Duncan Aviation Puts Eyes in the Sky with CJ3+ Paint Job

Duncan Aviation this week rolled out its most intricate aircraft paint job yet, transforming a white Cessna Citation CJ3+ with factory stripes into a kaleidoscope of 46 colors, with flies, flowers, and other hand-laid details that all accentuate the eyes that watch over the tarmac and pierce the skies. The artwork reflects the imagination of Duncan Aviation chairman emeritus Robert Duncan and his wife, Karen, along with the entire paint shop team, according to the MRO.

While the Duncan CJ3+, N1RD, was originally in standard livery, “Robert and Karen Duncan saw something else. They saw a blank canvas…They saw an opportunity to challenge the team, open the doors of Duncan Aviation’s new Lincoln paint hangar with a statement, and create an aircraft that could not be mistaken for anyone else’s,” Duncan Aviation explained.

Karen wanted to know, “How outrageous can we get?” and, according to the long-standing Lincoln, Nebraska-headquartered business, Robert embraced it. Once complete, Robert’s reaction was: “Wow…This is completely outrageous. It speaks to the creativity and the outstanding job that Duncan Aviation does day in and day out.”

The Duncans are known for collecting art, meeting artists, and folding art into aircraft. Friends painted “just married” on the side of Robert’s Beechcraft Travel Air when the Duncans married in 1965. Discussing the penchant for art on aircraft, Robert said, “We’re known for that now. This is a fifth or sixth airplane that’s had a special paint job.”

As for the newest creation, Duncan Aviation lead designer Hannah Mann said the process began two years ago. “We were all really excited to come up with something truly unique.” Robert and Karen began with inspiration artwork, and then artists from Duncan’s Paint and Design teams were invited to submit ideas. About 30 initial submissions were winnowed into 15 updated concepts. Karen stressed, “We want something crazy.”

The selected concept ultimately came from paint master specialist Troy Reinke. “I was trying to come up with something that was unique, something we’d never done, something that was eye-catching, and also something that Robert and Karen would appreciate,” Reinke said.

The work leans into Mexican art and culture, given the Duncans’ longtime ties with Puerto Vallarta. Among the details that caught Karen’s attention were the flies. While small in comparison to the overarching paint scheme, they highlight the tail, nose, and nacelles. When asked about the flies, she explained, “Because we’re flying.”

Karen also found the eyes “pretty amazing,” and Robert said they make the aircraft impossible to ignore. “The eyes are really distinctive. They jump right out at you.”

Mann detailed the process of translating Reinke’s original artwork into an aircraft paint job. “I took Troy’s drawing and split that out into individual shapes and pieces,” Mann said. “His original scheme had fades and highlights and shadows, and when we broke those out into individual shapes, we had to add those design elements back in. That’s where the 46 colors came from.”

Each section was planned, masked, painted, unmasked, and protected with precision. While the process was time-consuming, the team also needed to pay attention to a range of paint projects moving through the shop.

Importantly, though, Robert wanted the Citation CJ3+ to be the first aircraft painted in Duncan Aviation’s new Lincoln paint hangar, which opened in January.