Though working on Gulfstream aircraft has been a part of Duncan Aviation’s service capabilities since the aircraft became a major part of business aviation, Duncan Aviation recently put together an airframe-specific team dedicated to Gulfstream work at the company’s Lincoln, Nebraska, campus.
Duncan Aviation’s Battle Creek, Michigan, location has been running with a dedicated Gulfstream airframe team since 1993 says Rod Christensen, Airframe Services Manager at Duncan Aviation’s Battle Creek, Michigan, location. Because of increased demand and newly available hangar space at the company’s Lincoln location, adding the additional team was a natural progression.
Newly appointed Gulfstream Team Leader Brad Kluthe has combined his more than two decades of Gulfstream experience with Battle Creek’s established team’s advice and knowledge.
After four years in the Air Force, Kluthe worked his way up from mechanic to team leader in Duncan Aviation’s maintenance hangars in Lincoln. As he approached 11 years with the company, he made the switch to corporate aviation and managed a plethora of Gulfstream aircraft for two separate companies on the West Coast before returning to the Midwest. Kluthe has since re-joined Duncan Aviation and is currently recruiting, building and training his Gulfstream team.
The Gulfstream-dedicated airframe team will have 15 members with 30 support mechanics who work on other team but whose “secondary” aircraft is Gulfstream.
“This shift to a dedicated team has led to more extensive training and a wider array of tools to support the new maintenance and prebuy activity requests,” says Chad Doehring, Airframe Services Manager at Duncan Aviation’s Lincoln, Nebraska, location.
Duncan Aviation-Lincoln has always had a Gulfstream presence, but the unveiling of the 45,000-square-foot paint facility last May and two 40,000-square-foot maintenance hangars scheduled to be in service in Lincoln next year will allow team members to readily handle all Gulfstream requests.
“We have new and existing customers filling our Lincoln schedule, which goes to show the investment in more space and team members was needed,” says Doehring.
The ops specs for Duncan Aviation’s Lincoln MRO facility include Gulfstream service and maintenance for all Gulfstream series.
