Lombardo covers business aviation maintenance-related issues. He is also a writer and on-air reporter for AINtv. He has over 3000 articles published and is the author of several books on aircraft systems for pilots and on the topic of flight simulation.
He holds undergraduate and graduate degrees in education from the University of Illinois, has taught aviation for over 35 years in industry and as a university professor and academic dean at three different universities. He is also a frequent seminar and after-dinner motivational speaker.&nbsp;
Lombardo holds an A&amp;P Certificate, ATP, CFI and Ground Instructor ratings. He was a corporate pilot and was a research pilot and flight instructor at the University of Illinois. An FAA Safety Counselor for over 25 years, he was one of the original 13 Counselors appointed to the FAA’s Airworthiness Safety Program for maintenance technicians.&nbsp;

Contributor

David A. Lombardo

Corporate Jet Solutions (CJS) is a maintenance, repair and overhaul facility that operates in conjunction with the company’s FBO, Dyenamic Aviation Services (DAS), named after founder and president Tony Dye. Located on Brooksville-Tampa Bay Airport (BKV), the 11.6-acre complex has its own fuel farm with jet-A and avgas fuel trucks and operates the airport’s only self-serve 24-hour avgas and 100LL station. It also has access to the airport’s closed runway adjacent to the facility, providing a significant amount of outdoor space for aircraft staging and parking. 
In addition to fuel, DAS provides an executive lounge, conference room, hangar and tie-down space, catering, on-site Enterprise rental cars, pilot lounge and flight-planning room, free coffee and Wi-Fi. Unlike many operations in which an FBO also offers maintenance, DAS grew out of Dye’s primary interest: the maintenance, repair and overhaul business. 
“My dad owned several airplanes, so I grew up flying with him and helping as he worked on airplanes. While I was at Augusta State University my family moved from Georgia to Brandon, Florida, so I left the university, moved with my family and started to work as an apprentice mechanic for a small shop that specialized in twin-recip aircraft. I’d worked there about eight months when one day the owner told me I’d never amount to anything in aviation; it was like throwing a gauntlet, in my mind. I quit, enrolled in the local A&amp;P school and in 1999 graduated with an associate’s degree in aviation maintenance technology with an A&amp;P rating,” Dye told AIN. 
After graduation Dye went to work as a mechanic for Raytheon Aircraft Services in Tampa and left about 18 months later for a mechanic’s position in a large aircraft management company. Within a few years he’d risen to the position of lead mechanic. The career advancement paid off when he accepted a better offer by a Part 135 charter operation in Sarasota, where he remained until late 2004 when he went to work for Quality Air Contactors in Miami. 
MRO Service Begins in a Van
The company had maintenance contracts with all the fractional operators and he would travel all over Florida, the surrounding states and Caribbean resolving their AOG problems. While he was working for them, local pilots would approach him, asking if he could solve some problem on their aircraft. “It was amazing; I was getting two or three clients a day without trying,” he said. Then they began asking if he would do their maintenance and agreed to bring their aircraft to him at Brooksville-Tampa. 
Dye didn’t have his own facility but he had a van outfitted with tools, calibrated test equipment and manuals and went into business. “I had a two-year-old daughter, and the idea of reducing my travel so I could stay home with my family was appealing,” he said, so in early 2005 he formed Corporate Jet Solutions and continued to operate out of his van. 
CJS operated out of a well equipped van until 2010, when Dye was able to get a portion of a hangar and office at St. Petersburg-Clearwater International airport (PIE). In 2011 he started hiring to help him keep up with demand and within six months had 15 employees. With his customer base steadily growing, Dye kept taking over more hangar space until he occupied and ultimately outgrew the entire 30,000-sq-ft facility. Last year, out of space and with demand still building, CJS moved to Hernando County’s Brooksville-Tampa Regional Airport, where he negotiated a 10-year lease with two 10-year options on an unoccupied FBO on the west side of the field. The move allowed the company to introduce of Dyenamic Aviation Services. 
CJS works on a variety of aircraft but has become known for its work with Hawker and Beechcraft products. The MRO not only provides service to 15 based aircraft owners, but also specializes in AOG covering the southeast United States, Caribbean and Latin America, and continues to expand its work scope with the major fractionals, corporate flight departments and Part 135 charter operators. 
CJS currently has two hangars for maintenance. The main 20,000-sq-ft hangar includes a battery room and aircraft work stations. A second 6,000-sq-ft hangar provides additional capacity and the company plans to add a 40,000-sq-ft facility to accommodate a full paint and interior shop. 
The company’s growing staff of 19 employees includes eight full-time airframe and powerplant technicians and one avionics technician. “Our technicians have more than one hundred years’ combined experience in turbine aircraft,” Dye said. 
The company’s maintenance portfolio includes aircraft inspections; structural repairs, alterations and modifications; pre-buy evaluations; routine engine inspections; and APU hot section inspection and overhaul. 
The MRO also offers on-site Honeywell MSP capabilities; avionics repair and installation; service for main ship batteries, standby batteries, emergency lighting and backup power supplies; aircraft window refurbishment and replacement; non-destructive testing; wet wing and bladder fuel tank services; and all routine servicing for fluids and gases. 
CJS’s Part 145 repair station certificate (awarded in late February) permits all letter and hourly checks on its aircraft list as well as specialty inspections such as overweight landing and lightning strikes as called our per the manufacturers’ procedures. The certificate covers all Hawker 125s, from the 1A to the 1000, Beechjet 400A/400XP, Beechcraft King Airs, and all Piper piston singles. Powerplants covered include the Honeywell TFE731-3/5R/50R; Honeywell GTCP36-150(W) and GTCP36-92 APUs; Pratt &amp; Whitney Canada PT6A-41/42 and JT15-5D; and Hamilton Sundstrand T62T-40C8D1. The MRO has an application for similar approvals from the EASA and other authorities in development. 
“We believe it’s important to provide customized solutions to improve our clients’ operational and financial asset efficiencies so we strive to offer more. It’s why we’ll always pass on our vendor discounts to our clients,” Dye said. “We also offer a broad spectrum of services we believe benefit our clients, such as maintenance planning services, consolidation and auditing of aircraft records and maintenance tracking/planning, dealing with minor to major structural repairs and insurance claims, ferrying aircraft, APU and engine replacement, aircraft sales and acquisitions, market research and appraisal services. Our single goal is to help our clients maintain their asset’s value. If you’re tired of the one-size-fits-all, big-box shop mentality, we’re the alternative; we can tailor our schedule and services to meet your needs.”

News and issues about aviation maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO), covering all segments of the aviation industry; and modifications for aircraft and engines. Subjects include product support of aircraft, engines and avionics, MRO company mergers, acquisitions, announcements and personnel, Airworthiness Directives, Supplemental Type Certificate approvals and other topics.

MRO Profile: Corporate Jet Solutions

2024 Corporate Aviation Leadership Summit

Matt Thurber

News and issues relating to business, corporate and private aviation, primarily regarding turbine-engine-powered airplanes and helicopters. Subjects include aircraft, engines, maintenance, operations, personnel, acquisitions, accidents, safety, security, and training.

Purchase enables company to offer retail aircraft maintenance services in U.S. Southwest

Pinnacle Aviation Buys Mx Provider Aviation One

Work involved major disassembly of the airframe

ExecuJet MRO Completes 120-month Check on Legacy 500 

Extension goes to six years or 4,000 flight hours, whichever is first

Hartzell Lengthens Warranty on Props for Raisbeck King Airs

Curt Epstein

New developments at FBOs including regulations and noise issues; legal disputes; openings, acquisitions and mergers.

The addition will support Flightstar’s MRO growth

Illinois MRO/FBO Flightstar Expands with New Hangar

Combines component repair and overhaul and parts services companies

Jet Parts, DAS Aviation Merger To Improve Efficiency

Amy Wilder

News and issues relating to the aerospace industry that are related to the science, engineering and business of flight in space involving civil, industrial and military applications, and similar topics related to flight in the atmosphere of the Earth that are not covered more directly by other AINonline subject channels. In other words, both astronautical and aeronautical subjects, except for those aeronautical topics that are specifically covered elsewhere on this website.

Installation supports ISR and law enforcement missions

SEA Adds Mission Console and Sensor Mount for Caravan

Charles Alcock

News and developments about airplanes, helicopters and unmanned air vehicles used in all varieties of operations, including airlines, military, business, commercial, general aviation and private.

News about simulators and training procedures, as well as workforce.

More In Maintenance and Modifications

Pinnacle Aviation Buys Mx Provider Aviation One

Purchase enables company to offer retail aircraft maintenance services in U.S. Southwest

ExecuJet MRO Completes 120-month Check on Legacy 500

Work involved major disassembly of the airframe

Hartzell Lengthens Warranty on Props for Raisbeck King Airs

Extension goes to six years or 4,000 flight hours, whichever is first

Illinois MRO/FBO Flightstar Expands with New Hangar

The addition will support Flightstar’s MRO growth

Jet Parts, DAS Aviation Merger To Improve Efficiency

Combines component repair and overhaul and parts services companies

SEA Adds Mission Console and Sensor Mount for Caravan

Installation supports ISR and law enforcement missions

Gulfstream Steps Up Investment in Customer Support

New customer support leader Lor Izzard is building on earlier improvements

Back on the Plate, Pre-buys Still Face Post-covid Challenges

Industry experts caution on the need for a full pre-buy and one that is carefully laid out

AIN Products

SUBSCRIPTIONS

RESOURCES

ABOUT AIN