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

MRO powerhouse Stevens Aviation of Greenville, South Carolina, alights at NBAA 2018 amid&nbsp;a large spike in demand for its AOG and mobile maintenance services, followed by upticks in its refurbishment and avionics upgrades businesses.

 


“Our AOG [Aircraft on Ground] services—that business came out of nothing a couple of years ago,” said Phil Stearns, director of sales and marketing. Business was up 30 percent year over year before the third quarter’s end. “It was all due to demand for quality technicians and better response time,” he said. Technicians dispatched in AOG trucks to get grounded aircraft flying are on the road within an hour of the phone call. “They’re living on the road. That’s a different type than you will find on the hangar floor. It’s a different ball game.”

 


The Stevens AOG &amp; Mobile Maintenance team can service Citations, Bombardier Challengers and Globals, and Gulfstreams, and has grown to more than two dozen trucks and some three dozen technicians. Who’s using the AOG and mobile support? “Without naming names, our customers are all the big charter fleets,” Stearns said. “We’ve become their best friend.”

 


In the refurbishment arena, demand for the company’s Gulfstream and Bombardier Global work, a capability that “didn’t exist three years ago,” is also strong, Stearns said. “These are fantastic aircraft and we have some very high-end craftsmen who know how to take care of the interior.” A recent Global Express refurbishment included installation of a Honeywell Ovation Select CMS.

 


Stevens (Booth 656) also has a Citation Excel cockpit mockup showcasing a Garmin G5000 installation, as a replacement for the legacy Honeywell Primus system. Garmin representatives are on hand to demo the panel and explain the conversion process. The STC for that upgrade is expected in the first quarter of next year. A variety of other demo-able avionics upgrades are also on display, and more than a dozen Stevens team members from all its divisions and regions are here to meet with visitors.

 


Stearns added that even though “everybody’s sick of ADS-B” talk, Stevens just completed with L3 an STC for legacy Learjets, Citations, Falcons,&nbsp;and Gulfstreams “that do not have integrated avionics.”

 


On Wednesday at the Stevens display, Dallas Airmotive (Booth 1600) will provide a presentation on what to expect during an engine overhaul. “There are lots of myths about what could or does happen when you put an engine through a hot section [inspection] or overhaul,” said Stearns. The presentation will provide the answers.

 


Stevens also has a new app, Stevens AOG, it’s showcasing in Orlando, available through the App Store and Google Play. It connects users directly with individual company divisions, including the sales team and military division, the latter of which has also seen an uptick in activity. “The last couple of years in the military have been better than the previous eight,” Stearns said. Booth visitors can download the app at the show and be entered to win a prize.

 


One of the largest providers of Blackhawk conversions for King Air turboprops, Stevens is also highlighting the recent completion by its Nashville, Tennessee facility of the first certified installation of the Blackhawk XP67A engine upgrade on a King Air 350. The conversion includes a five-blade MT prop&nbsp;and was performed in conjunction with a panel upgrade to a Garmin G1000 NXi integrated flight deck, which now supports the XP67A.

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