Plans are currently being finalized for the groundbreaking of a brand-new hangar by the end of fall 2018 at the Peterborough, ON. facility. The additional hangar, the fourth at Flying Colours Peterborough headquarters, is needed to provide additional capacity for completions, refurbishment and heavy maintenance work scopes on large jet airframes.
The purpose-built hangar will be divided into three distinct zones. A new 40,000-square-feet, climate controlled, state-of-the-art paint shop will be added, supplementing the two existing dedicated paint shops. Large enough to accommodate business jets up to Global 7500, Boeing Business Jet or Airbus A220 (formerly known as the Bombardier C Series) size airframes it will fulfill the higher volume of paint jobs passing through the facility. A second area of 40,000 square feet has been designed to enable heavy maintenance and/or interior work on up to four Global 6000-size aircraft to take place simultaneously. Two higher levels will be used for new customer offices, a second dedicated design-center at the facility, storage and general office space. The total office space will cover more than 20,000 square feet bringing the hangar footprint to more than 100,000 square feet in total when it opens in mid-2019.
At the company’s Chesterfield, St. Louis facility a fifth hangar will be inaugurated on 1 December. The 30,000-square-feet area will be large enough to handle up to three parallel large-jet maintenance, avionics upgrades and interior projects at once including Bombardier Global and larger Gulfstream models. The additional capacity dove tails with the expanded interiors and cabinetry workshop that opened in January of this year. Together the shops will support the multiple aircraft projects being undertaken at the KSUS facility. A further 18,000 square feet of customer lounges, office space, and storage area will form the second floor of the facility.
The next expansion phase represents Flying Colours’ largest investment to date and has been driven by the long-term need for increased capacity as customer demand reflects renewed growth in the business aviation sector. The latest aircraft models require high-quality interior monuments for completions, an active pre-owned market has driven a rise in refurbishment demand, and the frequency of heavy maintenance checks has grown as more models become due. An evolving connectivity segment has also stimulated the need for more avionics upgrades across numerous platforms. This has also been augmented by the upcoming ADS-B Out mandate in the North Americas.
When the buildings are complete more than 100 team members will join the family owned business across the two sites. The search for maintenance, interiors and paint expertise will lead the recruitment drive.
“We were literally running out of space to deliver all the services that our clients were requesting, so took the decision to increase our footprint significantly at both of our North American sites,” says Sean Gillespie, Executive VP, Flying Colours Corp. “The business aviation sector is more buoyant than it has been for some time and with our Bombardier ASF status, our breadth of experience working on numerous different aircraft types, and the fact that we can offer a multitude of skills under one roof, so reducing aircraft downtime, is making us very attractive to a wider range of customers.”
Photo Caption:Rendering of Peterborough expansion at Flying Colours Corp. headquarters. Hi-res available on request
The Peterborough design team worked with the new owner and current operator to create a stylish interior featuring a black and gold palette. In response to the request for a contemporary cabin including seats with improved comfort, the design team adapted Challenger 650-style seat frames, purchased from Rockwell Collins – Interior Systems, to feature molded armrests that arch perfectly to fit the curves of the arm. The six reclining individual seats, and complementary three place divan, were finished using a soft but durable black leather with a perforated insert, medium-beige colored leather accent panels, and a single contrasting seam stitch trim, to bring a modern, yet sumptuously comfortable feel to the cabin. The light trims, buckles and control panels feature a matt gold to contrast with the leather. The customized monuments, including side ledges, panels, and doors are finished with a gloss anigre veneer with each fold out table incorporating a matt-gold inlay accent.
The private owner also took the opportunity to update cabin-connectivity with the Gogo AVANCE L3™ air-to-ground connectivity system installed to provide WiFi access for voice, email, web browsing, moving maps, and a selection of movies and TV programs across the North American region. Passengers will also enjoy inflight entertainment courtesy of the Rockwell Collins Venue™ system with new monitors installed at the front and aft of the cabin. The high-clarity touchscreen displays and intuitive controls optimize management of the cabin environment. Both crew and passengers can control lighting, temperature and entertainment choices, as well as view Airshow® moving maps, from their own personal digital devices. Cabin crew will also benefit from a completely modernized galley which features a new TIA microwave, customized coffee maker, as well as generous storage.
The flight deck was also treated to a major overhaul with Rockwell Collins’ Future Airspace Navigation System (FANS) 1/A installed to ensure improved situational and environmental awareness. The upgrade was combined with installation of soon-to-be mandatory ADS-B Out tracking equipment, for which Flying Colours holds the STC on Challenger 604 types.
The dedicated Peterborough paint shop revitalized the fuselage with a paint job refelcting the interior colors. A partial gold stripe sweeps from the tail to midway along the fuselage and sits above a full black stripe that sweeps in an arc to the front of the aircraft.
“The brief from the owner was to deliver an as new aircraft which is what we did. Our design house created a stunning interior, our avionics team upgraded the flight deck and connectivity and our interiors team installed the beautiful new seats and monuments,” says Sean Gillespie, Executive VP Flying Colours Corp. “The owner was upgrading aircraft size and recognized the value in a buying pre-owned jet and customizing it to his style and needs. We’re pleased that our hundredth Challenger project was such an interesting one, it’s a significant achievement for our team.”