Duncan Aviation’s Denver Satellite Shop Adds Interior SWAT Services

Duncan Aviation now offers interior SWAT services in the Denver area through APA SWAT Lead Tech Andrew Kleinkopf. Click image for high-res download.

LINCOLN, NEB — Duncan Aviation is pleased to announce that its Satellite facility at Centennial Airport (APA) in Englewood, Colorado, in the Aurora/Denver metropolitan area, has added SWAT services to its complement of avionics installation and repair services. Duncan Aviation’s SWAT Lead Tech Andrew Kleinkopf explains what SWAT stands for:

S—Survey aircraft interiors

W—Write prompt quotes

A—Artistically clean, touch-up, dye, correct

T—Transform appearance and functionality

Located at all three full-service Duncan Aviation facilities in Battle Creek, Michigan, Lincoln, Nebraska, and Provo, Utah, and now at the Duncan Aviation Satellite facility at Centennial Airport, the SWAT teams go through an aircraft and evaluate the condition of the small items that are not part of scheduled services. The teams look for the little imperfections that automatically catch your eye and detract from the overall aesthetic of the aircraft so they can fix them. The Duncan Aviation SWAT teams are able to touch-up paint, spot-clean carpets, condition and re-dye leather seats, reweb seat belts, and repair hardware on galley cabinets, all of which quickly give the interior a facelift.

“In the time I’ve been on the job, I’ve spent a month in Lincoln, Nebraska, learning the Duncan Aviation way from Interior SWAT Specialist Tony Houk and his team,” says Kleinkopf. “My extensive training consisted of attending debriefs with the pilots, learning the SWAT process, and working hands-on with the SWAT team as we adjusted hydrolocks, lightly cleaned and conditioned seat leather, and worked on window shades. I was also given the opportunity to interact personally with a couple of directors of maintenance (DOMs).”

During training, Kleinkopf says one DOM asked if he knew how to remove ink marks from one of the leather seats in the cabin, and another asked him to fix a door in the galley that wouldn’t close all the way. One thing that stood out for Kleinkopf during his training is that he has the full support of the Duncan Aviation facility in Lincoln backing him all the way.

“I received overwhelming support from the team at Duncan Aviation in Lincoln,” says Kleinkopf. “In fact, it’s the most support I’ve seen in my entire career. It speaks volumes about the value Duncan Aviation places in the services it offers its customers.”

Even before Kleinkopf had finished training in Lincoln, he had a request from a DOM at the Centennial Airport. He wanted Kleinkopf to take a look at the sidewall; the owner’s cat had scratched it pretty badly, and the DOM wanted Kleinkopf to evaluate the damage. He promised to visit the DOM’s hangar as soon as he returned from training.

One of the reasons Duncan Aviation developed SWAT services years ago is because SWAT is synonymous with preventative maintenance. The company’s teams can do a little work on an aircraft, making small improvements by repairing the little nicks, scuffs, and dings, and those minor fixes go a long way to help refresh the appearance of the interior and retain the value of the aircraft.

“We are excited to add the SWAT capabilities as part of this phase of our Satellite growth,” says Manager of Satellite Operations Matt Nelson. “We’re happy to welcome Andrew to the team, and we’ll see how quickly we’re able to build up the service in Centennial and then consider adding the service to other Duncan Aviation Satellite facilities in the coming year.”

After attending college at Fort Lewis in Durango, Colorado, Kleinkopf joined the United States Navy and served as a ship supervisor and Quality Assurance Supervisor (QAR) in the first Gulf War in the early 1990s. Back in Colorado after his service, he went to school for Electrical Engineering at the Colorado School of Mines. Kleinkopf spent 15 years working for Xerox, and over the last three years he’s worked for Steris, integrating hospital operating rooms nationwide with audio visual equipment.

Kleinkopf and his wife Theresa have been married for 25 years, and they have four grown children. They enjoy working on DIY projects around their house and skiing together. Heating their house with wood requires Kleinkopf to split a whole lot of logs, and he takes great pleasure in standing in the lightly falling snow and hand chopping the logs with an axe and wedge. When he’s not busy with work and home projects, Kleinkopf plans to add to the 36 (of 58) of the 14ers he’s climbed throughout Colorado.

His previous job required great concentration and attention to detail, skills that Kleinkopf feels will translate well as he launches Duncan Aviation’s newest SWAT team, and as he helps beautify planes by touching up leather, spot-cleaning carpet, and performing minor repairs throughout the aircraft.

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