23 July 2020: Duncan Aviation recently configured a Falcon 900EX EASy aircraft while increasing the passenger capacity and reducing the overall weight. The biggest challenge before Duncan Aviation Aircraft design team was to reconfigure a 14-seat Falcon 900 EX aircraft to 17 seats and at the same time reduce the weight of the aircraft to avoid fuel-refilling halts. The challenge was taken up by Duncan Aviation Aircraft Designer Ken Reita along with a team of Engineering, Airframe, Interior, and Customer Service. The entire team met daily to discuss ideas and compare notes.
“We regularly updated detailed spreadsheets with the weight of every single item, including coffee containers and life rafts, on that aircraft. We even took out the carpet and weighed it!” says Hawes. “We pored over that interior, coming up with savings, ounce by ounce.”
Finally the team achieved the remarkable feat of not only customised the entire aircraft from 14 to 17 seats but also shaved off 374 pounds from the aircraft’s weight!
The team switched out the seat and divan frames for lighter alternatives, removed a pocket door, installed thinner carpet, and replaced the stone countertops in the galley cabinet with sleek, lightweight laminate. They also saved 50 pounds by swapping out the insulation in the headliner.
In addition to the pre-buy and complicated reconfiguration, Duncan Aviation performed an airframe 2-C inspection, EASy II avionics upgrade, and complete paint.
