completion refurbishment &2006 special report

Completions outlook good and getting better

by Kirby J. Harrison

t is hard not to get excited,” said General Avia- pletion and refurbishment work and describes the The Canadian company began delivering its Chal- tion Manufacturers Association (GAMA) presi- Love Field center’s backlog as “unprecedented.” lenger 300 in January last year, the Global 5000 en- “I dent and CEO Pete Bunce in April as he Midcoast Aviation, now a Jet Aviation property, ex- tered service in April and the Global Express XRS reflected on market activity in this year’s first quarter pects to deliver 25 green completions this year, and followed in November. and on new technologies and products still to come. president Kurt Sutterer conservatively estimates an an- The Montreal-based manufacturer also introduced The GAMA numbers were unprecedented, with the nual growth rate of about 10 percent. the Challenger 850, 870 and 890 last year, “to meet the highest first-quarter billings in history, and at $4 billion, “We’re as busy as we can be,” said Jim Harrison, Interiors specialist Kvand has recently been handling 39.7 percent higher than in the first quarter of last year. head of completion and refurbishment at Jet Aviation conversions of the Yak-42 to an executive configuration. In addition, numbers compiled by AIN showed 236 tur- in West Palm Beach, Fla. “I’d bine business aircraft were delivered in the first quarter say we’re probably doing 100 of this year, 62 more than in the first quarter of last year. percent better than last year.” As for pre-owned aircraft, demand for high-serial- Launching a start-up carries number/low-hour aircraft has remained high. Last year, with it an inherent risk, but Dale the industry recorded 1,439 sales, and the moving Dunn, president and founder of average of monthly sales continues to rise. DunnAir Business Jet Completion All of this new and used aircraft activity spells busi- Center, feels encouraged. The ness for the completion and refurbishment industry as Tucson-based center opened last OEMs and independent shops scramble to keep up. winter and has delivered seven And while the excitement might be just a little less airplanes since receiving its palpable this year, those in the completion and refur- Part 145 repair station certifica- bishment business are looking at good times. tion last July. Savannah Air Center CEO Jeff Zacharius said busi- ast year, the forecast was ness was good last year and is better this year, and he that growing demand for expects the Savannah, Ga. completion and refurbish- L new and derivative aircraft ment center to see a 30-percent increase in revenue would be a driving force in all this year over last year. this completion and refurbish- Jeff Bosque, president of Landmark Aviation’s Asso- ment activity, and that seems to ciated Air Center, sees a “very strong” market for com- be the case. It is at Bombardier.

20aaAviation International News • July 2006 • www.ainonline.com Spectrum 33 floor plan evolving needs of both existing shuttle operators and a new generation of potential users.” It is an axiom in the industry that you never tell the customer “no.” Rather than say no, Bombardier has ac- quired some partners in the completion process to make saying “yes” easier. The strategy has allowed the company to focus on doing standard interiors at its Montreal plant and to send aircraft that require more highly customized cabins to select independent centers. These include Innotech Aviation in Montreal; Lufthansa Technik in Hamburg, Germany; Midcoast Aviation in Cahokia, Ill.; and Savannah Air Center in Savannah, Ga. Very Light Jets: Very Nice Cabins Midcoast has long been doing green Challenger 604s, and although production of the 604 ceased this The very light jets (VLJs) are coming. Smaller than A belted lavatory seat provides for a seventh passen- year, the company will hardly lack for work. Bom- what have thus far been regarded as entry-level business ger, and a small refreshment bar can replace several of bardier has chosen it as a “preferred” completion cen- jets, most VLJs offer a passenger capacity of about six, a the cabin seats, using the same attachment points. ter for the Challenger 605, Global 5000 and Global range of a little more than 1,000 nm, cruise speed of The Jimmy Durante nose contains 25 cu ft of bag- XRS, as well as the Challenger 850 business jet deriva- about 350 knots, and price tags ranging from about $1.3 gage space, enough, said Adam Aircraft president Joe tive of the CRJ200. million to a shade more than $2.25 million. Walker, for four complete sets of golf clubs and bags. Bombardier picked Savannah Air Center to handle The VLJs were initially hailed as everyman’s business Walker said Adam Aircraft is not inclined to offer in- green completion work on select Global 5000 and jet, and many in the industry agree there is a large pent- stalled entertainment systems that might quickly become Global XRSes. According to Savannah CEO Zacharius, up market for such an airplane, primarily in owner-opera- obsolete, but he added, “We might provide electrical out- the company has two Global 5000s and a Global XRS tor service or for an air-taxi operation. lets at every seat for personal entertainment devices or in the works. “We’re trying to space out the green com- One thing seems evident: for both markets, the cab- laptop computers.” pletions so we don’t get swamped. We need to keep ins are going to be much closer in style and quality to the An air-taxi interior allows for eight forward-facing seats, our refurb business going,” he explained. interior of luxury automobiles than to the cabins of larger, including a belted lavatory seat as a $10,000 option. Last fall, Innotech Aviation began doing work for more luxurious business jets. Travelers won’t find seat- Walker emphasized that in the air-taxi version, the seat Bombardier on its Global line. “We’re getting progres- back video monitors with on-demand video or a moving pitch is a leg-saving 42 inches, about 10 inches more than sively more involved in the interior work and will the seat pitch in economy class on a typical airliner. In its executive guise, the Spectrum 33 (below) will offer a eventually be doing entire cabins here,” said Marc double-club seating configuration with work/dining tables. Adam plans to roll the finished A700s off the assem- Galin, director of sales and marketing. “We’re going to bly line and perform an initial test be very much a high-end, boutique interiors shop for flight before installation of the cabin the more personalized aircraft.” interior, “which will take two people Lufthansa Technik was selected by Bombardier to about four hours.” do executive/VIP interiors for the Challenger 850 and The list of cabin options for the has a contract for 17 of them over the next three A700 is short, “only about an inch years. Five are already in the completion pipeline in long,” said Walker, adding that focus- Hamburg, and the first was scheduled for delivery to a group studies indicated that, “This European customer this month. was what customers prefer–comfort, Dassault Falcon Jet has traditionally used the com- durability and reliability.” pletion facilities at Jet Aviation in Basel, Switzerland, to assist with green Falcon interior finish. With demand Give Them What They Want growing, it plans to continue to send some of its Fal- and Options Are Unnecessary con 2000EXs and Falcon 900EXs there. Cessna made a departure from its The French company does most of its aircraft interi- typical approach to the cabin interior ors at its Little Rock completion center in Arkansas. But with its Mustang VLJ. The company even with the new hangars there built specifically for has in the past gone to outside ven- the Falcon 7X, said Roy Elsasser, director of aircraft dors for cabinetry for its Citation line. spec and design, “We just can’t put any more airplanes For the Mustang, virtually all the through the Little Rock facility.” cabin components are outsourced, hile some OEMs are outsourcing entire with DeCrane Aircraft of Columbus, green aircraft, Gulfstream Aerospace contin- map display. There will be no electrically operated, fully Ohio, the interior integrator. “We look at DeCrane as a W ues to provide quotes only on finished air- reclining swivel seats, and no galleys with microwave partner in the Mustang program,” said Cindy Halsey, craft, which are all done in-house. It was 10 years ago ovens, espresso makers and refrigerators. Cessna v-p of interior design, engineering and develop- that the Savannah, Ga. aircraft manufacturer decided ment, “which says a lot about them as a supplier.” The to get into the cabin completion business. Today, A Spacious Cabin interiors are shipped by DeCrane as a basic kit for installa- about 99 percent of Gulfstream business jets sold have Sells the Adam A700 tion by Cessna at its Independence, Kan., plant. cabin interiors done by Gulfstream. Adam Aircraft at Centennial Airport in Denver has two Cessna’s customer survey efforts regarding cabin en- This has allowed Gulfstream to “roll back” some A700 VLJs in its certification test program and a third is tertainment received much the same response as those 300 elements of cabin completion work–lavatories, due in late summer. The company is expecting FAA ap- of Adam Aircraft. “They said anything we installed would lighting, wiring–into the aircraft assembly process, proval before year-end. be outdated,” said Halsey. Cessna did, however, wire the which Gulfstream refers to as “initial phase manufactur- Adam did the A700 cabin design in-house, and Adam cabin for XM Radio to ensure its availability to cus- ing.” In doing so, said a spokesman, it has “dramati- is also building all the interior components, including 26-g tomers. “It’s a good, simple entertainment solution with a cally reduced” final-phase manufacturing, or cabin seats and cabinetry, in-house. The company is also certi- lot of variety,” she noted. completion. The introduction of “lean manufacturing” fying and installing these components. In terms of options, they’re minimal. “Our cus- and the roll-back program has reduced total cycle time The A700 cabin is smaller than that of the Spectrum 33 tomers were very much a part of the design process,” for the initial phase from 18 to 16 weeks, and the final but larger than those of its other competitors. It can be Halsey explained, “and they said, ‘Just give us a well phase of cabin completion from 25 to 23 weeks. configured for four, five or six passenger seats in a club or equipped airplane.’” With interior completion centers in Savannah and at all-forward-facing seat arrangement. The side-facing lava- The Mustang is also an exception to the Citation other Gulfstream facilities in Appleton, Wis.; Dallas; tory is included in the standard five-passenger layout. completion process in that it was designed from the start and Long Beach, Calif., Gulfstream, he explained, is (Adam, like other VLJ manufacturers, has made provisions to allow installation of cabin interior components during able to keep up with a “modest” increase in aircraft for enclosed lavatories. After all, when nature calls at aircraft assembly at the company’s Independence plant. Continued on next page u 25,000 feet, the answer is not the next roadside rest stop.) Continued on next page u

www.ainonline.com • July 2006 • Aviation International Newsaa21 completion refurbishment &2006 Very Light Jets: Very Nice Cabins at the shows, it’s been a great success.” The floor was Continued from preceding page also designed so that it would be easy to remove for u Continued from preceding page u maintenance or refinishing. production. “We carefully control the when, where and The Phenom 100 will carry up to eight passengers, how of the production rate.” Eclipse Choice: Standard or Deluxe and an enclosed aft lavatory is standard. He added that while Gulfstream offers its aircraft inte- Eclipse Aviation expects its Eclipse 500 to be the first According to Marco Tulio Pellegrini, v-p of market intel- riors in the form of a prescribed cabin configuration VLJ with FAA certification, probably by the time you read ligence for Embraer’s executive jets division, the company choice and list of standard options, “You can still opt for a this. The cabin design is the brainchild of the Albu- is evaluating “several interior alternatives” based on the ini- completely customized, personalized cabin.” querque, N.M.-based company’s tial design and customer input. But A relatively new in-house furniture center in Savannah engineers and design specialist whatever the decisions, said Pelle- produces cabinetry and trim for all four Gulfstream com- Ideo of Boston. grini, “It will be a high-end interior.” pletion centers. Eclipse plans two cabin editions For the Legacy 600, an exec- The company continues to provide service and/or cabin for its customer base–a standard utive version of the Embraer ERJ refurbishment work on about 70 percent of the worldwide and a deluxe LX. The standard in- 135 regional airliner, the Brazilian fleet of more than 1,500 Gulfstreams. And at the same time, terior comes with highly durable manufacturer uses three sources the centers solicit work on airplanes from competing man- polyvinyl fluoride (Telar) lower side- for interior components–Nordam, ufacturers. The idea is that doing quality work on competi- walls, a combination of leather Duncan Aviation and Embraer’s tor aircraft will help sell new Gulfstreams. and fabric seat covering, a ther- own cabinetry shop. The compo- ast year Cessna Aircraft in Wichita expected to de- mal/acoustic barrier, enclosed nents from Nordam and Duncan liver 240 aircraft, 61 more than during the previous pleated window shades, cut-pile are shipped to Embraer’s facili- L year. The company beat that expectation by seven wool carpet, a baggage compart- ties in São Jose dos Campos for airplanes. With deliveries of the new Mustang scheduled ment light, cockpit dome light, LED installation. Whether the com- to begin in January, Cessna expects to see delivery num- cabin lighting, one work/dining pany will adopt the same ap- bers closer to 335. table with cup holder and two-zone proach with the Phenom 100 The demand for new Citations has meant changes in (cockpit and cabin) air conditioning. remains to be seen. the interior completion process, primarily in what Cindy The standard cabin comes in three Halsey, v-p of interior design, engineering and develop- basic color schemes. Spectrum Makes Weight ment, calls lean technologies. While the appearance of the LX Spectrum Aeronautical’s Spec- “We’re working more efficiently and putting personal cabin is similar to that of the stan- trum 33 is a very light jet by virtue The Eclipse 500 LX will feature a privacy touches where customers want it and not where they dard cabin, there are numerous curtain between cabin and cockpit. of a projected mtow of slightly upgrades. These include fabric less than 10,000 pounds. How- covering on the lower sidewall and aft pressure bulkhead, ever, the cabin is as large as that of the Citation CJ2+ a wood accent strip and metal bead trim, two AC power light jet. The initial executive cabin layout concept calls outlets in the cabin and one in the cockpit, a stowable for club seating aft for four, and one full-size seat forward. privacy curtain between the cockpit and cabin and two The company is still considering whether to certify a additional dining tables. The LX also has lower wash belted lavatory seat for taxi, takeoff and landing. As a lighting in both the cabin and cockpit, and the cockpit corporate shuttle or air taxi, with the enclosed lavatory has padded knee supports and sheepskin seat covers. removed and all the seats facing forward, the Spectrum In terms of cabin entertainment, Eclipse pushed the 33 will accommodate as many as 10 passengers. Those envelope a bit to include an MP3 player and XM Radio, are the only two configurations, according to v-p of standard in the LX cabin. To reduce weight, engineers in- marketing Austin Blue. tegrated the system into the aircraft avionics. Single- The company plans to produce the major cabin com- stream MP3 reception is standard, and both the MP3 and ponents–cabinetry and seat upholstery–at the aircraft XM Radio are controlled through the cockpit multifunc- assembly site.

Y tion display. An optional upgrade increases both MP3 To date, most of the focus has been on the airframe, H P

A and XM Radio capacity. avionics and engines, “but the interior is rapidly moving R G O

T LED backlighting is standard for both interior versions, up on the list in terms of priorities,” said Blue. “We do O H P

with an optional blue-light version. know that we want to include as standard a lot of things S I E

L The LX cabin is available in four color schemes, one that have in the past been considered optional in a G

K

C more than the standard cabin. A cayenne color scheme is cabin of this class.” I N optional in the LX and according to the company has Blue said Spectrum is shooting for a “tastefully under- Van Nuys, Calif.-based Syncro Aircraft did proved particularly popular with European customers. stated” cabin that is practical as well as comfortable. a full interior completion on this Gulfstream II. The price of the LX cabin adds $52,995 to the $1.295 Cardiff-by-the-Sea, Calif.–based Spectrum is working don’t expect it or might not even see it,” she explained. million base price for the aircraft itself. According to mar- with Infusion Design of Bonner Springs, Kan., to do the For example, the company no longer paints seat frames, keting director Clint Clouarte, C&D Aerospace of Hunt- initial cabin design and hopes to have a cabin mockup which customers never saw, to match the color of the ington Beach, Calif., is providing the interiors, shipping ready in time for the NBAA Convention in Orlando this fall. leather upholstery. And it no longer offers a choice of 27 them as kits to the Eclipse plant in Albuquerque, where a The Spectrum 33 first flew on January 7, and the com- colors for the baggage compartment carpet. crew of six can install them in an hour. pany anticipates certification next year or in 2008. –K.J.H. Cessna has reduced the “stock to dock” time for interior BMW Designworks USA designed the cabin components, scheduling arrivals as close as possible to the Phenom 100 Owes mockup of Embraer’s Phenom 100. time they are to be installed. “We discovered that the More to the Auto Industry longer it sits in a box, the more likely it is to be damaged.” Of all the VLJ interiors, perhaps Embraer’s Phenom The company has also placed new emphasis on vendor 100 owes the most to the automotive industry. BMW De- choices. The new Mustang very light jet is an example. “We signworksUSA was responsible for the entire interior and went with some high-end interiors suppliers, such as Ipeco oversaw the construction of the Phenom 100 cabin of Torrance, Calif., for the seats, to PCI NewCo in Wichita mockup that was on display at the NBAA Convention for sidewalls and headliners, and to DeCrane Aircraft as the last fall and the European Business Aviation Convention interior integrator. DeCrane ships virtually the entire cabin & Exhibition in May. to Cessna as a kit, ready for installation.” “Embraer felt that the owner-operators of the Phenom In fact, Cessna has outsourced most of the cabinetry 100 would be car guys, and that they would expect an in- and upholstery work for Citation interiors. “We’re not cab- terior equivalent to that of a premium automobile,” said

inet builders,” Halsey explained. “But we know who the H Gerhard Steinle, director of transportation design for De- S O T N best cabinet builders are, and that’s who we pick.” signworksUSA. There is no wood veneer on any of the I C M With the Mustang, Cessna moved away from the

cabinetry, but the center drop-aisle floor is a bamboo ve- D I V Continued on page 24 A u neer. “It was initially controversial,” admitted Steinle. “But D

22aaAviation International News • July 2006 • www.ainonline.com completion refurbishment &2006

uContinued from page 22 “menu” approach of offering a bare airplane and hun- dreds of options. “The customers told us, ‘Just give us a well equipped airplane,’” she said. Cessna is also doing line-installation of some of the interior during Mustang assembly, said Halsey. “We’re doing it only on the Mustang, mostly because it was designed that way from the start.” t the same time that Dassault Aviation is looking ahead to the first deliveries of its new Falcon 7X A early next year, the company expects to see de- liveries of all Falcon business jets jump from 60 this year to 75 next year. That means plenty of work for its completion facilities. The French manufacturer does some Falcon interiors at its facilities in Marignac and sends some–Falcon 2000EXs and Falcon 900EXs–to Basel, Switzerland, for completion by Jet Aviation. But the greater number, by far, are done at its Little Rock, Ark. completion center, where new hangars are being prepared for Falcon 7X completion work. According to Elsasser, upgrading the computer product development program to Catia V5 has allowed design engineers to keep up with aircraft production. “Now everything is being defined by engineering,” said Elsasser, “from screw holes to wiring bundles.” mbraer’s launch of a corporate aviation divi- A computer-generated image shows an A319 Corporate Jetliner interior from Lufthansa Technik’s Project U. sion last spring will further drive growth in the E completion and refurbishment market. The begun producing its own cabinetry in a shop at its Legacy, in executive and shuttle configuration, has new Gavião Peixoto plant in Brazil. sold well. Now the Brazilian manufacturer has an- Embraer selected BMW DesignWorksUSA to do the nounced the launch of the new Phenom 100 very interior design of the Phenom 100 and 300. With that light jet and the Phenom 300 light jet. It has also re- defined, Embraer is in the process of selecting vendors designated the Legacy as the Legacy 600 and most for the interior components, and according to v-p of Upstairs, downstairs: recently revealed plans for the Lineage 1000, a busi- market intelligence Marco Tulio Pellegrini, “Installation A380 floor plan from Lufthansa Technik ness jet based on its E190 airliner. will be done in Brazil.” The $40.95 million Lineage will compete in a mar- The manufacturer has not yet chosen a design firm designer Peder Eidsgaard. One of the more striking ket niche between aircraft the size of a Global Express for the proposed Lineage interiors. features was a cinema/lounge with raised level seat- and Gulfstream and the size of the Airbus Corporate lans are also under way to create an executive in- ing, a pop-up, 60-inch gas plasma screen and a loft- Jetliner and Boeing Business Jet. The company plans a terior for Boeing’s 787 and Airbus’ A350 and A380. style mezzanine daybed. “flexible interior” with five distinct privacy zones and P At the European Business Aviation Conven- Also at EBACE, Boeing Business Jets said it has two lavatories. A third lavatory and shower are op- tion & Exhibition (EBACE) in Geneva this spring, Jet been sending out initial proposal requests for a bizliner tional. The company will offer a set of pre-defined Aviation made its intentions clear as it presented 1:25- based on the 787-8. Dubbed the 787 VIP, the airplane cabin configurations. scale mockups of a Boeing 787 and an Airbus A350 will be available beginning in August 2012, according Embraer works with Nordam and Duncan Aviation with executive/VIP interiors. The designs were in part- to BBJ president Steven Hill. for interior components for the Legacy 600 but has nership with yacht and corporate aircraft interior Continued on page 26 u

Limited-edition cabins evoke flavor of world’s cities

One of the major selling tion cycle time, adding a list of ready been sold–Manhattan, points of the business jet standard options to personalize Casablanca and Montreal. Po- seems always to have been the the cabin. Now, the Montreal- tential buyers are considering ability to customize and per- based OEM is offering its Milan, Italy; Antwerp, Belgium; sonalize the cabin to fit the cus- Global 5000 Limited Edition Se- and Tokyo. tomer’s desires and tastes. That ries, an opportunity for the cus- Bombardier design engi- flexibility has always com- tomer to further personalize the neers are leading the program. manded a price, to be sure, but standard cabin design. The cabin interiors are being it was there, and customers The goal, according to Bom- built by Bombardier associate took advantage of it. bardier, is “functionality, beauty C&D Aerospace at its Montreal In recent years Bombardier, and exclusivity.” Colors, fabrics, facility. Bombardier is installing for one, has begun marketing textures and overall design rep- the cabins at its Montreal its aircraft with a standardized resent distinctive characteristics completion center. The first cabin selection, partly as a of each city–cultural identity, fa- twinjet of the series–either means of controlling costs and mous landmarks, climate, his- Casablanca or Manhattan– partly to reduce cabin comple- torical relevance and modern was expected to be delivered architecture. Once a city/cabin early this summer and will Computer renderings of the is sold, it is no longer available enter service as a Bombardier limited-edition Stockholm (top) and Manhattan Global as a limited-edition choice. demonstration aircraft on loan 5000 cabins. Three Global 5000s have al- from the customer. –K.J.H.

24aaAviation International News • July 2006 • www.ainonline.com completion & refurbishment 2006 overhaul, avionics and exterior paint. “We might have as many as 20 to 25 HighTech ‘Finishing’ in the Black Continued from page 24 aircraft on the ground there at any Completion HighTech Finishing announced at the u one time,” he said. European Business Aviation Convention & The 787 VIP would offer approxi- The paint shop at Springfield, said Exhibition that last year was its best 12 mately twice the floor area of a BBJ 3. Wolfe, is a major asset, capable of & Refurb months since 2001. The Houston company, Like the BBJ series, the 787 VIP would accommodating aircraft as large as which supplies decorative plating for aircraft be sold green off the 787 Dreamliner the Global Express. “In the past Update fittings, attributes the strong 2005 perform- assembly line and sent to an inde- year,” he said, “the shop has done ance to demand for new aircraft as well as by Kirby J. Harrison pendent completion center of the cus- more than 40 full paint jobs.” Just increased activity in interior refurbishment. tomer’s choice for interior completion. two years old, the facility consists of In the past year, HighTech has been selected As for an executive/VIP version of three booths, all capable of doing Associated Air Center to do decorative plating for four new business the giant Airbus A380, despite rumors strip, prep and paint. “We could Gets DAS Approval jets–the Eclipse 500, Embraer Phenom 100 that Lufthansa Technik has an inside probably do 300 paint jobs a year Associated Air Center, a Landmark Avia- and 300, and the Sino Swearingen SJ30-2. track, Airbus has yet to reveal even without breaking a sweat.” tion company and large aircraft executive/ whether one of the big jets has been According to Wolfe, interior com- VIP interiors specialist at Love Field in Dallas, Jet Aviation Makes ‘Nice’ sold for that role. pletion and refurbishment accounts has received FAA designated alteration in North America he independent side of the for about 25 percent of Landmark Avi- station (DAS) certification. The authorization Lufthansa Technik has selected Jet Aviation completion and refurbishment ation’s business, and the company ex- permits the center to act on behalf of the FAA as the sole North American authorized sales T industry saw two major changes pects to see double-digit growth in to issue supplemental type certificates and and service outlet for the German completion last year. In the first, the group of that area this year. experimental airworthiness certificates and to center’s Nice (network integrated cabin companies acquired by The Carlyle In February last year, Jet Aviation amend standard airworthiness certificates. equipment) system. The Ethernet-based Nice Group between 2001 and 2004–Gar- signaled its intent to buy independent “The certification covers all our work,” said integrated cabin management, communica- rett Aviation, Piedmont Hawthorne completion and refurb center Midcoast Associated president Jeff Bosque, “including tions and entertainment system operates in and Associated Air Center–were Aviation, and the acquisition became designing and installing safety and flight-man- conjunction with a mobile access router for brought together under the new Land- final barely a month later. agement systems, room decors, furnishings, data and voice communication via satellite mark Aviation brand. The deal calls for Midcoast to retain entertainment systems and passenger seats.” It or ground-based stations. It can be controlled will also allow the center to reduce its build by a wireless remote or digital control units and delivery cycle, noted Bosque. located at each passenger seat.

Side Ledge, Pocket Door Upgrades Duncan Picks Midwest Aircraft Coming from Aviation Fabricators Products for Cabin Components Aviation Fabricators of Clinton, Mo., is Duncan Aviation of Lincoln, Neb., has awaiting supplemental type certificate signed a new sales and service agreement (STC) approval from the FAA for a new with Midwest Aircraft Products to provide side-ledge kit for older Beech King Airs. cabin interior products such as hot and cold Jet Aviation The kit includes tables and sidewall panels water containers, warming ovens, ice draw- created this in-flight and requires “some modification to the ers, waste containers and carts. Duncan will theater for airframe for attachment clips.” The kit starts stock common repair parts and will be able an executive Boeing 787. at $17,000 to the OEM or independent to repair and service most of the units pro- refurbishment shop and is delivered unfin- vided by the Mansfield, Ohio-based supplier. ished so it can be finished to match the existing interior. Also on the agenda for Franklin Products Offers AvFab is a sliding pocket door divider to a New Soft Touch in Seating replace the old accordion-type divider in In cabin seats, it’s a question of comfort, the back of the Citation 550 and 560. STC and Franklin Products of Torrington, Conn., approvals are expected in December. has an answer. The company calls it Soft- Touch and claims it is superior to the Associated Air Center, a major inde- its brand name. Company president Emteq Offers New currently popular memory-foam products. pendent completion and refurbishment Sutterer said, “We’ll do exactly what Low-profile LED Lighting According to Franklin ergonomist Vesa Van- center for large executive/VIP aircraft, we’ve been doing at Midcoast”: It sheds a new light on things. That’s nas, Soft-Touch provides better support and from Airbus A319s through Boeing maintenance, repair and overhaul; what Emteq says of its new ELW61 “very reacts more quickly to passenger movements 747s, continues to operate under its interior refurbishment; and green low profile” LED (light-emitting diode) than memory foam. It is designed to improve old name. The Dallas Love Field center cabin completion. cabin wash lighting technology. The board weight distribution and has “a very soft feel,” plans to deliver 13 large executive/VIP The company, he said, has in- is .18 inches thick (.63 inches, including despite its chemistry of more durable higher and government airplanes this year. vested $17 million in infrastructure in diodes) and 1.13 inches wide. According density polymers. Associated president Bosque said the past couple of years, and he to the New Berlin, Wis. company, it is in May that the facility was working si- added that considering the number of ideal for mounting in tight spaces, such as DeCrane Gets STC multaneously on three BBJs (one for airplanes moving through the paint lens-covered headliner lighting. The ELW61 for New Executive Seats an African head of state) one BBJ 2, shop, “We could probably stand to is step-dimmable, with a variable dimming DeCrane Aircraft Seating has received and three Airbus ACJs (A319-based). build another one.” option. Earlier this year, Emteq’s cabin STCs from the European Aviation Safety He added, “We’re booked out to the Midcoast has also made strategic lighting division introduced Quasar Agency for its new-generation 16-g model second quarter of next year.” moves with some major suppliers. 6004 single and model 6005 double execu- Resources from Garrett Aviation’s They include “an exclusive agreement” Emteq’s new low-profile tive aircraft seats. The new seats feature a group of interior shops have been with B/E Aerospace to install its new cabin wash lighting redesigned positive locking brake mechanism, shifted, for the most part, to the larger 16-g Stratus executive seats in green technology is ideal infinite swivel adjustment and linear bearing center in Springfield, Ill. “We realized Bombardier business jets. He also for installation in tracking. According to the Pestigo, Wis.-based that Springfield had most of the assets noted that B/E is about to introduce a tight spaces. seating specialist, the new seats have fewer and resources and if we pumped 16-g, side-facing divan that weighs 50 parts and weigh less than the earlier models. more into it, it would quickly become pounds less than the old model. An (ELW70 and ELW71), a full-spectrum The single seat can carry 70 pounds of uphol- a world-class completion and refur- STC is expected before year-end, with mood-lighting system, which it says is stery and options. Options include electrically bishment center,” said Landmark CEO availability starting early next year. brighter and more consistent than previous operated functions, rotation and travel Roger Wolfe. Under the terms of a 10-year agree- products. The key, said a spokesman, is in limiters, a more robust leg-rest mechanism, The company is also promoting the ment, Midcoast will be providing serv- the mixing optics. A lightweight control four head-rest styles, variable back lengths, Springfield facility as a one-stop shop, ice as a B/E representative. unit contains programming to simultane- adjustable arm heights and provisions for capable of airframe work, engine Continued on page 28 u ously manage 128 light assemblies. in-arm video monitors and tray tables. I

26aaAviation International News • July 2006 • www.ainonline.com completion refurbishment &2006 Put a little makeup on that airplane, please uContinued from page 26

Midcoast has also joined with Lufthansa Technik of There is no airplane so beautiful that a good paint paint is applied has a downdraft environment. Striping Hamburg, Germany, as a participant in the German job won’t help it look even better, maybe a lot better. and details are applied in a cross-draft bay. company’s network integrated cabin equipment (Nice) So says Jim Burress, manager of Landmark Aviation’s The environment for all three bays is automatically system. “We’re their distribution and support center for paint department in Springfield, Ill., and veteran of monitored and any departure from the set parameters that product in the U.S. and it will be installed in some more than 28 years in the business. prompts an immediate call to the paint shop manager of our green cabin completion projects,” said Sutterer. and maintenance supervisor. “We’re already quoting it for some of our customers.” “These were all things we took into The Nice system controls all cabin functions and de- consideration before we started building,” vices and distributes audio/video and data on a single said Burress. “We studied everything from digital Ethernet backbone. the traffic flow of aircraft and employees Sutterer said the availability of capital for expansion to chemical formulas, how the paint and growth “is certainly greater as part of Jet Aviation,” should be applied and under what condi- adding, “So you won’t see us shrinking anytime soon.” tions.” The Springfield shop typically Jet Aviation’s completion and refurbishment center shoots a two-part conventional urethane at West Palm Beach, Fla., will also continue as it has in paint formula in an ideal environment of the past, focusing primarily on refurbishment work on 77 degrees F and 47-percent humidity large business jets–“Falcons, Gulfstreams, Challengers,” (depending on the formula). said interior completions manager Harrison. During the paint mixing process, a Most recently, Jet Aviation won a contract from Pi- system automatically calculates the aggio to do 20 cabin completions for the Italian man- amount of volatile organic compounds, ufacturer’s Avanti II turboprop twin over the next two ensuring that they are kept to a minimum. years. Harrison said the center is still doing some Sikorsky S-76 cabin refurbishment and has just issued A Multistep Process quotes on some S-92 cabins. A 200-page training manual that out- ndependent completion and refurb centers have lines the complex process is required been reporting full shops and additional shifts to reading for every paint shop employee. I keep up with the demand for refurbishment work. In the simplest terms, the process of Savannah Air Center, which opened its doors seven painting a pre-owned airplane typically years ago doing exterior paint, has become a serious begins with masking before use of the competitor for such established centers as Duncan Avia- chemical paint remover, followed by a tion and Elliott Aviation. The green completion projects power rinse and flush. After de-masking, are starting to roll in from Bombardier; a Global 5000 the airplane is sanded until the metal is and a Global XRS are currently in the works and more clean, followed by a soap-and-water and will come before year-end. At the same time, the com- degreasing process. pany is soliciting more refurbishment projects on a vari- Then an acid-etch preparation is ap- ety of aircraft types and models. plied to make the surface more receptive to The center has been in a state of near-constant ex- the paint, followed by another thorough pansion since it opened. A new, 19,000-sq-ft shop ded- Landmark Aviation painters sand the tail of a Global rinse. Then an alodine is applied to prevent corrosion Express as part of the initial process of preparing the airplane for a new coat of exterior paint. The company and provide a surface to which the primer and paint will does some 50 exterior paint jobs annually. stick more readily. But the airplane is still not ready for paint until the primer is applied and dried and the entire Burress, 47, is the boss, with a crew of 18 people, airframe re-sanded and blown clean. some of whom have been applying paint to airplanes Then comes the paint–a two-part conventional ure- for longer than Burress has. “We have a good stable thane, usually in white or off-white. Then the airplane is crew, and their experience ranges from about 35 years “baked” overnight at between 90 and 100 degrees F and down to 10 years.” 60 degrees humidity, depending on the paint formula. Expertise, he notes, is a matter of both time and After that the crew gets out the lasers and lays out any experience. Last year, the shop did nearly 50 exterior stripes and logos and other art. Following the color paint jobs, many on airplanes as large as a Global Express. It’s rare, he said, when there isn’t at least one airplane in the Xzilon Protects the Paint pipeline in some stage of strip, prep or paint. Extending paint life and prevent- If the paint crew staff is an ing corrosion is the aim of Granitize, older group, the three-bay shop and liquid-formula Xzilon is the Designers have ample space to play with in the 787, as this proposed state room demonstrates. is only six years old and de- product. The South Gate, Calif. com- signed to meet every environ- pany notes that Xzilon has been ap- icated to upholstery and engineering was expected to mental regulation–local, state proved for use by major airframe open this month, followed by ground-breaking for a and federal–and then some. manufacturers Airbus and Boeing. new 70,000-sq-ft hangar. There is a million dollars Testing at the Boeing Materials Zacharius said Savannah Air has the Boeing 737 and worth of air compressors to en- Technology lab included 1,300 Boeing 767 on its repair station certificate, but despite sure proper airflow and provide hours of salt-spray chamber expo- invitations to bid on larger business jets the company is pressure for painting. The facility sure, simulated rain erosion on taking a cautious approach. “I don’t know about doing also maintains air pressure at painted and bare metal surfaces, a green BBJ,” he said, adding, “Maybe after we get our neutral for the two paint bays. and UV Block/UV30 effectiveness. feet wet on a refurb.” “You can open a door to go in or The company believes Xzilon is par- He also noted a growing number of customers ask- out and within 20 seconds the ing for bids on a complete aircraft reconfiguration and pressure in the bay is back to ticularly effective in a marine envi- refurbishment, rather than on a less complex, not to neutral again. So we don’t push ronment where corrosion is a factor mention less expensive, refurbishment alone. out overspray or suck in dirt.” in paint life. I Continued on page 30 u The bay where the overall

28aaAviation International News • July 2006 • www.ainonline.com details, the crew paints the top of the will end up looking like it’s devel- with little or no loss in brilliance. wings, a last step to avoid any scuff- oped water spots, except that they He added, “Seven years is not ing during the painting of detail work. won’t come out. We even teach unusual, and I’ve seen some Some aircraft will get an op- them how to carefully score around come in here after 10 years and tional Teflon coating on the wing a screw that has to come out so they look almost as good as the leading edges and on some other that when it goes back in, the day they rolled out.” –K.J.H. surfaces more exposed to friction. touch-up will be minimal.” Jet Aviation gave this Piaggio Then the paper masking applied for Burress says a well done paint Avanti II a commemorative detail work is removed, placards job should last at least five years Ferrari paint job. are replaced and the radome boots reattached. The airplane is jacked up, the wheels are removed for cleaning and for checking the bear- ings and races, and operational checks are conducted on all the control surfaces. After all this, said Burress, comes rollout and delivery to the customer. That, he said, is a special day, with most of the crew in attendance, and a special paint job might draw oth- ers from around the facility. “We love having the customer there for the rollout. In the owner’s mind, that final step is what justi- fies the cost of the airplane, and we want it to look just the way he expects it to.” Burress concedes that most of the paint schemes on modern busi- ness aircraft have all the excitement and panache of a political speech– off-white with two or three stripes, or if the owner is feeling particularly daring, a couple of ribbon-like swirls along the fuselage. Burress said the shop has had its share of unusual paint jobs. One customer wanted the entire fuse- lage painted to look like the ocean’s surface, with waves breaking over the tail. Another wanted the aircraft done in PPG’s Harlequin, a spe- cially formulated paint that changes color, depending on the viewing angle and the angle of the light. This finish required a powder pig- ment specially milled by an inde- pendent lab. The pigment alone cost the owner $72,000. The shop recently finished a Global Express that carries memo- ries of World War II and the famous Supermarine Spitfire IX fighter. The Global owner asked for the image of the specific Spitfire he had flown to be painted, in detail, on the un- derside of the big business jet. But it doesn’t matter, said Bur- ress, whether it’s something out of the ordinary, or well within the bounds of boring. “We take our paint real personal, from the de- signers to the people who apply the final touches. It’s hard, hard work, and you’ve gotta love it. Airplanes that roll out of here have thousands of hours of labor invested.” The shop provides a touch-up kit, and “we even teach the owners’ maintenance people how to take care of it.” For example, the in- structions warn against the use of silicone-based waxes. “The sun will bake it into the paint and the finish

www.ainonline.com • July 2006 • Aviation International Newsaa29 completion & refurbishment 2006 minor projects,” said president and Martina Dabo, it will be ready for business CEO Barbara Cesar. next spring. A second phase of expansion, uContinued from page 28 “I think this year is going to be Completion said Dabo, will permit the company to much better than last year,” she said. accommodate even larger aircraft. Oxford “Exterior paint, for some reason,” “I’m not going to say by how much, Aviation currently has about 60 employees. said Zacharius, “has really exploded, but a lot.” & Refurb By 2008, that number is expected to have and we’re getting a tremendous num- Is the company hiring? “Oh, yes,” grown to about 200, and “eventually to as ber of calls.” said Cesar. “We’re looking for a pro- Update many as 350.” All this activity has resulted in a duction coordinator, skilled instal- The FBO facility Oxford Aviation operates by Kirby J. Harrison search for more skilled workers and lers, cabinetry specialists, upholsterers, at Oxford Regional will remain there. The more engineers to add to its current everything,” she added. company’s maintenance center at Eastern workforce of about 200. “We’re hiring Eric Roth at International Jet Interi- Midcoast Delivers Its First Global 5000 Slope Regional Airport in Freyburg will also for all the trades,” said Zacharius. ors in Ronkonkoma, N.Y., has his cen- Midcoast Aviation earlier this year deliv- remain in place. eanwhile, smaller independ- ter hard at work on the complete ered the first Global 5000 to be completed Sanford Regional is perhaps best known ent centers such as Indi- reconfiguration and refurbishment of outside Bombardier’s factory completions as the airport where Air Force One lands M anapolis Jet Center are also the first Challenger 604 to go into serv- center in Montreal. Midcoast, an independ- when President George Bush visits the family doing well–some of them exception- ice in India. “It’s going to be one of the ent completion center based at St. Louis home in nearby Kennebunkport. ally well. “All I need are more hours most incredible cabins we’ve done,” Downtown Airport in Cahokia, Ill., is in a day,” said company president said Roth. The company is working approved by Bombardier to do highly cus- A Reading Light or a Scene Randy Keeker, noting that the shop with the client’s interior designer, “who tomized cabins in the Global 5000, as well from War of the Worlds? has a three-month backlog. “We fin- came in the other day with samples of as in the Global XRS and Challenger 605. There it was at the European Business ished 2005 in a flurry that’s continued alligator, ostrich and python. That’s “Customized” is hardly an adequate descrip- Aviation Convention & Exhibition, bearing this year, and it looks like it will go on going to require some coordination tion for this latest Global 5000. The big an amazing resemblance to the deadly through the entire year.” with the wildlife people,” said Roth. business jet is configured for 10 passengers ray-emitting “eye” of the alien creatures Indianapolis Jet is hiring and con- Also in for a major refurbishment, and equipped with fore and aft lavatories from the film War of the Worlds. sidering taking over more hangar though on a somewhat less dramatic and fore and aft galleys. Six passenger seats space at Indianapolis International Air- level than the Challenger 604, is a are equipped with display monitors, in port to expand the current 6,000 sq ft Hawker. A Falcon 900 is expected to addition to two bulkhead-mounted 18-inch dedicated to cabinetry and upholstery. arrive later this summer, also for a monitors and one motorized monitor con- Keeker also anticipates building a new major refurb. cealed in a large credenza. Beechwood hangar big enough to handle aircraft Business has been “really good” said cabinetry and trim with graphite inlay high- as large as a Boeing 727. “We’re hop- Roth. “We’ve been doing a lot of work lights the design. Cabin entertainment ing to get some large-aircraft projects.” for international customers and we goodies include satellite-direct television, DunnAir could hardly be called a would certainly like to expand.” Part of XM satellite radio, satcom and Airshow’s small shop–at least not in terms of that expansion is adding to the current moving-map system. size. The company is housed in a workforce of about 20 employees. 235,000-sq-ft hangar capable of ac- Roth said customers bringing air- Gore Gets the Business from Airbus B/E Aerospace’s new flex-arm LED reading light. commodating a Boeing 747. Among planes in for refurbishment seem to Gore Design Completions of San Antonio aircraft in the pipeline is a Boeing be focusing particularly on the latest is the second U.S. independent completions But unlike the eerie alien eye, its function 757 in for minor refurbishment. “I ex- technology–the latest satcom system, center to be qualified by Airbus to do is far more benign. It’s the new flex-arm, LED pect we’ll run about 15 full refurbish- Airshow 4000, 110-volt outlets for lap- executive/VIP cabin completions work on its reading light introduced by B/E Aerospace at ments through here this year, and tops and iPod outlets. aircraft line. The other is Associated Air Center, the EBACE show, and it emits nothing more o is there a down- a Landmark Aviation company, based in terrifying than a soft, white glow. side to all of this? Dallas. Airbus-approved executive/VIP cabin S Most likely, say outfitters outside the U.S. include EADS The Stratus Is a Go for Bizav some insiders, it is on Sogerma in France, Jet Aviation in Switzerland B/E Aerospace originally designed its the pre-owned aircraft and Lufthansa Technik in Germany. Unlike lightweight, fully reclining Stratus seat for the refurbishment side of Boeing, which is minimally involved in the airline business but was promoting it to the industry. executive/VIP completion work on its aircraft business aviation at the European Business When the economic line, Airbus manages each project on behalf Aviation Convention & Exhibition in May. revival began making it- of its customers. Gore Design’s 120,000-sq-ft Gulfstream Aerospace has selected the self felt about two years facility at the former Kelly AFB outside San newest Stratus model for its G150, and on ago, the demand for Antonio is one of the largest in North America. display at EBACE was a variation of the Stra- new business aircraft Last month, it housed a Boeing 767, a Boeing tus meant for Dassault’s new Falcon 7X. began to grow. But 727 and three Boeing Business Jets in various While designed to recline to the 180- OEMs, left during the stages of completion or refurbishment. The degree position and extend to 80 inches recent recession with company is planning to add another 60,000 in length, it is engineered to provide a white-tails for which sq ft of shop space. perfectly flat berth. there were no cus- When the chair is in the reclined “lounge tomers, inventories sit- Oxford Aviation Plans Major position,” the seat bottom and footrest move to ting idle on shelves, Expansion and Capabilities Upgrade cradle the body in a horizontal Z position. The This Falcon 50 is part of Duncan Aviation’s Design Collection. and valued employees laid off, were Oxford Aviation is planning a major seat also features a six-way adjustable headrest cautious about ramping up production move from Maine’s Oxford County Regional and a self-actuated leg rest that eliminates the maybe a half-dozen minor refurb too quickly and being overextended if Airport to Sanford Regional Airport, about 50 gap between the leg rest and bottom cushion. jobs,” said Dunn. the current boom turned to bust. miles south, where it will open a 93,000-sq- It comes with manual or electric controls. He said the facility, at Tucson Inter- So, unwilling to wait two or three ft building next spring. national Airport, is getting three or years for delivery of a new airplane, The interior refurbishment center had Sikorsky Logs S-76D Order four requests for bids a day and as of customers began “cherry picking” been limited to aircraft the size of a Citation from First European Customer the middle of last month was waiting from among the late-model/low-hours V or Beech King Air by the 4,601-foot Sikorsky Aircraft this spring announced it for replies on 17 quotes. “It’s our time, pre-owned inventory. And typically, runway at Oxford County. The 6,000-foot has signed position assignment agreements and we’re going to take advantage of the first stop after acquisition was a re- runway at Sanford Regional will allow the with Premier Aviation Services of Ireland for it,” said Dunn. furbishment shop. shop to accept aircraft as large as the Gulf- two executive S-76Ds. This, said the helicop- At Van Nuys Airport in Los Ange- As a result, refurbishment special- stream G550 for refurbishment and exterior ter OEM, represents the first European les, Syncro Aircraft is completing a ists found themselves in the enviable paint in the new $10 million facility. customer for the S-76D. Premier Aviation Gulfstream IV. “We try to do one large position of being nearly swamped Construction will begin this fall and, plans to operate the two aircraft out of airplane at a time, and maybe 20 Continued on page 32 u according to project development manager Weston Airport, near Dublin. I

30aaAviation International News • July 2006 • www.ainonline.com completion & refurbishment 2006 Airbus, Bombardier seek uContinued from page 30 new widebody corporate market with work. And that has continued to the present. That’s the good news. The bad news–and it’s only rela- For some years now, business jet manufacturers have been Elite for 14 passengers or the Elite Plus with 18 seats. tively bad news–is that the demand might flatten over offering their customers a standard choice of cabin configura- According to Lufthansa Technik senior v-p of marketing the next year. tions and amenities, along with a list of standard options. and sales Walter Heerdt, the Hamburg completions shop ex- “Last year was a year in which we really didn’t have Some in the industry have referred to the product as “stan- pects to see the first Elite roll in before year-end and roll out to work to sell airplanes,” said Jeteffect president Bryan dardized cabins”; others have less charitably called them finished four months later. Comstock, recalling the rush by customers to buy pre- “cookie-cutter cabins.” It was an effort to hold the line on While Boeing Business Jets normally sells its BBJ line to owned aircraft. costs yet still provide a quality interior with a sufficient number customers green, the Seattle company does market the air- of optional upgrades to please the more demanding customer. plane with what it calls a Leadership Select cabin. The aircraft, It has apparently been successful, and the idea has expanded like other BBJs, is sent green to a Boeing-recognized inde- to the market for larger business jets. pendent completion center but with cabin specs that limit the Bombardier, for example, has taken this approach with its cabin cost to $10 million. In its green form the BBJ sells for Challengers and Globals. With the assistance of select ven- about $42 million. While the cost of a finished BBJ is in the dors, it does the standard and standard-plus-options Chal- $55 million range, a highly individualized interior can drive lenger and Global interiors at its Montreal completion center. the price of a completed airplane to well over $60 million. For more highly individualized interiors, the aircraft are sent Heerdt sees a broader worldwide demand for standardized to either Midcoast Aviation at St. Louis Downtown Airport in cabins, particularly in emerging markets such as Russia and Cahokia, Ill., or to Savannah Air Center in Savannah, Ga. China, as well as among charter operators. In fact, the first Now Bombardier has taken the process further to launch a A318 Elite order came at the NBAA Convention last fall from corporate/executive shuttle line–the Challengers 850, 870 and Zurich-based charter operator Comlux. Less than two weeks 890–to “meet the evolving needs of existing shuttle operators later, Saudi Arabia’s National Air Services ordered five Elites, and a new generation of potential users.” All three are busi- with options for five more. ness jet adaptations of Bombardier’s CRJ200, CRJ700 and One of the first customers for a Challenger 850 was the CRJ900 airliners, respectively. head of a Russian firm who ordered an executive model for Bombardier selected Lufthansa Technik in Hamburg, Ger- himself and a Challenger 870 shuttle for staff support. many, to do the Challenger 850 executive/VIP interiors. Lufthansa Heerdt sees a growing market for the low end of the wide- has orders for 17 interiors. The finished airplane is priced at $25.2 body standardized cabin aircraft. The advantage, in addition to million, about $5 million less than the customized Corporate Lufthansa Technik and Midcoast Aviation will perform Jetliner version of the CRJ200 regional twinjet. Y completions on the Bombardier Challenger 850. H P

A With orders brisk, Bombardier has also approved Midcoast R G O

T Aviation in the U.S. to do additional Challenger 850 cabins to O H P

the Lufthansa Technik design. Midcoast has already taken deliv- S I E

L ery of the first green 850 and expects to do another seven. G

K C

I According to Bombardier Business Aircraft v-p James N Hoblyn, the manufacturer expects to hold 10 to 15 slots a year A Gulfstream II from Syncro Aircraft shows how effectively curved surfaces can soften the look of the interior. on its regional jet production line for airplanes that will undergo the shuttle or executive/VIP interior treatment. “In the first quarter of this year, all the brokers were back at work, educating buyers and sellers alike,” he Streamlining the said. “Everybody felt the slowdown. Then in the sec- Completions Process ond quarter, it picked up again. Now I think this sum- Sensing the market possibilities for a standardized-cabin mer, there’ll be another slow period. But it’s an bizliner, Airbus earlier this year announced it had reached an unpredictable market.” New airplane sales continue to propel used air- agreement with Lufthansa Technik to do fast-turn-around ex- craft sales as customers find that delivery dates for ecutive/VIP Airbus A318 interiors with standard cabin configu- some airplanes are out to 2008, 2009, “and in some rations and components at a finished price of $49 million, cases as far out as 2010,” said Joe Carfagna, vice some $6 million less than the price tag for the slightly larger a lower acquisition price, he said, is the speed with which a chairman of Leading Edge Aviation Solutions in A319-based Airbus Corporate Jetliner. As of May, Airbus had standardized cabin can be completed. “When people buy an Franklin Lakes, N.J. orders for 13 of what it has dubbed the A318 Elite. airplane they want it fast, and we can do it a lot more quickly Continued on page 34 u The airplane comes in two standardized configurations–the with a standardized cabin.” –K.J.H.

Versace Looks for Launch on a Different Runway

For business jet owners looking for this month, video images and 3-D render- make the Versace designs a reality and do that “signature” cabin, aircraft charter and ings will be on display, and TAG hopes to the installation work. services giant TAG Group has teamed with have a cabin mockup ready in time for the Versace will take responsibility for “all leading international fashion house Gianni NBAA Convention in Orlando in October. aspects of content, design and style”; Versace to offer an answer. The decision to offer a signature busi- TAG will provide aviation engineering, The idea, according to a TAG ness jet cabin is not such a dramatic depar- technical and marketing expertise. TAG is spokesman, came from Aziz Ojjeh, co- ture for a design house that is perhaps the exclusive distributor for Bombardier’s owner of the Luxembourg-based TAG better known for its distinctive haute cou- Global and Challenger lines in Africa and Group, who was “just waiting for a recep- ture garment designs. The Italian company the Middle East. tive market.” also offers an equally distinctive line of TAG is marketing the Versace cabin TAG and Versace made a preliminary home interior furnishings that can be to owners of high-end business jets presentation at the Milan Furniture Fair in adapted to the business jet cabin. such as the Global Express and Gulf- April. The response was “encouraging” The spokesman said TAG has already stream and owners of even larger air- A computer rendering of one idea from design house Versace said a TAG Group spokesman. At the Farn- begun talking with “several” independent craft such as the Airbus Corporate for a stark, monochromatic business jet cabin shows white leather upholstery and black rabbit fur throw pillows. borough International Air Show in the UK completion and refurbishment centers to Jetliner and Boeing 747. –K.J.H.

32aaAviation International News • July 2006 • www.ainonline.com completion & refurbishment 2006 work, barring an unforeseen eco- Mann Aviation Boosts Its Payload nomic downturn that affects the sale Mann Aviation at Fairoaks Airport south- uContinued from page 32 of new airplanes, the forecast seems Completion west of London began taking in more But the used aircraft inventory has to be for continued growth, at least business aircraft interior refurbishment work shrunk. “I have a client with a G550 according to market surveys by Hon- & Refurb about two years ago and recently added a who’s looking for a Boeing Business eywell and Rolls-Royce. new 5,500-sq-ft facility dedicated to that Jet and he can’t find one anywhere,” Last fall, Honeywell predicted aspect of its business. It includes cabinetry said Syncro’s Cesar. “He did hear about growth in business jet deliveries from Update and upholstery shops as well as hangarage. one that was for sale, and by the time about 800 aircraft this year to slightly Currently in for work is a privately owned by Kirby J. Harrison he contacted the broker it was gone.” more than 1,000 in 2015. Rolls-Royce Bombardier CRJ700. The customer, said was forecasting a 32- Mann marketing manager Barry Jarlett, percent increase in Grob SPn Mockup Reflects bought the airplane new with the airliner deliveries from 2005 Automobile Design Experience interior already installed and is having the through 2014, with It might have the look and feel of an regional twinjet gutted for conversion to an medium- through ultra- oversized luxury automobile in the cabin, executive configuration. The project is long-range aircraft con- but it is all airplane. “We were asked to scheduled for completion in February. stituting 70 percent of make the passenger feel as if he or she were Also in the company’s refurb pipeline is a the dollar value of in a large, luxury SUV, such as the Porsche privately owned Sikorsky S-76, which calls those deliveries. Cayenne or the BMW X5,” said Franck for an integrated in-flight entertainment Also good news for Burnet, CEO of system and 15-inch LCD monitor in a wood the business aviation Burnet Interiors, veneer credenza with gold-plated fittings. industry as a whole is a which was con- decision by House and tracted by Grob PATS Expansion Adds to BBJ Capacity Senate negotiators in Aerospace of Business is booming at PATS Aircraft, said May to remove meas- Germany to build Dominick Scott, the completion and refur- ures of the Tax Relief the cabin mockup bishment specialist’s v-p of quality and Act of 2005 that would of the aircraft procurement. With one BBJ2 delivered in Feb- have increased the tax manufacturer’s ruary, one BBJ and one BBJ2 currently in the liability of business ex- new SPn utility works, and a fourth BBJ due to arrive in Associated Air Center completed this ecutives who use company aircraft jet. The Swiss- December, expansion is in order, said Scott. A319 for the Brazilian government. for personal reasons. Those measures based interiors PATS recently acquired two hangars across would also have limited the tax bene- specialist worked from the current facility at Sussex County Air- This means that, at worst, refurbish- fits companies receive when the air- The Grob SPn cabin mockup from engineering port near Georgetown, Del., to accommodate ers might see a drop in demand this craft are used for recreation. is similar in style and tone drawings by the growth. As a result, “We now have seven summer and into the fall. Or the de- The short- and long-term future of to a luxury SUV, according Munich-based positions available for BBJ interior work and mand might simply flatten, said others. business aviation then looks good, and to Burnet Interiors. designer Haus- we can accommodate the new BBJ3,” said “It’s a wild market and I’ve never by default, the forecast–short- and long- Rucker-Co. A Scott. He noted that PATS recently signed a seen one like it,” said Carfagna. term–for the completion and refurbish- second mockup that will include as-yet- multi-airplane contract to do three BBJs, all in As for new aircraft completion ment industry is equally strong. J undefined improvements is in the works. a government executive/VIP configuration, “and all with shortened delivery cycles–6.5 Green Bombardiers Prompt months for the first, six months for the second Interiors Ramp-up at Midcoast and five months for the third.” The next generation of Midcoast Aviation, which has done green Challenger 604 completions for years, is BBJ2 To Get Flight Environments cabin entertainment is here ramping up its capabilities as the Canadian Cabin Comfort System manufacturer sends more of its business jets Large executive/VIP interiors specialist If the customer has it in his home or in high-speed receivers–the HST-2110 and to the Cahokia, Ill. independent center for PATS Aircraft has selected the Cabin Comfort his office, he wants it in the cabin of his HST-2120. Both will support one 432-kbps more highly customized interior work. System by Flight Environments of Paso business aircraft. This demand is driving the SwiftBroadband channel when the service Midcoast has taken delivery of the first of Robles, Calif., for a BBJ2 cabin project. The communication and entertainment cabin becomes available later this year. With eight green Bombardier Challenger 850s, big business jet is the second BBJ2 to be technology that’s just become available and Rockwell’s SAT-611 or SAT-906 systems, si- business jet derivatives of the CRJ200 completed by PATS for the same Middle the new gear soon to follow. multaneous operation of voice and high- regional jet. It is the first of 41 high-end Bom- Eastern customer. The first aircraft was also A major battle for market share is going on speed data channels will be possible. bardier interiors most recently assigned to equipped with the Flight Environments in the realm of cabin communications, in par- Honeywell and Thales have teamed to Midcoast for cabin completion over the next thermal/acoustic barrier system. The Cabin ticular high-speed satcom data connectivity. produce an upgrade version of its HD-128 three years. They include 18 new Challenger Comfort System has been installed in more Large-cabin aircraft buyers have at least for SwiftBroadband. It is a form/fit replace- 605s and 15 Global 5000s. As a result of that than 30 executive BBJs. The system comes in heard of Inmarsat’s Swift64 data service, ment compatible with any aircraft that is and earlier agreements with Bombardier to a customized kit, ready for installation. the basic option for an airborne datalink Continued on page 36 u do its more highly customized interiors, said system. Now, coming soon to Several companies are working to bring affordable, president Kurt Sutterer, “Midcoast is experi- Precision Aircraft Components a cabin near you is Swift- high-speed data to the cabins of business aircraft. encing skyrocketing growth.” Won’t Settle for the Back Seat Broadband, which features The center is concluding interiors on the Precision Aircraft Components of Palm 432 kilobytes per second last of Bombardier’s Challenger 604 produc- City, Fla., has announced a new, electrically (kbps) of data transfer. But at tion run. In addition to working on the operated, 16-g berthable divan. According to about $400,000 for hardware Challenger 605 and Global 5000, Midcoast sales manager Mike Stevens, the biggest chal- alone, it’s not cheap. is also one of Bombardier’s completion lenge was finding a good, reliable motor. The SwiftBroadband is sched- centers of choice for Global XRS interiors. divan unfolds and extends to form a sleeping uled to enter service by year- According to a spokesman for Midcoast, berth and retracts with the touch of a button. end, powered by Inmarsat’s the company expected its completions It also has a pressure-sensor safety feature that new I-4 satellites. The geo- business this fiscal year (ending June 30) causes the motor to reverse immediately. stationary orbits of the to be double that of the previous fiscal year. There is also a manual override in the case of satellite array will provide The company has completed 62 green motor failure. “It’s the only motorized 16-g coverage to 98 percent of Bombardier aircraft in its 35-year history and side-facing divan on the market,” said Stevens. the world’s population. expects to take in or completely finish that The divan comes in a three- or four-place To accompany SwiftBroad- many–including previously assigned aircraft version, and each seat section is certified band, Rockwell Collins has in- and the most recent agreement–over the separately. The arms at each end slide down troduced its next-generation next three years. to accommodate taller passengers. I

34aaAviation International News • July 2006 • www.ainonline.com completion refurbishment &2006 North Atlantic and Europe using another. Cabin entertainment Gulfstream’s BBML is offered on the G350, G450 and G550. Equipment includes a dish antenna, antenna con- uContinued from page 34 troller, local area network switching unit/transceiver router, and the exclusive Gulfstream file server. Owners already equipped with a Honeywell satcom installation. of GVs and G500s can opt to have BBML hardware in- EMS Satcom has its own SwiftBroadband software up- stalled as a retrofit. grade of the eNfusion HSD-400 and HSD-440 high-speed Satcom Direct of Satellite Beach, Fla., has introduced data terminals. It is based on the eNfusion HSD-128 and a new service called International Global One, or iGon, HSD-400 terminals. The upgrade will be available in the fall. allowing customers to use “home-country” telephone Chelton Satcom’s SDU-7300 two-channel satellite number prefixes when traveling. The Satcom Direct serv- modem Swift64 kit is bondable up to 128 kbps and ice cuts through what is often a cumbersome and con- comes with integrated router and HPA-7400 high-power fusing process by providing a single satcom telephone amplifier. It is upgradable to SwiftBroadband, and the number that includes the country code, following by a When it is ready for the market, SwiftBroadband company is saying it will be available when the Swift- certain number of digits, just like a regular phone num- will provide connection speeds of 432 kbps. Broadband service is available. More details are likely at ber. The annual fee for the services is $975. Per-minute the Farnborough International Air Show this month. charges for Inmarsat satcom calls are extra, generally tion monitors–is now available in the air. Danish cabin electronics specialist Thrane & Thrane about $8 per minute. LCD technology continues to improve, with a 42-inch expects to have its own SwiftBroadband solution–Aero LCD screen now available from Flight Display Systems SBB+–ready when the service is operational. The system Keeping the of Alpharetta, Ga., for $17,500. Several suppliers are will provide up to four voice channels, up to two Swift- Passengers Entertained working on 56-inch LCD monitors that could become Broadband channels and as many as two ISDN chan- Cabin entertainment technology continues to grow to available within the next year. nels, as well as cockpit data, built-in PBX and one meet passenger demand for a pleasant way of passing the Moving-map displays are more detailed than ever. Swift64 backup channel. Thrane & Thrane customers time, and today, virtually every feature available on the A system from Lufthansa Technik of Hamburg, Ger- who already have an Aero HSD+ five-channel system will ground–such as satellite-direct television, on-demand audio many, provides satellite imagery rather than the old be able to upgrade. and video, XM Satellite Radio, iPod ports and high-defini- high-school textbook map. Rosen Aviation Displays’ The pending SwiftBroadband service has spawned a new, compact satellite communication antenna from CMC Electronics for super-midsize and large business jets. Dubbed SatLite, it supports Inmarsat Aero-H/H+, SkyTheater offers theater in the sky Swift64 and SwiftBroadband satellite communication services. The top-mounted, low-profile antenna is ex- SkyTheater is a relatively small Gulfstreams and a Global Express. and refurbishment centers that might be pected to enter service this summer. company–at its core, three friends Currently, it is being installed in two promoting a competing entertainment Chelton currently offers the HGA-7000 high-gain sat- with a wealth of experience and a Boeing Business Jets. One of them, said system. It should come as no surprise com antenna system. As with the company’s SDU-7300 devotion to the ultimate audiovisual Launer, has three separate SkyTheaters that many of SkyTheater’s customers modem, it will be upgradable for SwiftBroadband “when experience in a business jet cabin– in three separate cabin zones. are from the entertainment industry. the Inmarsat system is available.” doing a big-screen business. The company doesn’t merely move But don’t look for a Web site. The The EMS Satcom antenna–eNfusion AMT-3800–is a Gregg Launer, one of its cofounders, along with technology. It is often company doesn’t have one. “We’ve high-gain package, also designed to be installed atop describes the group simply as “movie driven to think outside the box by been happy with word-of-mouth ad- the fuselage. Originally designed for smaller business buffs, musicians and audiophiles.” He customers who have the same stan- vertising from the people who bought jets, it is touted by EMS as a good fit for large-cabin air- is being humble. Launer broke into the dards for quality video and audio, said our system, either for a home or air- craft as well. In fact, Bombardier has selected it as a fac- business with NBC at the age of 19 Launer. SkyTheater is already offering craft,” said Guenther. tory option for its Global Express XRS and Global 5000. Two other high-speed Internet connection choices– and has a background in sound and a high-definition video on-demand While the company declines to from Bombardier and Gulfstream–offer faster connection video design and integration. Andrew system that will hold up to 25,000 name those people, other industry speeds in the form of true in-flight broadband service. Guenther is a movie theater designer movies, “and that’s not compressed sources will–people such as film star Both have agreements with hardware and service whose Advanced Audio Design com- data,” added Guenther. “It’s all on a and pilot John Travolta and rising ten- providers and they will not only be fast, but the per- pany has done home theaters for multiple hard-drive system so there’s nis star Maria Sharapova. But even minute cost will be lower than SwiftBroadband’s. many of the entertainment industry’s no loss of video or audio quality. word of mouth has its limits, said Connection speed peaks at five megabytes-per-sec- elite. Jim Stedman is a former Gulf- “A system,” he said, “that’s true to the Launer, when customers take a propri- ond with Bombardier’s eXchange service, about that of a stream Aerospace employee and the director’s intent.” etary approach and ask for assurance home cable modem or DSL line. The hardware is from company avionics guru, “from cockpit In fact, said Launer, “Once you’ve that SkyTheater will not provide an Rockwell Collins and it employs Boeing Connexion to cabin.” The company hires help as experienced a SkyTheater system in identical system for anyone else. satellite data service. needed on a contract basis. one of our airplanes, a commercial The equipment is approved under Packaged as part of the Rockwell Collins Airshow 21 The team has been described as movie theater will be a disappointment. RTCA/DO-160D requirements, and the cabin management suite in the Global Express XRS and “an integrated system” that is the au- “We shoot for the IMAX experi- company is an FAA-approved desig- the Global 5000, the hardware needed to watch satellite- diovisual equivalent of ballroom ence, minus the big screen [for obvi- nated engineering representative. direct television and get connected to the Web is about dancing. They finish one another’s ous reasons] and without the need But is it user-friendly? Launer $1 million. That doesn’t include the cost of the Inmarsat sentences and appear to make intu- for headphones.” demonstrates the system to customers satcom system, nor does it cover extras such as wire- itive leaps effortlessly as part of a SkyTheater’s offices are in Pem- by handing them the wireless remote less cabin networking or monitors. It does include the group exercise. broke Pines, a few steps south of Fort without a word of instruction. “I tell satellite antenna, a two-channel DBS television receiver, Self-effacing, they are at the same Lauderdale and a few more steps them, ‘Play with it for a couple of the data router and installation. The first eXchange sys- time brash enough to recommend north of Miami. The company also has minutes and ask me if there’s anything tem will enter service this summer on a new Global movies and music to their clients, a site near Fort Lauderdale Interna- you don’t understand.’ Express XRS. Bombardier is also installing eXchange on along with reviews, and annually issue tional Airport where it can install its “I’ve never had anyone ask me a one of its demonstration aircraft. their own list of Oscar predictions. systems. Or the company will send a single question with regard to how to Gulfstream is promoting download connection speeds from about 700 kbps to 1 mbps with its Broad “We’ll go to movies together and by complete system to any completion or operate the system,” Launer claimed. Band Multi Link (BBML). It promises data speeds as high the time we walk out of the theater refurbishment center for installation, “If you can push an elevator button, as 3.5 mbps and minimum download speeds of 512 we’re already discussing whether it’s along with technicians to provide guid- you can operate SkyTheater.” kbps. Arinc provides the hardware. a best picture candidate and whether ance in the installation process. “Every SkyTheater system is cus- Gulfstream says the BBML hardware runs about it’ll win best sound.” Launer said SkyTheater prefers to tom-designed to meet the requirements $650,000 installed. The coverage area of the Arinc Most recently SkyTheater has gone deal directly with the owner-operators, of some demanding customers,” said Skylink Ku-band satellite data service encompasses into the air in a Challenger 604, two rather than butt heads with completion Guenther. –K.J.H. North America and Hawaii via a single satellite, and the

36aaAviation International News • July 2006 • www.ainonline.com RosenView offers zoom levels and “Show me the basic airplane and Halsey, “The airplanes are being pre- points-of-interest icons, as well as let’s work from there.” wired for XM radio as an option, and customized cabin briefings. The The new Mustang very light jet is it has been well received. new moving map from Flight Dis- an example. Customers Cessna sur- “But customers don’t want to play Systems has a solid-state disk veyed before designing the aircraft pay for something they don’t want drive and embedded operating said anything installed as part of the and won’t use.” –K.J.H. system and can be customized by package would be outdated by the On the entertainment using a USB thumb drive and key- time the airplane was delivered. systems, passengers can track board included with the product “Just build in the capability.” So, said the airplane’s progress. installation kit. Local waypoints, company logos and “Welcome Aboard” screens are some of the possible enhancements. JetMap II from Honeywell shows areas of sunlight and darkness across the earth’s surface and features a 14- level zoom and street-level maps of select cities in the U.S. More and more shops are offer- ing entertainment systems as a fully integrated package. Stevens Avia- tion in Greenville, S.C., offers its Elite in-flight customized entertainment system with CD and DVD players, satellite radio, moving-map display and high-resolution monitors. With the smaller business aircraft in mind, a pyramid-shaped cabin option is available, “allowing installation in an aircraft in which existing cabinetry does not afford space to house the system.” Stevens claims it is about $20,000 less than any competitor’s comparable package. New entertainment technology is rapidly entering service. Bom- bardier Aerospace in May an- nounced that Lufthansa Technik had completed the first Rockwell Collins Tailwind 500 satellite live tel- evision system in Europe on a Global Express. A joint effort by Bombardier, Lufthansa and Rock- well Collins allows Challengers and Globals to upgrade their current cabin entertainment system to in- clude satellite-direct television. A spokesman for Gulfstream said the company is not surprised by the emphasis customers place on the ability to stay in touch. Eighty percent of Gulfstream customers, he said, are multinational corpora- tions, 15 percent are government or government agency users, and 5 percent are wealthy individuals who use their airplane for work. “If you’re flying 14 hours and you’re a busi- nessman, you can’t afford to be out of touch for that long. And if you are, it should be your choice.” But for the OEMs, said one com- pletion center executive, the ques- tion has become how much of these expensive communication and entertainment items to offer as standard equipment on the airplane. “When you load up an airplane with systems that may cost well over $1 million, you can quickly start to push the customer’s spending limit.” Cindy Halsey, Cessna Aircraft’s v-p of interior design, engineering and development, said more cus- tomers now seem to be saying,

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