer Rachael Weverka redesigned the interior for the Gulfstream, proposing an updated color scheme, all new soft goods (fabrics, seat upholstery, headliner fabrics) in the cabin and a unique combination of natural veneers and colored accents.

She has been designing aircraft interiors at Duncan Aviation for the last 6 years, and recently, she’s noticed a shift in customers’ preferences. In 2010, her customers were concerned about the resale value of their aircraft, and that translated into fairly conservative designs.

Although they were elegant and professional, the interiors featured muted colors, and there were few personal touches. In the relatively small business aviation market, an interior with the vibrant colors of an owner’s favorite sports team, for instance, wouldn’t have had wide appeal. Only rarely did companies put their logos on the aircraft, inside or out.

“Now, owners want their interiors to reflect their personalities,” says Rachael. “The custom designs involve colors, fabrics, and textures we haven’t often used in aircraft interiors. It’s been fun to be part of this shift.”

In the last few months, for instance, Rachael has designed seats that match the colors, fabrics, and styling of a customer’s sports car, and she’s currently incorporating gold-toned snakeskin fabric in another interior.

Read about the rest of this project in the Spring 2017 Duncan Debrief magazine.