DOM Greg Donegan, at Cincinnati, Ohio-based Cin-Air, had an inspection due on a G-200 in October 2016. While it was down, he had the Duncan Aviation techs from the Satellite Shop at Lunken Field in Cincinnati cross the ramp from their hangar to his and upgrade the G-200’s avionics equipment for ADS-B.

Greg has worked on aircraft at the Cincinnati, Ohio Municipal Airport for 30 years, and he has his own maintenance and inspection crew for his fleet of six aircraft. However, he now relies on Manager Bruce Miller and the proximity of the Duncan Aviation Cincinnati Satellite Shop for avionics repair, installations, and upgrades.

Three of Greg Donegan’s six airplanes have had the necessary upgrades for the FAA’s ADS-B (Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast) mandate, and he has two others scheduled. He knows exactly when the deadline for ADS-B is, and Greg intends to have all of his aircraft completed long before that.

“We didn’t want to wait until the last minute and get burnt,” says Greg. “The deadline isn’t going to change, and we don’t want to be on the outside knocking on the door, waiting to get in on Jan. 1. My goal when I took over as DOM last year was to have the entire fleet upgraded at least a year ahead of the deadline.”

Duncan Aviation Cincinnati Satellite Manager Bruce Miller (left) with DOM Greg Donegan

The skilled technicians at the Duncan Aviation Satellite facilities and workaway stations have upgraded hundreds of aircraft, so they’re ADS-B-compliant well before the midnight deadline on December 31, 2019.

Located at 27 of the busiest business aviation airports around the country, most have hangars in which they can perform the upgrades, but all Satellite facilities and workaway stations have technicians who will travel to your hangar, particularly if your aircraft is down for routine maintenance. The upgrade itself usually takes less than two weeks, so getting upgraded for ADS-B while your aircraft is already undergoing engine work, an inspection, or any other routine maintenance means you only put it down once.

To schedule an ADS-B upgrade at one of the Duncan Aviation Satellite Avionics Shops near you, call any of the Satellite shops (www.duncanaviation.aero/locations/#satellites) or Regional Avionics Sales Manager Mark Francetic.

The Duncan Aviation Senior Completions Designer and Team Leader Mary Lee and Multi Media Illustrator Ken Reita worked together to find a way to give passengers more headroom in the lavatory of a Challenger 650.

Using Mary’s designs and Ken’s 2D drawings, team members from the Interior, Cabinet, and Fabrication Shops extended the size of the vanity and shifted the toilet, making both more accessible to the business aircraft passengers.

In order to shift the vanity, it had to be resized, and that meant the original sink no longer fit. Team members in Duncan Aviation’s Fabrications Shop designed and machine-crafted a bigger sink from a solid piece of aluminum, where it’s now an eye-catching addition to the sleek new vanity.

Duncan Aviation has multi-shop capabilities, with experts who collaborate to conceive of, design, and craft nearly anything an aircraft operator needs. With experienced in-house engineers and certification experts, Duncan Aviation can also shorten downtimes by producing design data and STCs (Supplemental Type Certificates) when necessary.

Lavatory: Before and After

The Engineering and Certification department developed an STC for the redesigned lavatory, and we’ve now completed four redesigns. The aircraft were completed in pairs: The first two were completed and delivered, and then the second two arrived for the redesign.

“Because our Interior Shops had already completed two, they were able to deliver the second two Challenger 650s early,” says Project Manager Darrell Miller.

In this video watch the Dufncan Aviation fabrication shop design and machine a bigger, sleek new sink out of a solid piece of aluminum so it would fit in the redesigned vanity.

The avionics experts at Duncan Aviation know that most passengers aboard business aircraft want to stay connected as they travel. A connected aircraft lets cabin passengers access the internet in flight.

Our experts have been advising owner/operators for years about the connection options that are available. This year, there are new connectivity options that offer far greater speeds than in the past.

“Factors such as where you operate your aircraft, the type of aircraft, and passengers’ internet needs dictate the type of system to install,” says Duncan Aviation’s Avionics Service and Sales Rep Steve Elofson. “When it comes to aircraft connectivity today, you have plenty of options.”

So many, it can get a bit confusing if you’re not an avionics expert, so we’ll give you the rundown of what’s available. Satellite-based services keep you connected on global flights, and terrestrial-based systems cover your flights throughout the continental United States and in parts of Canada.

Satellite Connections

• Ka-band features upload speeds (sending data from the aircraft) of up to 5mbps (megabits per second) and download speeds (to the aircraft) are up to 49mbps.

• Ku-band offers coverage in populated areas of the world. Its download speeds currently reach about 1mbps, and upgrades are in the works to match Ka-band performance.
• Inmarsat’s service, called SwiftBroadband (SBB), has worldwide coverage at speeds of around 500kbps (kilobits per second).
• Iridium provides mostly voice and texting services due to its lower connectivity speeds.

Connected Over US Airspace

For flight over the continental United States, Gogo Biz’s 3G ATG (air-to-ground), terrestrial-based network features speeds of up to 3.1mbps and has affordable data plans and STCs (Supplemental Type Certificates) for nearly every make and model of aircraft.

Two companies with 4G networks are expanding their services through this year and in 2018. Covering the United States and parts of Canada, Gogo Biz’s 4G AVANCE L5 system reaches download speeds between 5-9mbps and is available now in certain aircraft, with STCs for many others in the works.

Duncan Aviation has developed an STC for the AVANCE L5 system, which covers the Wi-Fi certification, full equipment, and antenna installation, for multiple large-cabin Gulfstream models and will have STCs for the Dassault Falcon 900 and 2000 series and the Bombardier Challenger 600 and 300 series aircraft in early 2018.

SmartSky’s network is true 4G LTE and offers performance similar to using smartphones over cellular networks. Service covers most of the continental US in 2018 and will expand to the rest in 2019.

The greater speeds allow live-streaming data, including video conferencing and live TV. You can access the internet with little-to-no latency, send and receive email with attachments, and stay connected to social media apps (Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, etc.).

Ask Our Connectivity Experts

As with our home electronics, new equipment and advancements in technology are fairly typical in the aviation industry, too. Business jet travelers want higher speeds, and service providers comply by upgrading infrastructure and equipment.

Taking advantage of faster speeds usually requires new equipment. STCs are a good idea and often required for this equipment. Find out which makes and models are covered by existing STCs before upgrading to a new service. If your make/model is not covered by an existing STC, one can be developed, which requires additional downtime.

As mentioned, services for some systems are available only in the continental United States, so if you regularly fly outside of the United States, you’ll want to invest in a global satellite system.

Service coverage, connection speeds, and costs vary from provider to provider. Usually, the faster the connection speeds, the greater the costs, and satellite-based systems are generally more expensive than terrestrial-based systems.

When you’re ready to fully connect your aircraft, give the knowledgeable Avionics Service and Sales Representatives at Duncan Aviation a call or visit our web site for more information: www.duncanaviation.aero/services/avionics-installation.

Many people say not to judge a book by its cover, but we at Duncan Aviation believe the quality of a workspace is often a direct correlation to the quality a business provides.

 Quality and pride in all areas of employment are visibly represented throughout the facilities of Duncan Aviation. Because of the varying hours our team members work to provide nose-to-tail business aircraft services on a tight timeline, communication with one another is one of the most important keys to a successful process.

The number of people involved in each tailored aircraft project raises exponentially the longer those aircraft stay at Duncan Aviation. With this in mind, we strive to make sure every specialist who works around the aircraft is well-suited for their particular role in the process.

To help us gain perspective on her role in the Facilities department, Atley Cerveny allowed us to follow her and get a chance to see everything her job entails—at least for that day.

Our specialists in the Facilities department every day work with a wide variety of team members with very different roles in the aircraft maintenance, refurbishment, upgrade and paint projects. These day-to-day coordinations range from working with the Scheduling team, who figures out when and where planes are going to reside, to helping the Line Department move aircraft in and out of the hangars, to assuring the highest in safety with the quality control department. With such wide array of roles to play, our team in facilities choreographs a working environment that is clean, orderly, safe and efficient.

With great pride in their positions, the facilities department has helped ensure that Duncan Aviation is is known industry wide as having some of the “cleanest facilities in business aviation.”

Finding the answer to almost anything is easy.

Want to know tomorrow’s weather? Google it. Check your weather app. Or just ask Alexa, the voice-activated virtual digital assistant welcomed into the homes and offices of the tech-savvy.

At Duncan Aviation, we strive to make answers to your aircraft-related questions just as easy to locate.

Bookmark this page: www.DuncanAviation.aero/resources.

These are just a few of the things you’ll find there.

Apps - Easy access to the four “apps” that Duncan Aviation has available.

Certificates - Copies of our aviation authority certificates, divided by location and authority.

Duncan Debrief - Online edition, PDF version and iPad edition.

Duncan Download Blog - We publish new blog articles at least weekly. Subscribe and new articles will be emailed to you.

Duncan Intelligence – This monthly technical email newsletter provides technical tips for all of the aircraft makes and models we work on, as well as their accessories, components, avionics and parts.

Events Listing - Check out the Events Calendar and then look for our booth, table or show reps.

Fact/Capability Sheets – See a quick look at the extensive capabilities we have for our main service areas, which includes aircraft sales, airframe, avionics, completions, engine/APU, engineering, FBO services, OEM services, parts and components, specialized services and government programs.

Field Guides – See these technical white papers on things like corrosion detection, aircraft paint, and cabin entertainment.

Galleries – Find paint and interior inspiration with its stunning photographs of some of our recent and unusual paint and interior completions and refurbishments.

Press Releases – See our most recent news in one place.

Straight Talk Books - Our popular Straight Talk series takes complicated topics and gives a broad overview of the topic to help educate and inform those in the industry about important topics.

Videos – See some of our work in process or take a virtual tour of our facilities by video.

You can read more about Duncan Aviation's Resources in the Fall 2017 Duncan Debrief.

No detail, no matter how small, escapes the notice of Duncan Aviation team members. Earlier this year, a long-time customer from Jakarta, Indonesia, arrived with his company’s Challenger 604. To the casual observer, a custom-designed sink strainer is no big deal, but it was critical to Senior Financial Advisor for Air Pacific, Muliawan Sutanto, and the rest of the flight crew.

Muliawan explained that they eat a lot of meals with rice, and despite how carefully the attendant rinsed the dishes, tiny grains of rice still slipped down the drain, and the resulting clogs were costly in terms of time and money.

A clogged drain renders the sink unusable, and clearing the drain requires that the company put down the aircraft. As nearly everyone in aviation knows, putting down an business aircraft for unscheduled maintenance is costly in terms of lost flying time, and unclogging a drain is surprisingly expensive.

“Aircraft sinks have small strainers that cover only the drain, and they get blocked pretty quickly,” says Duncan Aviation Cabinet Shop Team Leader Matt Beaudette. “When those little strainers are blocked, the sink backs up so water won’t drain, but when you lift out the strainer to clean it off, all of those little food particles go down the drain, which eventually clogs it.”

Matt researched larger strainers and realized a strainer that fits inside the sink would trap the small grains of rice while still allowing water to drain. The problem was strainers that fit inside aircraft sinks don’t exist, so he mentioned to problem to Fabrication Shop Team Leader Bryan Hart. 

Bryan came up with a workable design, and he and his team crafted a custom strainer to fit inside the Challenger’s sink.

“We’re thrilled with the strainer, and it’ll more than pay for itself by preventing even one clogged drain,” says Muliawan. “It fits inside the sink, traps the food particles, and lifts out easily so the attendant can clean it.”

The Fall Duncan Debrief is now online. Download your copy now. 

In 2017, the NAHI (National Aviation Heritage Invitational) invited Duncan Aviation customer Joe Duke to enter his refurbished Albatross aircraft in its prestigious airplane show. Rescued by Joe in 2008, the 1954 G-111 Grumman Albatross had spent more than a quarter of a century in the boneyard at Pinal Airpark in Arizona. Joe and his team restored the aircraft to airworthy condition and painted it with glossy paint in elegant, understated colors. Then in 2015, the aircraft came to Duncan Aviation for a stunning interior transformation.

The vision and mission of the NAHI is to encourage the preservation of aviation history through the restoration of vintage aircraft to original flying condition. The Invitational promotes aircraft restoration via friendly competition, bringing valuable aviation treasures together in one venue and is a joint effort of Rolls-Royce North America Inc., the National Aviation Hall of Fame, the Reno Air Racing Foundation and the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.

The timing of this year’s show at the California Capital Airshow couldn’t have been better. As hurricane Irma raged through the Caribbean toward their Florida home, Joe and the Albatross were safely away from the devastating storm at the Mather Airport in Sacramento, California.

It wasn’t Joe’s first time at the show. In 2013, Joe was invited to enter the Albatross in the show, which at the time was part of the National Championship Air Races in Reno, Nevada. Judges bestowed the Howard Hughes Trophy (Large Aircraft) on Joe and the Albatross, and they also went home with the National Aviation Hall of Fame People’s Choice Award.

This time, the Albatross was awarded the Neil A. Armstrong Aviation Heritage Trophy as the Overall Grand Champion of the show. The perpetual trophy, features a plaque engraved with Joe’s name and the year the Albatross was manufactured, to be displayed in the Smithsonian’s National Air & Space Museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center at the Washington Dulles International Airport in Virginia.

“It had been judged Best Large Aircraft in 2013,” says Joe, “This year, it was judged again and won the Overall Grand Champion.”

What made the difference?

In 2015, the Albatross flew to Duncan Aviation and was fitted with its interior, which included sound-dampening materials. The Duncan Aviation production team, following the plans of Joe’s freelance designer, Bruce Shoemaker of SDesign.aero, put in numerous passenger accommodations. The crew also built two galleys, a lav, and interior panels and installed LEDs, USB plugs, dome and task lighting, and new gaspers. They updated the cockpit with side ledges and a workstation.

Invoking the design style and materials used in the period in which the Albatross was manufactured, the interior even featured refurbished seats that were made from vintage Grumman parts. Although LEDs were used throughout the interior, the designed and fabricated adapters retained the aircraft’s vintage light lenses and switch bezels.

“The only difference was the interior completed at Duncan Aviation,” Joe says. “I think that pushed it over for the judges.”

“Finishing the Albatross interior was the perfect way to showcase the talent and craftsmanship of our Interior and Cabinet Shops,” says Duncan Aviation Matt Spain, Senior Sales Representative of Completions & Modifications. “And, now, getting to watch as the rest of the world sees and appreciates our work is a huge bonus.”

Our time-lapse video captures the progression from the pristine but empty cabin and cockpit to the newly completed interior.

Last week more than 1,100 exhibitors and attendees from all 50 United States and dozens countries walked the floors of the 2017 NBAA-BACE in Las Vegas, Nevada. Hundreds of them, aviation professionals, operators, enthusiasts, and students alike, came to the Duncan Aviation booth.

Here's a pictorial recap of our time at 2017 NBAA.

  Big Announcements Were Made!

Duncan Aviation Named North American Winner of Bombardier Authorized Service Facility Excellence Awards 

Keith Hickman, Manager, Authorized Service Facilities, Bombardier Business Aircraft, presented the award to Robert Duncan, Chairman Emeritus, and Aaron Hilkemann, President and CEO, Duncan Aviation during a ceremony at NBAA-BACE.

Duncan Aviation and GE Aviation Collaborate to Provide ADS-B Benefits to GE’s OnPoint℠ Customers

Nate Klenke, Duncan Aviation Sales Manager; Elizabeth Bevacqua, GE Services Marketing, Business & General Aviation; Chad Harris, GE Aftermarket Services & Customer Support Leader, Buseinss and General Aviation; Mark Francetic, Duncan Aviation Regional Avionics Sales Manager; Mike Minchow, Duncan Aviation Vice President of Sales.

We Participated In Panel Discussions

 Robert & Todd Duncan Joined Us At NBAA

Some Of Our Work Was On Display At Static

(Photo courtesy of Gogo Business Aviation)

Gogo Demonstrates Avance L5 Advantage

We Talked With Customer

A Lot Of Customers

Just as every business aircraft is different, every customer is different, and they have varied service preferences. What business aircraft operators truly value in a service facility can be categorized in four main areas: Convenience, Quality, Communication, and On-Time Delivery. Duncan Aviation has long focused on these areas.

But don’t take out word for it.  

Convenience

Making services convenient is a matter of access, responsiveness and expertise. With more than 2,150 aviation experts located around the world, Duncan Aviation has model-specific and system-specific experts for the most popular business jets in use today.

 “My project manager is always a great resource, customer driven and a huge advocate. I’ve worked with members of the sales team, tech reps, airframe, engine, interior and avionics technicians and they’re all great people. Duncan Aviation team members treat our aircraft like it was their own. It is reassuring to me when I drop the aircraft off for maintenance that it will be maintained to the same level or better than I would accomplish. I could probably write a book about all of the positive interactions I’ve had with Duncan Aviation representatives.”

- Greg Hamelink, Senior Manager of Flight Operations and Maintenance.

Quality

Safety is obviously a huge concern for all in business aviation. But quality means so much more than safety. It can mean everything from perfectly straight and carefully made stitches in a seat upholstery to bundled, clearly marked wires behind an aircraft’s sidewalls.

“Duncan Aviation’s quality is second to none. I’ve been using Duncan Aviation since 2002 and I’m impressed with the service every time I bring an inspection there. The teams that I have worked with always make me feel that they are just as concerned with my aircraft as I am.” – Scott Kershaw, Chief of Maintenance for Aramark

There are lots of reasons customers trust Duncan Aviation for their aircraft service work. Here are short videos about a few of the most common reasons we hear.

Communication and Project Management

Based on feedback from customers, they interpret project coordination to include the technical knowledge of their assigned project manager, the communication the customer received throughout the project, and the use of our online myDuncan project management tool.

Duncan Aviation project managers provide customers with personalized service and aircraft project expertise. Each has a minimum of 15 years of technical experience and an average of 25+ years of aviation experience.

 And communication is an area where we have been told we excel. In 2016, customers gave us a 97% approval rating in the category of communication.

That is attributable in part to myDuncan, which lets customers be productive wherever they happen to be. Of the 2,343 aircraft projects completed in 2016, more than half were managed off-site, allowing the aircraft representatives to stay current on project status, item approvals and budget while keeping up on things at work and at home.

“It (myDuncan) makes the squawk approval process seamless. I can be on the hangar floor, in the office or at home and see all discrepancies on the aircraft. If I have questions on a certain item, I can submit a question through myDuncan and receive written responses or pictures to better display the issue. myDuncan allows the user to export numerous reports that I use to see progress and calculate budget to actual as the project progresses.” - Wesley Landgraf, Directory of Maintenance for Midland Financial Co.

  On-Time Delivery

Duncan Aviation develops project timelines by analyzing a database of past work and the time it previously took to complete tasks. Collaborating between all areas involved in complicated workscopes, milestones for the entire project are mapped out and the most efficient way to complete work is analyzed.

We routinely push the envelope on schedule and challenge our technicians to push themselves while not sacrificing safety and quality. Customers are pleased with the results, and even more like that we meet the out-dates we promise. Nine of 10 report that their aircraft project was completed on time with no budgetary surprises.

“In 14 years, I have never missed an out-date. I believe the Duncan Aviation technicians are as proud of that as I am.” – Scott Kershaw, Chief of Maintenance for Aramark

The Fall 2017 Duncan Debrief is now online. Download your copy now. 

The Duncan Aviation in-house professional design team has created five designs specifically for the Citation CJ3 aircraft. The five designs pair light and airy colors that make the cabin appear more spacious and open with darker, complementary colors for the carpeting and lower sidewalls. The beautiful yet neutral hues pull together rich textures, maintenance-friendly materials and subtle patterns that will appeal to most operators and passengers.

“The lighter colors in the upper fuselage help expand the feel of the cabin and transition to a darker base,” explains Rachael Weverka, the Duncan Aviation designer who created the collections. “The patterns add interest and variance to the design without being overwhelming.”

Two of the collections are very neutral and the remaining three options work in more gray, taupe and cream, respectively.

Operators can combine the interior refurbishments with a Rockwell Collins Pro Line Fusion flight deck upgrade and have their aircraft back in service with the best turntimes in the industry.

 “With the CJ3 Fusion flight deck upgrade installations, we anticipate that operators will want to look at refurbishment options,” says Suzanne Hawes, Duncan Aviation Completions Sales Rep. “Since turntime is always important, we want to ensure efficiency with interior materials. The materials in these packages will be in stock and ready to go.”

In addition to the interior collections, Rachael also designed six fresh paint schemes for the CJ3, consisting of five original, Duncan Aviation-exclusive designs.

To see these collections and three-dimensional drawings of how these interiors will look, visit www.DuncanAviation.aero/cj3interiors.