The team at Duncan Aviation’s facility in Provo, Utah, has completed the refurbishment of a Gulfstream G650. Highlights of the custom interior include fully customised seats, Kosipo veneer, and a handcrafted carpet.
The customer had a vision of exactly what he wanted. Molly Pfeiffer, senior lead designer at Duncan Aviation, took this inspiration to create the new design. “Molly did a great job interpreting the client’s vision and bringing it to life,” said George Bajo, completions sales representative at Duncan Aviation. “She helped guide him into what would look good together, and in the end, created one of the most amazing interiors I’ve ever seen.”
The owner’s representative said Pfeiffer was fantastic to work with. “She listened to our preferences, took note of the details, and really made an effort to understand what we wanted and embraced our desire for a non-traditional design,” she says. “The rest of the Duncan Aviation team was also great to work with. Their attention to detail and willingness to make sure we ended up with exactly what we wanted was what I’d consider to be elite customer service.”
Seats and plating
The cabin seating – in a custom shade of orange – was inspired by a briefcase. “The owner has a briefcase that he absolutely loves,” said Pfeiffer. “He loves the colour; he loves the grain, and simply everything about it. He wanted the colour and grain of the seats to be an exact match, so we sent the physical briefcase to our leather vendor to ensure we nailed that colour.”
The plating throughout the aircraft is most noticeable on the seats, specifically the metal-plated bands around the armrests. The copper plating was picked after the seat colour was finalised, to complement both the seats and the veneer.
Veneer
This veneer is a highly custom Kosipo, an African Mahogany that was applied horizontally. Duncan Aviation said that the horizontal application is not the typical installation method for veneer, posing a challenge for the team. While choosing a different veneer may have been easier, this particular veneer was a “must-have”.
“Achieving perfect alignment across bulkheads and pocket doors required extreme precision from the Cabinet team, a challenge they executed flawlessly,” said Pfeiffer. “They were up for the task and absolutely nailed it.”
Carpet
The owner had a very specific vision for the carpet – a rich chocolate brown. Finalising the carpet design proved to be the most challenging part of the process. They reviewed multiple options, but none quite captured what they saw in their mind’s-eye. After much back and forth, Pfeiffer presented an option that simulated a flowing river down the centre of the cabin. It took weeks of sampling, but the moment they saw this design, the decision was an instant ‘Yes’.
With all the colours defined and the ‘flow’ through the cabin mapped out, a quick trip to the carpet vendor, Scott Group Studio, in Grand Rapids, Michigan, resulted in final approval, and the carpet went into production.
The result is a handmade, custom carpet designed to guide the eye through the cabin. The field is 100% wool, and the river portion is a mix of wool and silk. The river flows through the cabin between the seats, and is planked by orange silk.
“We were very intentional with how we wanted the river to move through the cabin,” said Pfeiffer. “We looked at many different options of how the river could flow in the aisle while not getting lost under the seats.”
Additional light
On incoming, the owner wanted to know if an additional reading light could be added above the right-hand, number-two VIP seat. He wanted this light to match an existing style he had seen elsewhere. Duncan Aviation said the challenge was that a custom reading light bezel in a G650 did not exist, and creating one from scratch would require FAA certification, which can be a lengthy process.
“We were going to have to fabricate our own bezel housing to meet the customer’s request,” explained Drew Govert, Engineering crew lead. “Talking with Sales, Quality and the Production teams, Engineering was able to come up with a design plan and certification path that achieved the vision without compromising scheduling.”
This process involved clear communication, 3D scanning and slicing, SolidWorks modelling, 3D-printed prototyping, custom manufacturing through Duncan Manufacturing Solutions (DMS), and production installation (interior and install).
“We were able to 3D scan the existing bezels, and slice them in DesignX,” Govert explained. “After importing the model to SolidWorks, I was able to customise the part in to achieve the exact look we were looking for.”
Using a 3D printer, the team printed half a dozen prototypes, altering the trim bezel design/function and honing in on the light seating in the bezel, all while keeping in mind design for manufacturing (DMF) constraints to meet DMS requirements. Using engineering data and drawings, DMS was able to fabricate the bezel, Interior cut the hole in the panel and re-veneered (keeping its schedule on time), and Install integrated the light into the existing CMS switch panel controls.
“The final product looked just how we pictured it,” said Govert. “It was pretty cool to see the idea come to life. It was fun to be involved in a unique request like this as it required constant communication and creativity. We were able to utilise our 3D scanning and printing technology to the fullest, which played a role in delivering a top-tier product to the customer.”
Divan, sidewalls, countertops and paint
Other details on board include a divan upholstered in suede of a specific, rich saddle colour. The lower sidewalls are a “light and airy” woven fabric, and the upper sidewalls are a standard Ultraleather. The stone countertops in the galleys were kept simple: a white stone countertop with beige veining was used throughout to ensure it doesn’t draw attention away from the rest of the interior.
A majority of the aircraft is painted white with black highlights. The green accent stripes are a direct colour match to the customer’s company colours.
Feedback
The owner’s representative said that she was speechless when she saw the interior for the first time. “The refurbishment makes the airplane feel bigger and more open,” she said. “Every small detail was completed to perfection, and it absolutely exceeded our expectations. When I was doing my final walkthrough, I called the owner and told him I was speechless, the airplane was everything that he had envisioned plus some and all aspects of the design came together masterfully. During that conversation, I explained to him how impressed I was with the entire Duncan Aviation team. I credit that to setting high expectations and Duncan Aviation being excited about and willing to meet and exceed those expectations.”
She went on to say, “The Duncan Aviation team, starting with every department head, understood and exceeded our expectations. Their attention to detail, focus on the project, the deadline, and the small details made this refit possible.”
