A multi-engine, instrument rated pilot, James Wynbrandt has been an AIN and Business Jet Traveler contributor since 2003. His in-depth reporting and insightful features have won more than a dozen editorial honors, including two National Business Aviation Association Gold Wing Awards (2019; 2021), and his articles have also appeared in the New York Times, Barron’s, Fortune, Forbes, and Smithsonian Air &amp; Space. He has flown his Mooney M20K 252 on assignments throughout North and Central America and the Caribbean. Wynbrandt is also the author of Flying High (Wiley &amp; Sons), a biography of Jet Blue founder David Neeleman, as well as histories, references works, and books on a variety of other topics from major publishers. He lives in New York City.

Contributor - Business Aviation

James Wynbrandt

“How do you update the cabin, and how do you email, and stream and watch Netflix in the air?” Those are the questions owners of legacy aircraft are asking, said Sean Gillespie, executive v-p of sales and marketing at Canada’s Flying Colours (Booth N5908). Here at NBAA 2017 the Bombardier completions and refurbishment specialist is providing answers to such questions by highlighting recent projects, and the STC’d cabin connectivity for ADS-B and Fans the company has developed. The connectivity upgrades are available for Hawkers, Falcons and Embraers as well as Flying Colours’ Global and Challenger offerings. Additional cabin electronics upgrade options include Honeywell JetWave Ka-Band systems—which Flying Colours has added on many Globals—and Rockwell Collins’s Venue CMS.

 


Flying Colours is also showcasing its work with Inairvation (the F/List-Lufthansa Technik partnership). This year the company delivered the first aircraft interior incorporating Inairvation’s pre-engineered composite components. The installation was part of the complete refurbishment of a 2003 Global Express for a Canadian customer, incorporating an eclectic collection of textured materials, designer fabrics, carbon-fiber veneers and bespoke handmade carpet. The upgrades were capped by Inairvation’s pre-engineered side ledges—“just like on a new Challenger 350 and 650,” said Gillespie—which also house Lufthansa Technik’s Nice HD cabin management and inflight entertainment system. Flying Colours’ in-house team created the design, and the Canadian company adapted its usual installation process to maximize communication with Inairvation during the five-month project.

 


Inairvation CEO Philip von Schroeter noted that pre-engineered retrofit components provide “a significant number of benefits to an aircraft owner, as they minimize non-recurring engineering costs and reduce downtime.”

 


The Global Express interior also incorporates Inairvation’s crème granite stone flooring on entryway floors, and contrasting black granite stone countertops in the entry and galley areas, along with new fully reclining Global 6000 BE Aerospace seat frames, which Flying Colours upholstered.

 


Flying Colours is in discussion with other Global, Challenger 605 and G450 and G550 owners about similar refurbs, which can be performed in conjunction with a major inspection. Meanwhile, it currently has “a lot of airplanes in different states of projects,” Gillespie said, ranging from exotic veneer work to complete cabin retrofits. They include a partial refurbishment on a Global being outfitted with a Ku-Band and Rockwell Collins Venue CMS in parallel with an 8C maintenance check.

 


The corporate shuttle conversion market for Challenger 850s and CRJ-200s—a Flying Colours specialty—remains active, Gillespie said, with “a lot of interest from U.S.-based clients,” in contrast to past years, when most conversions went to Asia. Flying Colours recently delivered two such Challenger 850s it sourced and overhauled for undisclosed domestic corporate operators, swapping the three-cabin, 15-passenger VIP interiors for shuttle configurations, with Gogo WiFi inside and new paint outside. Conversions of CRJ-200 airliners into “high-end, luxurious” 16-passenger shuttles also continue, and Flying Colours has bids with several clients.

News and developments about everything that goes into the cabin of an aircraft, from floor coverings to headliners, with a special emphasis on in-flight entertainment, communications and other electronics for passengers. If it is in the cabin of an aircraft, it’s covered here.

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