Duncan Aviation Harnesses In-House Capabilities to Complete Falcon 50

Duncan Aviation showcases a Falcon 50 recently refurbished by the Duncan Aviation team, who gave the aircraft new exterior paint, full interior refurbishment, aft cabin reconfiguration with new divan installation, avionics upgrades, winglets, and LED lighting. 

The first-time customer told senior Completions & Modifications sales rep, Tiffany Buschini, that they had heard about the reputation and quality of work of Duncan Aviation, and they didn’t want to take the aircraft anywhere else. After the aircraft’s prepurchase evaluation at Duncan Aviation’s Battle Creek, MI, facility, the team immediately began the transformation process.

The existing right-hand aft single seats were removed and a right-hand, three-person divan was installed, per the customer's request. The team also replaced the pull-up jumpseat with one that is side-facing, creating more space for the crew to get in and out of the flight deck when someone is seated in the jumpseat.

The new owners also wanted a complete refresh of the interior, personalized to fit their tastes. The end result is modern and striking with a few unique additions, such as custom-designed cupholders and galley inserts to hold handmade pottery mugs created by the owner’s friend. The Duncan Aviation Engineering team developed the measurements and drawings for production which Duncan Aviation’s Duncan Manufacturing Solutions team then produced in-house. “Our cabinet shop built a custom-fit insert to store these mugs in a galley drawer,” says designer Jack Bauder. “We also created the concept for a multi-level cupholder, which can accommodate both these mugs or highball glasses in a single unit.” 

“This is just another example of how Duncan Aviation can harness our in-house capabilities to fit our customers’ specific needs,” says Buschini.

The team also made modifications to the interior by removing the existing mirrors and trim in the lav and adding custom light covers to provide a more modern look. The new LED lighting makes the area brighter and more contemporary.

The cabin now features two-tone seats with diamond-patterned quilted inserts that were completed using an automated CNC machine. All of the cabinetry in the cabin was treated with hydrographic finishes, and new one-piece Duncan-designed passenger service unit (PSU) panels were installed.

The aircraft also received a much-needed avionics upgrade, including a Collins Aerospace Pro Line 21 Integrated Avionics System and Future Air Navigation System 1/A (FANS-1/A) w/ATN-B1 Controller Pilot Data Link Communications (CPDLC). Senior avionics sales rep Mike Morgan explains that this was the first time Duncan Aviation installed the Collins CMU-4000+ CMU for FANS-1/A and ATN-B1 with the Pro Line 21 system into a Falcon 50EX. “Dassault was working on a CMU-4000+ STC for this installation, and it was proposed to use this project as the conforming aircraft,” he says.

The new owner's concerns about the serviceability of the outdated cabin management system (CMS) were mitigated by the installation of the Alto Cadence CMS. The aircraft also received a new Collins Aerospace synthetic vision system.

During the process of quoting new LED lighting, the Duncan Aviation team was approached by Aircraft Lighting International (ALI) about installing its new multi-colored LED lighting system. The customer was receptive, making the project the first time the ALI multi-colored LED lighting system was installed in an aircraft at Duncan Aviation.

For more information, visit www.DuncanAviation.aero.