The Duncan Download Blog: Business Aviation Advice & Observations

We have customers who fly from Europe to have maintenance completed at one of Duncan Aviation's United States locations. The fact that they're willing to make that trip tells us we're doing something right; their words tell us exactly what we're doing that makes the flight worth it.

Germany

Nataly and Ernst Langer, Owners / Pilots of Bombardier Global 5000

Nataly and Ernst Langer are owners and pilots of a large, long-range business jet. Watch and listen all about their incredible paint scheme application.

Air Alsie, Denmark

- Klaus Rasmussen, Technical Manager

"Cost control is made easy by the use of Duncan Aviation’s web-based approval system, myDuncan.aero. Milestones can be followed, even if an operator is not on-site. I haven’t seen any other MRO with such a system.

"Duncan Aviation’s state of the art facilities and dedicated experts offer unique service. We receive very good support from Arjen Groeneveld, Duncan Aviation representative in Europe and we appreciate having a dedicated Project Manager with each event.

"At Duncan Aviation, final invoices are complete upon departure and our recent C-checks completed with them have not exceeded original budgets. This is much appreciated by our owners.”

Aircraft Serviced:

• 2 Falcon 2000EX EASy’s for C-checks, winglets and paint

• Falcon 2000 for 2C and paint

Sporavia, Spain

- Eduardo Jiménez Martín-Ventas, Maintenance Manager

"Working with Duncan Aviation is a real pleasure. At Sporavia we feel that it is important to give operators consistent quality, no matter where they are flying or where they are going to maintain their airplanes. Duncan Aviation holds those same values and so we look forward to working closely with them in the future.

"Duncan Aviation’s AOG support is quick and successful. Their European representative, Arjen Groeneveld, is always available to help operators get the services they need. In addition to AOG support, I have great respect for Duncan Aviation’s modifications and technical support.”

Beechcraft Berlin Aviation GmbH, Germany

– Edgar Boehlke, Managing Director

"We enjoy working with Duncan Aviation because their team is well educated and we always receive professional and competent support. We look forward to working with Duncan Aviation on more projects in the future.

"The friendly and competent sales and support teams at Duncan Aviation are appreciated by our logistics department. Duncan Aviation’s availability of spare aircraft parts and knowledge in international shipments provides us excellent support.

"Extensive projects involving engineering support from Duncan Aviation are handled professionally and there is always a solution oriented team from Duncan Aviation available for answering our questions."

Global Aviation and Piper Parts, Germany and United Kingdom

– Dieter Griesel, Board of Directors Member

"Duncan Aviation’s customer base extends far beyond what I can reach in Germany. They have the opportunity and ability to sell parts that we cannot.

Through Duncan Aviation’s consignment program, operators have a chance to profit from items that they would otherwise consider scrap. I could not have generated this money in sales in Europe. After many years, I find Duncan Aviation to be an excellent partner, serious and fair with everything. Take your surplus inventory, put it in a box and send it to Duncan Aviation today!"

Regional Managers

Duncan Aviation’s Regional Managers are strategically located across the world to better support our customers. 

Each travel throughout their region, meeting with aircraft operators, management organizations and other service providers with the goal of maintaining and building lasting relationships, providing customer service, educating operators and learning more about the region’s regulatory issues and processes while engaging in industry forums.

Get to know the Regional Manager for your region now.

Jad Donaldson, chief pilot for Avfuel Corporation, along with Co-Captain Chris Kosin, flew the company’s Citation XLS+ from Ann Arbor, Michigan, to Harbor Springs last July.

As they prepped the Citation for the flight back to Ann Arbor, they saw a yellow Crew Alerting System (CAS) message, stating LH ENGINE CONTROL FAULT (ECF).

After discussing the CAS message, they shut down the entire aircraft, including powering off and pulling the battery. When they restarted the battery switch, 45 seconds in, the ECF message appeared again.

Unwelcome News

Reviewing the Aircraft Checklist delivered unwelcome news: The message required correction before flight. Jad also retrieved maintenance pages, reviewed the fault codes and analyzed the TLA maintenance screen.

“We were AOG,” says Jad, “so I immediately called Jayme Park, the Airframe Alternate-Shift Supervisor at Duncan Aviation in Battle Creek, who has spent the last 17 years helping Duncan Aviation customers resolve their maintenance issues.

Bill Walker, Engine Tech Rep in Battle Creek, was confident that the codes indicated a multiple-level power supply failure on the motherboard in the engine computer.

Park Located Parts

Jayme Park, Airframe Alternate-Shift Supervisor at Duncan Aviation in Battle Creek.

Jad called Co-Captain Jeff Squires to prep Avfuel’s second aircraft. Jeff flew from Ann Arbor to Battle Creek to pick up Aaron LaClair, a Duncan Aviation Engine Tech, on to Muskegon to get the new EEC and then to Harbor Springs.Within 15 minutes, Jayme had located the necessary EEC and set about gathering and processing the necessary paperwork to prepare the aircraft for eventual signoff and return to service.

Five and a half hours after Jad received the error code, Aaron was on the ramp, downloading the data from the Citation’s left-hand engine’s DCU.

Jad has a saying: Usually when people make something look easy, it’s not because it is easy but because they work so hard and have the necessary knowledge and experience to do the work right. He says, “Everyone I’ve worked with at Duncan Aviation has exhibited this principle. They work hard, and they have the knowledge and experience to stick with a problem and resolve it.”

That perseverance paid off. Around 2 a.m., Aaron and Jad pulled the functioning right-hand EEC, swapped it into the left-hand engine, and put the new part in the right-hand engine. By 3:45 a.m., when Jad brought the Citation back online, the onboard maintenance diagnostics returned no error codes, the TLD screen showed an N for both engines, and the channel assignments were normal.

The aircraft was no longer AOG, and there was still a little time to get back to the hotel and get some sleep before the day of shuttling passengers began.

A Valuable Relationship

Jad says, "We at Avfuel are fortunate to have access to technicians like Jayme Park. Jayme jumped in and used her leverage, intelligence and experience to get this issue resolved. I'm also fortunate to have the relationship I do with Duncan Aviation—it's like having my very own maintenance team. It doesn't matter when I call, either; whether it's late at night or over the weekend, Duncan Aviation has a bunch of people who really care… people like Jayme who are passionate about what they do and do everything they have to do to take care of their customers."

Duncan Debrief

You read more details about this story in the Spring 2014 Duncan Debrief. 

The Duncan Debrief is a free. You can subscribe to receive a printed copy of the magazine or access the current and past editions online at www.DuncanAviation.aero/debrief.

Or if you are truly on-the-go, the Duncan Debrief is available on Apple’s Newsstand for the iPad.

In August of this year, Thriveni Earthmovers arrived with their aircraft at Duncan Aviation for a large multi-shop maintenance/upgrade event. Chris Neaves, Thriveni’s Director of Flight Operations, took the time to send the following letter to Andy Fernandes, Duncan Aviation Regional Manager to India, and Rich Jones, Duncan Aviation Project Manager, regarding their experience. We decided to share these remarks because although we can say we hold ourselves to a higher standard of service than other service providers in business aviation, nothing says it quite like our customers do.

Thriveni Earthmovers aircraft arrives with a new full metallic paint scheme in Titanium Silver Metallic and Dark Brown Metallic from Duncan Aviation in Battle Creek, Michigan.

Click to enlarge.

Andy and Rich,

On behalf of Thriveni Earthmovers, I would like to thank you and the mechanics of Duncan Aviation for your work on our aircraft.

We appreciate that you were able to work with a moving input date and remain flexible enough to take us with just a week’s notice. As you know, we came out of a nightmare-like situation where we had to take the aircraft to the manufacturer’s facility for some upgrades only they could perform. After a four-week overrun on their time estimate and a higher bill than expected at the manufacturer, we were relieved when we arrived at the Duncan Aviation Battle Creek, Michigan facility.

Everything about the whole Duncan Aviation experience—from the moment we arrived on the doorstep to day of departure—was amazing. Nothing was too difficult, and everyone was pleasantly open and forthcoming with both good and bad news as we completed the B, C and D check, Export Certificate of Airworthiness, repaint, a gaggle of new avionics and interior refurbishment work.

Convenient doesn’t even come close to describing myDuncan.aero and the phone app. I was able to go to the other side of the planet while still communicating with everyone at Duncan Aviation, receive photographs and explanations of issues, as well as approve and deny work orders. The website was great at describing the current expenditure and the progress when we weren’t actually onsite.

Also, no matter who you are, how big or small your aircraft is, everyone is treated as if they are Duncan Aviation’s number one customer. Any issues that arise during the work are dealt with instantly, and the attention to detail is amazing.

Our airframe work was suburb and your mechanics’ attention to detail was outstanding. Actually, every department at Duncan Aviation we worked with impressed us, including interior, paint shop and avionics. Having team members who are so skilled in their trades is quite an asset for both Duncan Aviation and aircraft owners. We experienced a significant savings when the scratches on the wood and the stains on the window shades were removed, leaving our aircraft looking nearly new. The full metallic exterior repaint of our aircraft turns heads. It is a perfect application without a single drip of paint. We are impressed with the aircraft’s overall appearance. The end result exceeded our wildest imagination. Also, your ability to modernize our entertainment system, integrating the new with the old means we now have a system where every cabin seat can listen or watch their own individual selection, or surf the internet, or both—something you never see in a jet this size.

Considering the scope of work, the timeframe we had available and the added full repaint, we were astonished that we came out a day early with a refund, not a bill.

Normally when you do this much work in a short span of time like we did, the last couple of days are a mad rush and it’s a flurry of paperwork to complete, bills to pay and a scramble to ensure nothing was missed, but not at Duncan Aviation. We encountered the simplest, smoothest experience at the end I have ever seen. It also helps that people at Duncan Aviation think ahead, treat the plane and work as if it’s their own aircraft and don’t leave anything to the last minute.

The quality of the Duncan Aviation workmanship was apparent when our aircraft was released for service just a couple of hours before our departure, and we were able to fly to the other side of the world without any faults or problems. Our aircraft performed flawlessly and flew like new, and it still does a month later.

We are starting the process for our next aircraft purchase and will not even consider looking anywhere else but Duncan Aviation for the work on it. With your new Indian DGCA maintenance approvals, we will also be bringing the aircraft back for future maintenance work.

Regards,

Regards,
Chris Neaves

Director of Flight Operations, Thriveni Earthmovers Pvt Ltd

Duncan Aviation

Duncan Aviation is an aircraft service provider supporting the aviation needs of government and business operators and other service providers. Services include major and minor airframe inspections, engine maintenance, major retrofits for cabin and cockpit systems, full paint and interior services and preowned aircraft sales and acquisitions. Duncan Aviation also has international aircraft components solutions experts available 24/7/365 who can handle any aircraft system problem with immediate exchanges, rotables, loaners or avionics/instrument/accessory/propeller repairs and overhauls.

Complete service facilities are located in Lincoln, Nebraska, and Battle Creek, Michigan. Additional locations include Provo, Utah, and 27 other facilities strategically located throughout the United States to provide customers with local support and the quickest response to avionics, engine and airframe Aircraft On Ground (AOG) situations.

If you’ve ever had to hunt for a specific aircraft part, component or avionics unit, you are well aware of how difficult it is to do a thorough research, locate a reputable supplier, negotiate pricing and schedule delivery. Most of the time, you are under a strict time constraints and need the aircraft part or avionics unit now and you don’t want to deal with all the issues that can complicate the process along the way; issues, such as no available inventory, managing billbacks, no traceability documents and lack of warranty support.

Kassim Khan, co-owner of Aviation Parts & Supply, an aviation parts broker supporting several corporate flight departments, has relied solely upon Duncan Aviation for 18 years to provide the parts needed to serve their customers. “The bottom line is that Duncan Aviation has never let us down,” says Khan.

Read Aircraft Parts on Speed Dial on page 29 of the Fall 2013 issue of Duncan Debrief and find out why Kassim has only one number in his phone when it comes to finding aircraft parts. 

Duncan Aviation maintains a large inventory of aircraft parts for sale. Our streamlined services and competitive turntimes satisfy hundreds of requests throughout the world 24 hours a day, 7 seven days a week. Our many awards testify to the quality of our service.

Brad Sides is a 12-year Duncan Aviation veteran, leading by example by delivering what is required to meet a customer's expectation. "It's all in a day's work."

In late March, a customer contacted Duncan Aviation for off-site assistance with a nose wheel steering malfunction. This customer sent the following letter to Allen Sward, Duncan Aviation Airframe Team Leader, regarding the experience. We decided to share these remarks because although we can say we hold ourselves to a higher standard of service than other service providers in business aviation, nothing says it quite like our customers do. The customer's name and company have been removed at his request.

Allen,

On March 28, 2012, our C680 had a Nose Wheel Steering malfunction in Nebraska City, NE. Our in-house maintenance department contacted Duncan Aviation in Lincoln. Your maintenance technician, Brad Sides was assigned the task of repairing our aircraft remotely. Brad made the drive down to AFK immediately and began the work required. He worked non-stop until late that evening, and then returned again the following morning to complete the repair which allowed us to ferry the aircraft to LNK for the functional tests required.

I have been in corporate aviation for 21 years and have experienced maintenance at many other service facilities. Duncan Aviation and Brad Sides made this maintenance event the best I have ever experienced.

Things that impressed me regarding Brad:

• He was there when we were told he would be.
• He stayed until late to get the part off of the aircraft for repairs.
• He coordinated with Lincoln to move the part back to the shop quickly.
• He was very pleasant, friendly, and professional.
• He explained everything easily and kept me informed on the process.
• His expert skills speak for themselves.
• Bottom line........he gave 100%!

“Great People make Great Companies!” so,

Things that impressed me regarding Duncan:

• They responded quickly.
• They obviously have people who know their job.
• All of the employees seem to work very well together communicating and closing the gaps.
• Everyone involved in the maintenance was friendly and professional.
• The front desk staff was very helpful, friendly, and professional.
• The best part.......we were out of there when Duncan said we would be!

Thanks again for making this event as pleasurable as possible.

Sincerely,
Senior Pilot, Fortune 300 Company

Brad Sides, Duncan Aviation Lead Mechanic from Lincoln, NE, believes one of the most important parts of his job is to deliver exactly what the customer expects, but strives to deliver more. "This customer came to Duncan Aviation expecting the best. That's the level of service that I want to provide." Brad is a 12-year Duncan Aviation veteran, his aviation career began in 1998.

Duncan Aviation offers emergency AOG services and 24/7 troubleshooting for grounded aircraft in your hangar or around the world, with remote AOG engine Rapid Response teams based at several strategic locations across the United States. All AOG teams that respond are equipped with the resources necessary for most aircraft and engine emergencies, and are supported by Duncan Aviation's two full-service facilities and network of avionics satellite repair stations.

Duncan Aviation’s mobile app is available for download on iPads®, and makes it easier to contact service locations, service representatives and department listings.