Duncan Aviation Delivers Ultra-Customized Gulfstream G650

LINCOLN, NEB. — Designing the interior of a private jet is no small feat. Some customers come to the Duncan Aviation Design team with a clear vision, and their job is to use our expertise in aircraft interiors to bring it to life. Others entrust the Designers to lead the creative process from start to finish. In this case, the customer had a vision and knew exactly what he wanted. Duncan Aviation Senior Lead Designer Molly Pfeiffer used her years of experience to take the inspiration provided by her client to create a masterfully-designed interior.

“Molly did a great job interpreting the client’s vision and bringing it to life,” says Duncan Aviation Completions Sales Representative George Bajo. “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.”

The transformation of this Gulfstream G650 is one of many large-cabin Gulfstream interior refurbishments completed across Duncan Aviation’s network of maintenance, repair, and overhaul facilities. It adds to their growing collection of world-class refurbishments for an expanding list of clients.

For this project, skilled artisans at their Provo, Utah, facility transformed the aircraft into an ultra-customized masterpiece, featuring fully customized seats, rich Kosipo veneer, and a meticulously handcrafted carpet that draws the eye through the cabin.

This newly refurbished Gulfstream is truly show-stopping, with intentional design details woven throughout. The numerous intricate elements make it a one-of-a-kind interior.

Inspiration from a Briefcase 

The cabin seating was a vital part of the design and was inspired by the owner’s personal briefcase.

“The owner has a briefcase that he absolutely loves,” says Pfeiffer. “He loves the color; he loves the grain, and simply everything about it. He wanted the color 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 color.” 

There’s a calming and inviting aspect to the seats. They’re a nice shade of orange that is not too bright, but still makes a statement. The color isn’t a tangerine orange, not a burnt orange, and not that iconic deep orange associated with high fashion. In fact, there’s not a word to describe it. It’s a truly custom color that was made specifically for the customer. 

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 color was finalized, and perfectly complements both the seats and the veneer. 

Kosipo Veneer 

Not to be outdone by the leather, another defining feature of the project was a highly custom Kosipo, an African Mahogany veneer that was applied horizontally. This horizontal application is not the typical installation method for veneer, posing a challenge for the team. The design had to seamlessly blend the veneer’s dynamic grain pattern with the rest of the cabin.

Despite the challenges, the decision to apply the veneer horizontally enhanced the interior’s visual flow. While choosing a different veneer may have been easier, this particular veneer was a "must-have." With a masterful, high-quality design, it resulted in a stunning visual impact within the cabin. 

“Achieving perfect alignment across bulkheads and pocket doors required extreme precision from the Cabinet team, a challenge they executed flawlessly,” says Pfeiffer. “They were up for the task and absolutely nailed it.” 

A Flowing River 

Of the elements of the interior that play a large part of the solution, the visual elements of the flooring can make or break the design. The seats were truly unique, the veneer added an impressive dynamic, but the carpet was everything to the customer. It created the cabin’s focal point. 

Similar to the seat color, the owner had a very specific vision for the carpet—a rich chocolate brown. Finalizing 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 center of the cabin. It took weeks of sampling, but the moment they saw this design, the decision was instant—"YES.” It was perfect.

With all of the colors defined and mapped out for how the river would flow through the cabin, a quick trip to visit 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 that moves your eye throughout the cabin. The field is 100% wool, and the river portion is a mix of wool and silk. The river flows organically through the cabin between the seats, and is planked by orange silk that complements the seat colors.  

“We were very intentional with how we wanted the river to move through the cabin” says Pfeiffer. “We looked at many different options of how the river could flow in the aisle while not getting lost under the seats.”

The result masterfully guides the human eye, naturally leading it down the aisle and through the cabin.

A Light Built from Scratch 

On incoming, the owner wanted to know if an additional reading light could be added above the right- hand #2 VIP seat. He wanted this light to match an existing style he had seen elsewhere. The challenge? 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,” explains Engineering Crew Lead Drew Govert. “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 modeling, 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 explains “After importing the model to SolidWorks, I was able to customize the part in to achieve the exact look we were looking for.”  

Using a 3D printer, the team printed a half 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 their schedule on time) and Install integrated the light into the existing CMS switch panel controls.  

“The final product looked just how we pictured it. It was pretty cool to see the idea come to life,” says Govert. “It was fun to be involved in a unique request like this as it required constant communication and creativity. We were able to utilize our 3D scanning and printing technology to the fullest, which played a role in delivering a top-tier product to the customer.” 

Exceeding Expectations

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 says. “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.”

The Finer Details

The divan is a suede with an extremely specific, rich saddle color that perfectly complements the seats and carpet. 

The lower sidewalls are a beautiful, woven fabric that is very light and airy. The upper sidewalls are a standard Ultraleather. 

The stone countertops in the galleys were kept simple. A white stone countertop with beige veining throughout ensures 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 color match to the customer's company colors.

About Duncan Aviation

Duncan Aviation is an aircraft service provider supporting the aviation needs of business aircraft operators, government agencies, and other aircraft service providers. Services include major and minor airframe inspections, engine maintenance, major retrofits for cabin and cockpit avionics systems, full paint and interior services, engineering and certification services, fabrication and manufacturing services, and preowned aircraft sales and acquisitions. Duncan Aviation also has international aircraft components solutions experts available 24/7/365 at +1 402.475.4125 who can handle any aircraft system problem with immediate exchanges, rotables, loaners or avionics/instrument/accessory repairs and overhauls. Complete service facilities are located in Battle Creek, Michigan; Lincoln, Nebraska; and Provo, Utah. We also have dozens of other facilities strategically located throughout the United States to provide customers with scheduled regional support and the quickest response possible to avionics, engine and airframe Aircraft On Ground (AOG) situations.

For more information about any of Duncan Aviation’s services, call +1 402.475.2611 or visit https://www.DuncanAviation.aero/services