Duncan Aviation recently finished a refurbishment of a Falcon 50 with fresh exterior paint, full interior renewal, and an aft-cabin reconfiguration with new divan installation, as well as avionics upgrades, winglets, and LED lighting. After completing a pre-purchase inspection at Duncan’s Battle Creek, Michigan facility, the team immediately began the transformation process.
Senior completions and modifications sales rep Tiffany Buschini explained that the owners wanted to add a divan as part of the refurbishment. To meet the request, Duncan removed the existing right-hand aft single seats and installed a three-place divan. The team also replaced the pull-up jumpseat with a side-facing jumpseat.
“They had explained to me that the flight attendant had expressed concern about sitting on a pull-up jump seat,” said Buschini. “To create a more comfortable and enjoyable experience, we added a side-facing jumpseat. This also creates more space for the crew to get in and out of the flight deck when someone is seated in the jumpseat.”
Buschini explained that the interior wasn’t necessarily in poor condition when it arrived at the Duncan Aviation facility. However, the new owners wanted to personalize it to fit their tastes, down to the cupholders and galley inserts the team designed to hold handmade pottery mugs created by a friend of one of the owners.
“Our cabinet shop built a custom-fit insert to store these mugs in a galley drawer,” said 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.”
Duncan Aviation's engineering team developed measurements and drawings for production of these components, which Duncan Manufacturing Solutions then produced in-house. The team also made modifications to the interior by removing the mirrors and trim in the lavatory and adding custom light covers to give it a more modern look. New LED lighting makes the area brighter and more contemporary.
In addition, the aircraft features two-tone seats with diamond-patterned, quilted inserts made using an automated CNC machine. All of the cabinetry in the cabin underwent treatment with hydrographic finishes, and technicians installed Duncan-designed one-piece passenger service unit panels.
Avionics upgrades include a Collins Aerospace Pro Line 21 integrated avionics system with synthetic vision and FANS-1/A and ATN-B1 controller-pilot datalink communications.
Senior avionics sales representative Mike Morgan explained the change marked the first time Duncan Aviation installed the Collins CMU-4000+ communications management unit 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,” said Morgan.
To allay owner concerns about the serviceability of the outdated cabin management system (CMS), the team installed Alto's Cadence CMS.
During the process of quoting LED lighting, Aircraft Lighting International approached the team about installing its new multi-colored LED Lighting system. The receptive customer approved, marking the first time Duncan Aviation installed this Aircraft Lighting product.