Duncan Aviation recently painted a Global 7500 at its 53,000ft² (4,924m²) paint facility in Provo, Utah.
All in all, the company has three full-service MRO locations, 180 paint experts and 12 aircraft designers. It paints more than 230 business aircraft every year in a variety of paint schemes from Matterhorn white with one stripe to intricate artistic designs and colour-fade illusions. Duncan Aviation says most customers return when they upgrade their aircraft or add to their fleet, so it was no surprise when a Global 5000 customer tasked the company to paint his recently delivered Global 7500.
The customer worked with Teri Nekuda, lead designer at Duncan Aviation’s facility in Lincoln, Nebraska, and lead designer Molly Foster at the Provo site, to develop a light gold and silver metallic paint scheme designed to convey clean elegance.
The paint facility in Provo has a two-zone air system with down-draft airflow and automatic monitoring and alarms. The hangar accommodates multiple aircraft at once, so the paint teams are able to strip, sand, paint and detail on several aircraft simultaneously.
The facility was also built with the environment in mind, and the company notes it releases no waste products to the water or to the city of Provo and meets the strict air requirements set by the state of Utah and the EPA. Air from the hangar goes through a regenerative thermal oxidiser to burn off volatile organic compounds, to ensure more than 99.7% of the air released is clean.
“Our goal was to once again exceed our customer’s expectations,” said Foster. “I’m really pleased with how the paint turned out, but more importantly, the customer was delighted. It was fun to see his reaction when he first saw his Global. He was impressed, and he loves the way it looks.”
