Always Trust Your Cape: The Soaring Story of Duncan Aviation by Duncan Aviation

ALWAYS TRUST YOUR CAPE The Soaring Story of Duncan Aviation

STEVE JORDON AND CAROL HUNT

“THE CAPE” By Guy Clark, Susanna Clark and Jim Janosky Eight years old with a flour sack cape tied all around his neck. He climbed up on the garage, he’s figurin’ what the heck, well, He screwed his courage up so tight that the whole thing come unwound. He got a runnin’ start and bless his heart, he’s headed for the ground. Well, he’s one of those who knows that life is just a leap of faith. Spread your arms and hold your breath and always trust your cape. BY STEVE JORDON AND CAROL HUNT Designed by Christine Zueck-Watkins Facing page: Matt Granucci, employee photo contest entry Title page: Howard Nitzel, employee photo contest entry

Copyright © 2021 Duncan Aviation, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior consent of the publisher, Duncan Aviation, Inc. Duncan Aviation 3701 Aviation Rd. Lincoln, NE 68524 DuncanAviation.aero First Edition ISBN: 978-0-578-89955-8 Printed by Walsworth Publishing Co.

Now, he’s all grown up with a flour sack cape tied all around his dream. And he’s full of spit and vinegar and he’s bustin’ at the seam. Well, he licked his finger and he checked the wind, it’s gonna be do or die. And he wasn’t scared of nothin’, boys, he was pretty sure he could fly. Well, he’s one of those who knows that life is just a leap of faith. Spread your arms and hold your breath and always trust your cape. Now, he’s old and gray with a flour sack cape tied all around his head. And he’s still jumpin’ off the garage and will be till he’s dead. All these years the people said, he was actin’ like a kid. He did not know he could not fly and so he did. Well, he’s one of those who knows that life is just a leap of faith. Spread your arms and hold your breath and always trust your cape. Yes, he’s one of those who knows that life is just a leap of faith. Spread your arms and hold your breath and always trust your cape.

The Cape Words and Music by Guy Clark, Susanna Clark and Jim Janosky Copyright © 1994 EMI April Music Inc. and Susanna Clark Music All Rights on behalf of EMI April Music Inc. Administered by Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, 424 Church Street, Suite 1200, Nashville, TN 37219 All Rights on behalf of Susanna Clark Music Administered by BMG Rights Management (US) LLC All Rights Reserved International Copyright Secured Used by Permission Reprinted by Permission of Hal Leonard LLC

5 15 23 31 39 47 61 69 83 91 103

INTRODUCTION

Robert Duncan FOREWORD

Fertile Fields CHAPTER 1

From Pelts to Jets CHAPTER 2

You Can’t Stand Up in a Cadillac, Either CHAPTER 3

Red Carpet and a Smile CHAPTER 4

Seeking the Best CHAPTER 5

A Death in the Family CHAPTER 6

Weathering a Financial Storm CHAPTER 7

Flying High CHAPTER 8

From Shoes to Satellites CHAPTER 9

Right Man, Right Time

109 121 131 139 159 169 181 191 198 202 209

CHAPTER 10

Leadership and Teamwork CHAPTER 11

‘A Major Leap’ CHAPTER 12

Great Recession CHAPTER 13

Time to Build CHAPTER 14

‘Everybody Has an Impact’ CHAPTER 15

Family Matters CHAPTER 16

Sound Advice CHAPTER 17

‘We Get to Fly’ TIMELINE

Duncan Aviation Milestones WHAT WE DO

Locations and Business Services TRUSTING YOUR CAPE

Index and Silver Wings

INTRODUCTION

ALWAYS TRUST YOUR CAPE

I AM SO VERY PROUD of Duncan Aviation. I am proud of the 2,500-plus team members and the hundreds before them who make up the Duncan Aviation family. I am proud that we are not only the finest in our industry but among the finest of all companies. Many years ago I described our responsibility as a triangle with team members on one side and owners on another. The base was the most important — our primary responsibility was to our customers. I was dead wrong, and we changed. The team members, the Duncan Aviation family, is the most important. Great people doing the right thing day after day will take care of the customers, and the profits from those happy customers will fulfill our obligations to the owners. Simple, straightforward. We walk the talk.

The Duncan boys in 2013, from left: Harrison, Robert, Todd and P.K.

This book’s title reflects the belief at Duncan Aviation that, as the song says, “life is just a leap of faith.” Donald Duncan jumped off that “garage” time and time again, taking chances, risking everything, but trusting that his strong values and all those team members would catch him. 2021 is Duncan Aviation’s 65th year. We are still jumping and still trusting our “cape.”

Many, many privately owned businesses are shining examples of this people-oriented approach. We are not unique. We take a long view, do the right thing, tell the truth, respect one another. What we have accomplished is not magic. It’s hard work, with strong values each day, every day. I am often asked if we could have imagined the business being what it is today. Would my father recognize the business today? The answer is NO. We are not visionaries. We seize opportunities.

Our future is very bright. Although our industry is mature, Duncan Aviation continues to grow by taking market share. We have built a culture that is bigger and stronger than any one leader. We have a family constitution that specifically addresses our values, the role and responsibility of the Board of Directors, management and the Duncan family. Todd, as chairman, is part of today’s leadership, and his sons Harrison and P.K. — fourth-generation family members — are both working at the company. I am so very proud!

“He did not know he could not fly — so he did.” Robert Duncan, Chairman Emeritus, Duncan Aviation

— ROBERT DUNCAN

DUNCAN AVIATION

MISSION Duncan Aviation will be the leading provider of business aviation products and services. We will employ and develop the most knowledgeable and trusted individuals in the industry. We will be highly profitable and reinvest these profits in team members, equipment and facilities to extend our leading position.

DUNCAN AVIATION

VISION Duncan Aviation will be recognized worldwide by its customers, team members and the business aviation community as: • The highest value provider of products and services. • The industry leader in utilizing innovative technologies, minimizing downtimes and delivering safe aircraft on time. • Having the most skilled, motivated, stable and family-oriented workforce in the industry. • Being committed to team member development in the areas of leadership and technical development skills, wellness, safety and personal growth. • Being responsive to all customer needs through full-service facilities in Lincoln, Battle Creek and Provo, and a growing network of strategically placed satellite shops and Engine Rapid Response teams. • Continuing to grow market share and brand recognition by retaining its present customer base and capturing new customers worldwide with special emphasis and focused growth on large business aircraft.

DUNCAN AVIATION

BRAND PROMISE Duncan Aviation is committed to provide an experience unlike any other to owners and operators of business aircraft. We do this by providing personalized expertise, innovative services and ongoing support.

DUNCAN AVIATION

CO R E VA L U E S At Duncan Aviation, we: • Deliver high-quality products and services. • Charge fair prices and provide efficient turntimes. • Lead through action and innovation. • Focus on solutions and offer positive suggestions. • Respect others and are accountable for our actions. • Maintain a team approach. • Value honesty, integrity, loyalty and trust. • Promote safety, health and wellness. • Support our communities and respect the environment. • Are proud to be the best at what we do.

DONALD’S CHILDHOOD Donald’s parents had nearly given up on having a child, when Donald became the “miracle child” and the center of their lives. He’d get the slightest little fever and they’d put him in a bathtub of cold water to get his temperature down. “At one point in his life, he didn’t want to go to school anymore,” Donald’s daughter-in-law, Karen, said. “Grandma Clara decided he didn’t have to go to school, so they hired somebody to come in and teach him. What a magnificent person, but he had this childhood that was really strange.” As for going to college, Karen said, Donald “really didn’t have time — too busy getting going.”

Donald Duncan with parents Clara and Charles.

FOREWORD

Fertile Fields FROM THE SOUTHWEST CORNER of Iowa, where farm fields border Nebraska and Missouri, comes the story of Duncan Aviation, its people and its runway to success. The Duncan family traces its origins to Scotch-Irish immigrants who made their way through Ohio and Missouri to Iowa’s fertile land in the 19th century. Robert M. Duncan and Mary Ann Alexander Duncan never could have imagined what was to come. As time passed, their energetic offspring started businesses and chose careers that scattered them across the country.

Donald’s grandparents, John Wiley Duncan and Annie R. Berry Duncan, died in 1947 from coal gas poisoning.

One of their 11 children, John, and wife Annie started their own family and watched it grow and prosper as well. Their son Charles married Clara Pinkerton, and the couple had their only child in 1922, when they were in their 30s: Albert Donald Duncan, who went by Donald.

It was Clara who accumulated money earned from their farm near Clarinda, Iowa, and had the business sense to invest in stocks and bonds. She came to be known as the region’s best businesswoman of her time. “If you had any stock in those days, you were wealthy,” said Donald’s daughter Kathryn. “She was thrifty, too, but they always had a nice car.”

Donald’s parents: Charles and Clara Duncan.

Donald learned to love the family automobiles, an attraction he passed on to today’s generations. He also was attracted to Betty Jean Whipp of Lenox, 35 miles east of Clarinda. They began dating after attending Sunday afternoon youth events at their church and married Sept. 6, 1941, although without the blessing of her parents. Lloyd and Isabelle Farquhar Whipp thought Donald was too young for their daughter and didn’t attend the wedding. “Dad’s parents were very accepting of their marriage, even though he was super young” — at 19, three years younger than Betty Jean, Kathryn said. The newlyweds lived with Charles and Clara, and son Robert soon was born. “I got so distraught because we just had a little room upstairs,” Betty recalled in 2001. “There was a guest room, which we didn’t get to use, and there was an outhouse.” Donald Duncan, class of 1941.

When Betty later became pregnant with Kathryn, who was born in 1945, they moved to another farmstead owned by the Duncan family. “I had to go down in the far corner, outdoors, to do my laundry and get the hot water down there,” Betty said. “We were pretty hard up at that time.” Tragedy struck the family in 1947 when coal gas poisoned Annie and John Duncan. Donald helped carry his grandfather’s casket to the rural cemetery.

Donald, second from left in the back row, married Betty Jean Whipp just before the start of World War II.

A second daughter, Carol Dianne, known by her middle name, was born in 1948. The three Duncan children grew up under Betty’s tutelage. “She was a great planner and organizer,” Robert said.

During World War II, Betty was a dietitian for German and Italian prisoners held in a Clarinda POW camp. She later used her training from junior college in Clarinda and the American Institute of Business in Des Moines to handle the books for Donald’s first real business, Duncan Motors, and later for Duncan Beechcraft and Duncan Aviation. She also was a farmer, homemaker, bookkeeper, patron of the arts, gardener, quilter and pilot — flying her beloved J3 Piper Cub. Said Dianne Duncan Thomas: “I remember going to the Clarinda airport with Mother while she took her flying lessons, and she’d stop at the Frosty Shop on the way. She’d buy me a giant Coke and set me on the picnic table along the side of the runway.” The three Duncan children recall happy childhoods, with their grandparents caring for them when both parents were working. Betty’s parents soon came to approve of the marriage.

Donald and Betty Jean.

Kathryn said she and her brother enjoyed exploring a creek nearby and the freedom of growing up on a farm. “I loved being a younger sister to Robert. If he went down to the railroad tracks to put pennies on the track, I put pennies on the track. Robert was a gem as a brother. I mean we really, really had such a wonderful family.” Sept. 18, 1941, The Lenox Time Table

As the oldest, Robert was the first to go to school. “Robert went to country school, but the first day, he cried and cried,” Kathryn said. “He did not want to go after the first day.” Dianne was born late enough that she barely remembers living on the farm. She has heard that she was big enough as a baby that her father felt comfortable picking her up, something he wouldn’t do with her brother and sister. Donald and Betty moved to 303 West Logan in Clarinda, a house where earlier family generations had lived. Later they moved to Omaha, near 87th and Pacific Streets, walking distance to junior high and Westside High School. When Duncan Aviation expanded to Lincoln in 1963, the family went along. As the years passed, Robert married Karen Kent and went into the aviation business with his father. Kathryn, a former teacher and now a philanthropist, married Michael Thompson and later divorced. Dianne, a fiber artist whose quilt shows tour nationally, married Brian Thomas. Robert and Karen have two children: David Todd and Kathryn Paige, both usually called by their middle names and both involved in family businesses. Todd joined Duncan Aviation, succeeding his father as chairman in 2007. Todd and his wife, Connie, have twin sons, Robert Harrison and Paul Kent (known as P.K.), now the fourth generation of family members working at Duncan Aviation. Donald and Betty later divorced amicably. “Mom and Dad are the only people I know who ever got divorced and shared an attorney,” Dianne Duncan Thomas said. Four generations of Duncan men, about 1943: Clockwise from lower left: John, Charles, Donald and Robert.

Donald then married Katherine “Katie” Coe Graf, the former wife of a business partner, in 1972, and Betty married Willis Warner. Betty survived both her husbands, living to see seven grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren before she died in 2015 at age 95. Betty and Katie remained good friends, Dianne said. “It was striking to see them because Katie and my mom were the same height, same hair color, same backgrounds, you know, both farm girls. So Dad knew what he liked. Yeah, he actually married his former business partner’s wife. Keep it in the aviation world.”

Dianne has tender memories of her father. Once she took him to Eppley Airfield in Omaha to meet Katie. Dianne’s two small children at the time, Blake and Sean, went along. “One of my last visions of my dad was as he took Sean in with him to find out about Katie’s plane. I remember him walking out holding Sean’s hand.” Grandma Betty was a lasting presence for Donald’s children and grandchildren, living next door to Robert’s family the last four years of her life. “We have an interesting family, and we are very close,” Kathryn said. “We are faithful, very faithful to each other. To this day, I can count on my brother and sister. We never fight over anything, money, how it’s divided up, inheritance.”

“It was like it was meant to be. I knew right away, and he must have too, because he kept hanging around all the time, walking me home from school and all that.” — KAREN KENT DUNCAN, WHO MET ROBERT IN SEVENTH GRADE IN CLARINDA, IOWA

Paige worked briefly for Duncan Aviation but mostly has been involved in the family’s banking business since graduating from Northwestern University with a degree in mathematics, later adding a master’s degree in business from the University of NebraskaLincoln. Donald, Robert and Harry Barr — Donald’s longtime partner — had bought Citizens State Bank in Clarinda in 1976, then with $22 million in assets. “I’ve always wondered if it was partly my grandfather thinking, ‘I can buy my hometown bank,’ kind of like a showoff thing, maybe,” Paige said. She is the family representative for the bank, now known as Bank Iowa, which has $1.6 billion in assets and more than two dozen locations. As an aviation entrepreneur, Donald Duncan was true to his hard-working farm background, a trait he passed on to Robert. “I’ve always heard a lot of people complain that their dad was never around,” Paige said. “My dad worked a ton, but I always understood what he was doing and that it was for our family.” Paige said Robert and Karen are a good team. “My dad went to work, made the money, and my mom raised the family,” Paige said. “My father couldn’t have done nearly what he did without her support.” Karen Duncan is “super active in the community, has always been hugely active in the arts and music and reads voraciously,” Paige said. “I think she has opened up a whole new world for Dad that he would have never learned about or experienced.” Overall, Robert Duncan said, “I credit my family and business success to the values that I was taught, values that include respect for everyone, trusting others and working as a team. Those values came from my parents, my schools and organizations I’ve belonged to. “I would encourage all young people to listen and learn — your values are with you all your life.” 

“He was kind of a geek, and he was very studious and very bright. He always thought outside the box, never did ordinary things.” — KATHRYN DUNCAN, ROBERT’S SISTER

ROBERT M. DUNCAN

MARY ANN ALEXANDER DUNCAN

1829-1862

1824-1879

JOHN WILEY DUNCAN

ANNA ROBERTSON BERRY DUNCAN

JAMES ALBERT PINKERTON

PHOEBE DAMARIS FINLEY PINKERTON

1859-1947

1862-1947

1845-1911

1852-1937

CHARLES SPURGEON DUNCAN

CLARA ELIZABETH PINKERTON DUNCAN

1892-1975

1891-1969

DUNCAN FAMILY TREE

LLOYD WHIPP

ISABELLE FARQUHAR WHIPP

1895-1983

1895-1989

KATHERINE “KATIE” COE GRAF DUNCAN

ALBERT DONALD DUNCAN

BETTY JEAN WHIPP DUNCAN

1920-2003

1922-1981

1919-2015

JOHN ROBERT DUNCAN

KAREN K. KENT DUNCAN

KATHRYN DAWN DUNCAN

1942-

1943-

1945-

DAVID TODD DUNCAN

CONSTANCE ANN BISHOP DUNCAN

1966-

1965-

ROBERT HARRISON DUNCAN

BROOKE LAUREN THOMPSON DUNCAN

PAUL KENT “P.K.” DUNCAN

KATHERINE LYNN LUPORI DUNCAN

CLARA SUMMERS STOKES SUKOVATY

1994-

1995-

1997-

CHRISTOPHER STOKES

KATHRYN PAIGE DUNCAN HENNING

MICHAEL THOMPSON

JONATHAN HENNING

ERIC MICHAEL THOMPSON

YVETTE ELIZABETH THOMPSON

1975-

1979-

1981-

AMELIA MAE STOKES

DUNCAN GRAHAM HENNING

JOAQUIN THOMPSON

JAVIER THOMPSON

2001-

2010-

2013-

2015-

1969-

“I learned the most from the dinner table and hearing my dad talk about what he did and his perspective. He and my mother talked about things all the time.” — PAIGE DUNCAN, ROBERT’S DAUGHTER, WHO EARNED AN MBA FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA

Clockwise from left: Charles, Robert, Donald and Todd, age 2, in 1968.

Front row: P.K. Duncan, Karen Duncan, Kathryn Duncan, Betty Duncan, Dianne Thomas, Summers Stokes, Paige Duncan and Amelia Stokes. Back row: Harrison Duncan, Blake Thomas, Robert Duncan, Drew Thomas, Constance Duncan, Todd Duncan, Brian Thomas, Eric Thompson, Jonathan Henning, Ian Thompson (holding Rami Coobtee) and Muna Coobtee.

WILLIS WARNER

CAROL DIANNE DUNCAN THOMAS

BRIAN ALAN THOMAS

1948-

ROB WARNER

IAN DUNCAN THOMPSON

MUNA COOBTEE

BRIAN SEAN THOMAS

INDIA ROSE LEON THOMAS

BLAKE ALAN THOMAS

DREW DUNCAN THOMAS

LINDSAY KRISTIN McMINN THOMAS

1975-

1976-

LINDSEY MARIE HALLOCK THOMAS

1977-

1986-

1980-

1982-

1983-

RAMI IAN COOBTEE

NASEEM THOMPSON COOBTEE

ZAYN THOMPSON COOBTEE

HUCK HUDSON THOMAS

DYLAN MARIE THOMAS

FINN DUNCAN THOMAS

2008-

2011-

2015-

2014-

2015-

2018-

Airplanes were a part of the Duncan family from the early days. Robert, left, next to an unidentified woman, with sister Kathryn on the landing gear and mother Betty holding Dianne.

CHAPTER 1

From Pelts to Jets DONALD DUNCAN, in his early 20s and a married man, pushed the throttle ahead on the airplane, gaining speed across a field next to his grandma’s farm near Clarinda, Iowa, in about 1945. As the craft became airborne, the landing gear clipped a fence post and a wheel broke off. Charles Duncan dashed over and grabbed the wheel, holding it aloft so his son could see what was missing and make a controlled landing. The exciting incident, Donald would say later, helped trigger a lifelong interest in aviation. He and other family members, supported by a legion of aircraft technicians, managers and executives, built a business that is arguably the world’s leading independent aviation service company. Over a span of 25 years, Donald went from selling farm equipment and pelts from critters he trapped to selling private jets worldwide. Three more generations of Duncans, so far, have followed Donald into what is now Duncan Aviation, piloting the business through economic downturns and strategic mistakes to survive and thrive alongside the rise of business aviation. It is a story of American entrepreneurship from the ground up — to the skies — and of leaders who inspire. Even more, it’s a story of people determined to succeed, team members turning the dials on radar sets, scrubbing the floor, talking to customers, customizing business jets and building a reputation.

Donald Duncan fishing, with a 1939 Oldsmobile. The Duncans were thrifty but had nice cars. Donald’s auto dealership was a step toward the more exciting world of aviation.

“Why did Donald learn to fly? Because it was an adventure, it was fun, it was on the leading edge. All of these things are important to the success of the company.”

It’s no exaggeration to say that Duncan Aviation has helped global business transportation become safer and more efficient, contributing to the vital role of high-speed air travel in the world’s economy. America was ripe for the rise of business aviation in the post-World War II years. The attraction of flying was fueled in part by American air power’s importance in winning the war in Europe and the Pacific. Donald Duncan’s leading role in the aviation industry seemed unlikely at first. His home was in rural Iowa, where his family had farmed for generations. But he didn’t want to farm. Nor did he go to war in 1941, although at 19 he was at an age when many of his peers enlisted. In December 1942 he applied to be an aviation cadet, but it wasn’t to be. He and Betty Jean Whipp had married three months before Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, and within a year they had a son named Robert. Besides being married and a father, Donald was the only child in his farm family, and that provided a draft deferment, too. “There were a lot of farmers that went, but he didn’t have any desire to go,” Betty once said. “His folks would have had a conniption if he had gone.” Donald also was missing parts of some fingers on his left hand, which he had caught in a feed grinder. That day, Betty drove him toward the hospital as he held onto his bleeding hand. “We were on country roads and it had rained and it was muddy, and I was having all kinds of trouble driving,” she recalled in 2001. “Finally he said, ‘Just let me drive,’ so I did, and we got to Clarinda all right. When Grandma and Grandpa came home, they were very distraught because they had been out of town. They couldn’t have helped, but they could have been grinding the feed instead.”

“We’re doing something different, something ahead of the general public, and that has paid great benefits. I think all of this happened because of his sense of adventure, his sense of wanting to experiment and try, take a risk.” — ROBERT DUNCAN

Even while farming, Donald was making money on the side with his trap lines and pelt sales. He advanced to dealing used farm equipment, some of it acquired through his friend Bob Graf of Tarkio, Missouri, 38 miles southwest of Clarinda. Farm equipment had became scarce as the nation’s industrial production focused on war goods, and used combines brought in good money, said daughter Kathryn. “Dad had a real drive to be successful financially and found various ways to do that. That’s really the true effort of an entrepreneur.” From buying and selling farm equipment, Donald turned to custom harvesting, investing his earlier profits into two combines.

“He’d start them in Texas and end up almost to the Canadian border,” Betty said. “Then he’d sell them, and the next year he’d put two more down there. We had a crew, about five men, working on the wheat they were harvesting. Donald would go down and get them started, maybe spend a couple nights with them, but he never worked with the crew.” One time he took his family — which by then included their second daughter, Dianne — to check up on the harvesting crew of young, unmarried men. “I remember the only place we could find to stop was down in Kansas,” Betty said. “We got in the room and it was full of bedbugs. Dianne was so tiny I put her to bed in a dresser drawer. It was horrendous. It’s one of those things you never forget.” The work wasn’t a cinch, she said. “These guys would go in with these two combines and they could whack out 160 acres in no time at all. When they got ready to leave, they’d get paid. If they didn’t get there and it rained, it ruined the crops, so they had to get that crop harvested. You could probably have the combines paid for in the first two or three spots.” The combine operation set a pattern for Donald’s businesses: He recruited hard-working, honest people, gave them the tools they needed and depended on them to succeed. Donald continued to push ahead with new ideas. Graf had an auto business in Tarkio, and Donald soon opened his own: Duncan Motors, a GMC-Pontiac-Cadillac dealership in Clarinda. The connection between Donald and Betty Duncan and Bob and his wife, Katie, grew as the families ran their auto businesses. Donald’s natural sales ability began to flourish, and a helping hand came from his mother, Clara, who had money from her southwest Iowa farmland, inherited partly from her unmarried brother and sister. Clara and Charles Duncan were protective of their son, Donald, and had enough money that he felt he could try extraordinary things and become an entrepreneur, Kathryn Duncan said.

“Grandpa and Grandma (Duncan) loaned us $10,000 to get into business,” Betty said. “That was a lot of money in those days.” The grandparents ended up forgiving the loan, which paid for construction of a building required for a dealership license. The next step was finding vehicles to sell, and Donald put his salesmanship to work on both acquiring and selling cars. Demand for new cars skyrocketed in the postwar years, and dealers scrambled to find inventory as manufacturers shifted to civilian products.

Duncan Motor Service newspaper clipping

RUNNING THE AUTO DEALERSHIP WASN’T ENOUGH FOR DONALD:

“I don’t think it was the money. He had plenty of money. He inherited all the farms of my grandparents, the house in town. I just think he needed a challenge. He needed to be the entrepreneur that he was born to be.” — KATHRYN DUNCAN

DONALD DUNCAN WAS “A VERY, VERY POSITIVE PERSON,” AN ATTITUDE THAT HAS REMAINED WITH THE COMPANY:

“It wasn’t, ‘why things couldn’t be done’ but, ‘how we could get them done?’ That’s really served all of us very well.” — ROBERT DUNCAN

“I think he really hit his stride on sales, and that was a whole new deal, to have a supply of new vehicles,” said son Robert. “He made friends with the district manager at that time, and he would get an extra allocation of cars. My mother and others would drive them out to California, because they were worth a lot more out there.” Manufacturers were willing to supply Duncan Motors with extra cars, Betty said, “because we worked our fool heads off” and recorded a high sales volume. The business was booming, but keeping track of paperwork wasn’t Donald’s forté. “We had a girl from Omaha that did the bookwork, and she got sick for a couple of days,” Betty said. “That’s when I started. I’d been to business school, so it wasn’t that difficult.” She ended up working with her husband’s businesses for decades, even after they divorced. One day in the early 1950s, a young woman named Darlene Christensen walked into the dealership looking for a new car and noticed a posting of a job opening as an assistant. Donald sold her a car and hired her so she could pay for it, beginning her association with the Duncan family that lasted nearly 50 years. With the car dealership buzzing in the 1950s, Donald and Betty decided it was time to earn their pilot’s licenses, evidence of their growing interest in aviation. Katie Graf’s mother had taken over the fixed-base operation at the Tarkio airport after her husband died and offered to let the Duncans learn while paying on installments whenever they got the money. Donald and Bob Graf — also an airplane enthusiast, thanks to his wife’s mother — quickly realized that, like buying and selling automobiles, aircraft could be a lucrative business. Soon after qualifying for his pilot’s license, Donald acquired his first airplane, which broadened his business opportunities.

DONALD HAD HIS OWN WAY OF ORGANIZING THINGS:

“He kept his address book by the city where the person was located. So if he wanted to find a certain person, he didn’t look up their name but looked up the city they lived in.” — ROBERT DUNCAN

WHEN THE DUNCANS STARTED THEIR AUTO DEALERSHIP, A MECHANIC WAS PART-OWNER.

“He was an absolutely wonderful mechanic, but all of a sudden he was too good to do the mechanic’s work. So we bought him out. I have a very avid feeling that you shouldn’t go into business with somebody else if you can afford to go in by yourself.” — BETTY DUNCAN

Another friend, Carl Lang, had a Beech Aircraft Corporation dealership in Omaha, about 60 miles away, and the three began working together in 1956, considered the founding year for the Duncan Aviation business. Donald commuted daily from Clarinda by air and shared an office with Graf in the same building as Lang Aircraft. Eventually they signed a formal partnership agreement, with Lang owning 50 percent and Graf and Donald splitting the other half. Betty came along a couple of days a week to do the bookwork, and Darlene handled the auto dealership. Darlene had married Harry Schuster, a tool salesman who called on Duncan Motors, and she babysat the Duncan children when the grandparents couldn’t watch them. Her connections with the Duncan family were strong. The team also included Harry Barr, an avid young flier whom Donald met in 1954 while sharing a hangar in Clarinda for his daily commute to Omaha.

Harry Barr

Harry had been washing cars for another auto dealer, but he hungered to get into the aviation business. He had served as a mortar gunner during a stint with the Army National Guard and had received formal flight training in Texas.

“He would come down every night when we came home,” Betty recalled. “The minute we’d land, he’d be down there with the hangar door open and help put the airplane away.”

Right: Beech Aircraft’s press release on March 10, 1958, features Donald as a salesman for Lang Aviation. His later affiliation with Learjet led to a separation from Beech.

HENRY CRAFT WAS THE FIRST PERSON THE DUNCANS EMPLOYED IN THEIR AVIATION BUSINESS:

“When we hired him in Omaha, we didn’t have anything for him to do. He was such a nice kid, but we had him cleaning airplanes.”

One day, Donald’s airplane wouldn’t start. “For some reason I happened to be there that morning, and he desperately needed to get to Omaha,” Harry said. “So I loaned him my airplane, and he flew it up there and back. “Long story short, through his connection, I was able to get a job as what we called a ‘line boy,’ pumping gas for Carl Lang,” Harry recalled. He was only a year out of high school when he took the job in the mid-1950s. When the Duncans moved to Omaha, Harry at first lived in their den, halfway down to the basement. “He finally got an apartment,” Dianne said, “because he was a strapping young man and he needed his own place.” Harry later became a partner when Donald started Duncan Aviation. With a flight instructor’s license, he was able to teach new pilots and make certain that customers who bought airplanes had pilots who were qualified to fly them. The airplane business grew and it eventually was time to sell Duncan Motors. A man from “back East” bought it, Betty said, but he lacked Donald’s sales ability. “Less than a year later, we had to go up to the courthouse to buy it back. The bankruptcy court sold it.” The Duncans finally sold the auto dealership for good, and Darlene then moved to Omaha to keep the books for the aviation business. Donald and Bob Graf handled sales at Lang Aviation, and Carl Lang ran the maintenance operation. When Lang died in an aviation accident in Canada in 1959, Donald and Bob continued as Robert Graf Inc. In 1963 Donald bought out Bob’s share and renamed the business Duncan Aviation. Business was good, but Donald was about to encounter an idea that would change his world at jet speed. 

“He came in with a suit and tie, just a little farm kid, looking for a job. How can you say no to somebody when they would get that dressed up and that cleaned up for a job interview?” — DARLENE CHRISTENSEN

The Duncan Corporation’s early stationery featured an airplane, a helicopter and addresses in Clarinda, Iowa, and Omaha. It was a time of transition: An aviation industry advertisement and a 1963 clipping (facing page) from The Omaha World-Herald trace the changes in place by the time Donald was 40.

May 26, 1963, The World-Herald

SOMETIMES DONALD DUNCAN WOULD COME ROLLING UP LATE AT NIGHT IN A LEARJET HE HAD JUST SOLD TO A CUSTOMER.

“He’d come in, he’d show us a check for a milliondollar deposit. No contract, no purchase agreement, no paperwork or anything, just a handshake. He’d finish the deal up with a bill of sale.” — BOB MCCAMMON

CHAPTER 2

You Can’t Stand Up in a Cadillac, Either BETTY DUNCAN WAITED patiently outside an office in Wichita, Kansas, one day in 1962 as Donald talked with William Powell Lear. The two men had met before, but this meeting was different —and crucial for the fledgling business aviation industry. “It was just the two of them, and I waited for hours for them to come out,” Betty recounted in 2002. “Bill Lear was an entrepreneur from the word go. He was an inventor. He had so much smarts, but he had no business head on him at all. “Lear was going to give up on the idea of building the first Learjet, and Donald was in there until midnight, trying to convince him not to give up the ship. I don’t know how Donald talked him out of it, whether we gave him money, or whether Donald just gave him the itch to do it.” Whatever was discussed behind that closed door — how to overcome the risks of creating a private jet, a lack of money, uncertain demand — “Learjet would not have been Learjet without Donald going into that conference room,” Betty said. Everything was heading higher and going faster at the time. After all, this was the decade men went to the moon. CEOs from all over the world, and especially from the United States, were clamoring for advantages over their competitors. “Donald Duncan saw the future of corporate aircraft when the Learjet came out,” said Council Bluffs businessman John Nelson, later a member of Duncan Aviation’s first Board of Advisors, a group of outside aviation experts Robert Duncan recruited.

William Lear’s business jet revolutionized business travel and gave Duncan Aviation a fast start. Donald Duncan became the all-time top Learjet salesman, with an engraved Rolex watch as proof. Facing page: A promotional shot of Duncan Aviation’s extra services for customers: Kathy Jo Nissen delivers a tray of treats to pilot Ralph Heaton.

DONALD WANTED TO BUY THE AIRCRAFT MANUFACTURER GULFSTREAM IN THE LATE 1970S, WHEN THAT COMPANY WAS STRUGGLING.

“We should have. We would have made a fortune. My dad was an opportunist. Lear turned out to be the best opportunity, because that got us launched into the modern era.” — ROBERT DUNCAN

Sometimes Robert or Donald would pick up a new Learjet from the factory, show it to a customer and return with a signed agreement and check the same day. Some of these transactions were extremely profitable.

The Beech name disappeared from Duncan Aviation’s Lincoln headquarters as Learjet sales and the staff grew. The 87 people pictured here turned the company into a center for both sales and service.

Robert Duncan isn’t so sure. “I don’t know whether my dad had a great vision, or if he was just always looking for something new and something exciting. But the Learjet came out then, and Donald thought that was the cat’s meow. Here was a corporate jet that a lot of people could afford.” On Oct. 7, 1963, Bill Lear completed the first Learjet, a Model 23 patterned after a Swiss P-16 fighter jet. Federal certification followed a year and one week later, and by that time Lear already had 72 orders. The new jets were Donald’s ideal sales item, combining technology, excitement, a competitive advantage, beauty and high-dollar sales potential. By starting with the proven Swiss design, Lear had skipped the long process of building a prototype and gained a five-year advantage over would-be competitors, while establishing standards for the private jet market. The notoriously uncomfortable little jet — Donald and Bill Lear would tell people, “You can’t stand up in a Cadillac, either” — doubled the speed and tripled the altitude and range of propeller aircraft. Early Learjets could carry six passengers at 540 miles an hour, climb to a smooth 40,000 feet in seven minutes and operate more efficiently than their competitors. Donald and partner Bob Graf became one of the first Learjet dealers, along with W.F. Long from Dallas, Russ Miller of AirKaman in Connecticut, former Iowan Al Paulson, Clay Lacy from the West Coast and Olbert F. “Dick” Lassiter, who started Executive Jet Aviation. Each dealership paid $475,000 up front for a plane, which provided Bill Lear enough money to finish the certification process.

“It was a huge growth opportunity,” Robert Duncan said. Unlike the relatively slow pace of sales in farm machinery, automobiles and piston aircraft, the Learjet market was, of course, jet-propelled. Donald recruited salesmen in France and Denmark to widen his network. But even with the initial burst of sales, Bill Lear was desperate to raise more money for production. He sold 38 percent of his company on public markets for $5 million. Duncan Aviation got Learjet No. 13 (No. 1 crashed during a test flight, No. 2 is in the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum and other dealers got Nos. 3-12). Over the years Donald sold and re-sold No. 13 about a dozen times, usually helping customers move up to larger jets. During his career, he sold more private jet airplanes — including about 450 Learjets — than anyone else. His Learjet record likely will never be broken, partly because Learjet production ended in 2021. Donald used his connections to buy Lear’s planes while they were still in production, tying up the market at a time when having a private jet was becoming a must for corporations. The Learjet was the best available, said Nelson, the Omaha businessman. “Lear would refer them to Donald, and he’d say, ‘Sure, I’ll sell my position for delivery in March,’ and get double the price Lear was getting, a substantial markup,” Nelson said. “He made a fortune off that.” Don Fiedler, a top Duncan Aviation manager, said Donald’s early relationship with Bill Lear “really started Duncan Aviation off with a big bang.” The Learjets were in such demand that Donald formed a separate company, American Learjet, to sell the aircraft, while providing a bit of maintenance on the side.

Don Fiedler joined Duncan Aviation in 1966 and by 1974 was maintenance manager. He said Donald Duncan told him, “I don’t care if you make any money in the avionics shop. That’s not important. Just support the aircraft that I sell, the Learjets.”

DONALD NEVER MISSED A SALES OPPORTUNITY, EVIDENCED BY THE TIME HE BOUGHT A DALLAS CHARTER COMPANY THAT OWNED TWO LEARJETS:

“Donald flew one of them back through Nashville, and sold it on the way home. Obviously, he knew that there was a customer there wanting to buy a Learjet. Part of the secret was a tremendous persistence. Part of the secret was having this big Rolodex and knowing all these people.” — ROBERT DUNCAN

“Our paychecks for at least a year were American Learjet,” said the late Ron Hall in a 2018 interview. Ron later managed the installation of new electronic avionics equipment. “The only thing he sold in those days was Learjets, the only big thing,” Betty said. Daughter-in-law Karen Kent Duncan, who had her own pilot’s license, called the Learjet “a great step forward. I thought it was the most amazing airplane.” Learjet’s performance and image — Frank Sinatra, Arnold Palmer, Elvis and top businessmen were among early buyers — attracted customers, and Donald’s hard-charging sales techniques closed the deals. “To him, that wasn’t work,” Robert said. “That was his life, and that was what he enjoyed. I think he regretted in later years that he didn’t spend much time at home when we were growing up, but he spent a lot of time with us the last 10 or 12 years of his life. But there was no hard line between the business and the family, nor do we think of the people that work here in any other way, except as part of the family.” Bob McCammon and Jan Johnson make a customer’s visit to Lincoln a fun stop.

THE FBI ONCE APPEARED AT DUNCAN AVIATION IN SEARCH OF A MAN WHO HAD BOUGHT A PLANE.

“They had a couple guys there waiting for this guy to come in with his airplane and get up in Donald’s office, where they could either arrest him or talk to him. Somehow there got to be a scuffle match between Donald and the other guy, and I think Donald threw the guy down the circular stairway. Then the FBI arrested the guy.” — BOB MCCAMMON

Sales volume grew rapidly. “Those were great times and great days,” said Bill Prochazka, who retired as chief operating officer at Duncan Aviation’s Provo, Utah, facility. “I remember the bell ringing every time we sold a Learjet or an airplane, and there’d be a keg of beer in the lunchroom in the afternoon.” The Learjet also put Donald in direct competition with the King Air, Beechcraft’s turboprop business airplane that Donald and Bob Graf had been selling from their Omaha location for years. Donald didn’t mind. He occasionally taxied Duncan Aviation-owned Learjets within sight of the Wichita office of Beechcraft co-founder Olive Ann Beech, who didn’t have jets and didn’t appreciate having a Beech distributor flying Learjets.

Donald’s connection to Beechcraft ended when the Omaha distributorship was sold in 1968. Duncan Aviation instead focused on Learjets, turbine-powered planes and used aircraft at the Lincoln operation, with Robert taking on a major role after graduating from college in 1965. Donald focused on sales. “From the time I joined the business, he let me handle the rest of the things,” Robert said. “The No. 1 reason is, all he wanted was to sell, and he was so good at it. The No. 2 reason is, I’d graduated from Northwestern University with an undergraduate business degree.” Donald hadn’t gone to college and in fact had struggled to finish high school, so he respected the value of higher education. Robert married Karen Kent a few days after his graduation. “We were both 23 years old and wet behind the ears as far as business was concerned, but there were only 12 employees,” Robert said. “So it wasn’t like it was a big deal.” Working for the family business seemed like Robert’s destiny. “When I was 8 or 9 or 10, Dad would put me up on his lap and I would steer the airplane. Right from the very beginning, I was introduced to airplanes, and it was just natural for me to continue flying and natural for me to come join Duncan Aviation.”

John Winant, president of the National Business Aviation Association (in the light-colored suit), gives an award to Milt Lee, left, Robert Duncan and Bob McCammon during the Duncan Beechcraft period.

Donald’s salesmanship flourished. “The joke with Donald was that he wanted to buy everything, and some of the guys said that at one point, Donald wanted to buy Greenland,” Karen said. The suggestion likely was a joke by Per Alkaersig, who was Duncan Aviation’s European partner in his native Denmark. Robert — for a time the youngest Learjet-rated pilot, along with Bill Lear Jr. — sold airplanes, too, but said he was “maybe about half as good” as Donald. “I never had the stick-to-it-iveness that it took to make all these deals,” he said. “I’d want to go home at night and relax and have dinner. That wasn’t the way Donald operated.”

The Lincoln maintenance operation began to grow as Donald gathered Learjet customers, but sales were still the company’s mainstay.

TRUSTING EMPLOYEES Joe Huffman Sr., who passed away in 2021, had recalled inspecting a Learjet and finding that it needed an expensive replacement. “When Donald found out about it, he called me up into his office.” “Are you really sure these are bad?” Donald asked. Joe said the parts didn’t meet specifications, so Donald agreed. “That’s kind of the way he was. He would want to make sure, but he put his trust in you.”

Ron Hall worked in avionics at Lincoln Air Force Base before it closed and joined Learjet to help pay for college in Wichita. He was recruited by Duncan Aviation in 1966, and the shop was already modifying Learjets and Beechcraft planes. “We built the shop from scratch,” Ron said. “The early Learjets had a lot of problems, and the avionics business was quite new for general aviation, which was still using, of all things, vacuum tubes.” Work included wiring and sheet metal, major modifications to Learjets and Beechcraft, and “anything else that walked in the door,” Ron said. “We had proven ourselves worthy.”

Bill Lear’s inventions included the original automobile radio, the autopilot and the 8-track stereo. He became good friends with Donald Duncan and loved to stop in Lincoln for a burger and shake at the local King’s Food Host. Bill once installed an 8-track tape player in Darlene Christensen’s Pontiac convertible.

Duncan Aviation recruited top-level mechanics and other aviation experts to create a Lincoln operation destined to handle all things aircraft. It became a one-stop shop that could sell you a top-of-the-line jet, install the latest electronics, customize the interior and exterior and then sell your trade-in. Ron’s expertise helped boost the business. He and another early Duncan Aviation team member, Jim Mathe, wanted overtime pay and began working day and night in an unheated hangar. Other early maintenance crew members included Phil Hartwick, Gene Bartosh, Ed Mataya, Larry Collier, Greg Beebe, Joe Norbeck, Dave Wessel, Charlie Peacock, Rick Whitesell, Gerry Schultze, Dave Pleskac and Al Cloud — many of them Air Force maintenance veterans — with Judy Bacchus as a secretary. Originally, maintenance was considered a secondary but necessary task to serve Donald’s sales customers. But as time went on, airplane inspections, upgrades, repairs and other services grew as sources of revenue and capital for growth. Technical advances even turned aircraft radios into a hot business.

“We would travel around the airports in the state, looking for radios and trying to sell radios,” Ron said. “We survived when some other shops didn’t.” Ron said Darlene Christensen’s arrival in Lincoln, after the Omaha location closed, added organizational stability and a special character to the office, since Donald was constantly on the move and Robert and Karen Duncan were “settling in.” Aaron Hilkemann, CEO and chairman of its Board of Advisors in 2021, said a unique group of people came together early in the company’s history to turn avionics into an important part of the private aviation industry. “They wanted to create something different, and Robert allowed them to do that,” Aaron said. “They’ve stayed with the company, so there’s a strong foundation of people that have been with us 30, 40 and 50 years.” An early customer was Bill Wagner, chief pilot for Ray Townsend of Townsend Engineering of Des Moines since the late 1970s. Wagner said Donald Duncan was “a salesman, salesman, salesman, but he was always on the road selling aircraft, and you couldn’t find him.” Although Duncan Aviation grew somewhat under Donald’s leadership, Bill said, the biggest growth began in the 1980s under Donald’s son. “It was Robert Duncan that took hold, and the expansion started.” The seeds of that growth were planted in the 1960s, when the Duncans expanded their small family business to Lincoln, Nebraska. 

Robert Duncan, right, and his father both sold Learjets to Iowa inventor and businessman Ray Townsend. One time Ray did a flyover in a new jet for his company staff. “He looked down at those people waiting on the ramp waving at us, and there was a tear or two in his eye,” chief pilot Bill Wagner said.

“On most days we had 10 to 15 airplanes stop for fuel. Some days we had 25 or 30, and we pumped a lot of fuel. It gave them an introduction to Duncan Aviation. Clorox was one of our better customers. They had a JetStar. They stopped for fuel once in a while when they were deadheading back home. They’d stay overnight, go out to dinner with my wife and I and several of the line guys. We made a lot of friends that way.” — BOB MCCAMMON

CHAPTER 3

Red Carpet and a Smile HENRY CRAFT ROLLED OUT his red carpet and smiled when airplanes taxied up to Duncan Aviation’s fixed-base operation (FBO) in Lincoln in the 1960s. He was the base’s original lineman, in charge of greeting, refueling and anything else needed by pilots, passengers and planes. The Duncan family’s Beechcraft distributorship was still in Omaha, but things were getting tense with the Omaha Airport Authority, owner of Eppley Airfield. The Duncans paid a percentage of revenue to the airport, Betty Duncan recalled. “They kept raising the percentage. They were getting all the money, and we were beating our heads against the wall, because we were making very little profit.” Beechcraft dealership sales were volatile during the infancy of business air travel, with few buyers and high prices. All in all, Betty said, “it was really easy to say goodbye to Omaha and come down here to Lincoln.” In 1963, the Lincoln Airport Authority opened bidding for companies to start FBOs on the general aviation side of the airfield, which was home to a U.S. Air Force base until 1966. Duncan Aviation’s bid was accepted, and construction began on two large maintenance hangars and 62 airplane storage hangars. Lincoln was an ideal location: The Air Force had installed a huge runway, surrounded by lots of open land for lease at low rates. The airport management, led by Rolland Harr, was excited to have Duncan Aviation’s small but growing operation. Robert Duncan started working summers at the Lincoln office while he was in high school in Omaha. “He had a cot upstairs, and he didn’t come home a lot of nights,” Betty said. Kathryn pitched in answering the phone at the front desk and doing anything that needed to be done. “I loved it, because I felt responsible,” she said. “I took care of the customers when they came in, and I did the gas receipts. I commuted back and forth between Omaha and Lincoln. There was nobody else, except for Henry and a mechanic named Les.”

Joe Huffman Sr. checks the tolerance of a piston before reassembling an engine. By 1974, Duncan Aviation was equipped to handle major repairs and inspections.

Henry Craft’s smile and the red carpet created a friendly image that welcomed pilots and airplane owners. “The customers loved him,” Betty said. But other airports’ mechanics were competing for business, and aircraft manufacturers sold service programs to airplane owners. Duncan Aviation set about building a reputation: Its service wasn’t the cheapest, just the best.

BRUSHES WITH FAME Bob McCammon met quite a few celebrities over the years: “We took care of Air Force One, with Gerald Ford back in the 1970s. I remember Secretary of State Henry Kissinger came in quite often. He’d come into the lobby and we’d talk. “I remember we had Walt Disney stop quite often. Bob Hope, Arthur Godfrey, Elvis Presley was in, but no Beatles. “We had a lot of entertainers that had airplanes. They had JetStars or Jet Commanders or Learjets and a Hawker. “Bill Lear and his wife, Moya, stopped for fuel all the time. They’d have a Lear 24 and he always wanted King’s cheeseburgers. So, they’d call in on the Unicom and we’d run out to King’s and come back with a bag of cheeseburgers and french fries.”

But first, you had to catch the attention of the pilots and airplane owners. At the front desk of Duncan Aviation’s Lincoln base, Pam Powell didn’t object to wearing outfits intended for that purpose — hot pants and halter tops. “Kids today look back on it and say, ‘My gosh, how did you ever do that?’ ” said Pam, now Pam Orr. “But it was just the times. It was just what we did.”

Line hostess Jan Johnson greets Lyle Lauer, part of Duncan Aviation’s focus on pilots who could choose where to land for fuel and service on cross-country flights.

Another business-catching idea: Manager Bob McCammon would wear a radio receiver on his ear, like a hearing aid, and listen to aviation radio chatter. If an airplane stopped in Grand Island — a competing mid-continent refueling stop — he would note the tail number, call the pilot and invite him to stop in Lincoln next time. “Every once in a while, we had to fly a mechanic out to Grand Island to fix an airplane that was broken,” Bob said. “We had the great, big, long runway in Lincoln, which was equipped with better navigation systems than Grand Island. “We went ahead and hired line hostesses to greet the airplanes, roll out the red carpet, vacuum the airplane if needed, empty the trash, get ice for the pilot so it wouldn’t interfere with the time refueling. “We bought Bavarian Mint Meltaways from the House of Bauer, which had a candy factory at the Lincoln Air Park, and big cans of cashews from General Tobacco, and we made snack trays, individually wrapped in cellophane, and put one of those in the airplane at each seat,” Bob said. “And then we started giving away steaks to the pilots, or their choice of bourbon, Jack Daniels, vodka, whatever. Over the course of a couple years, we took most of Grand Island’s business away.” In 1967, two years after Robert finished college and joined the company full-time, Bill Lear sold his company to Gates Rubber Company, creating Gates Learjet and canceling the dealership agreements with Duncan Aviation and others. “We said, ‘Whoa, you can’t do that,’ ” Robert said.

IN DUNCAN AVIATION’S EARLY DAYS, THE COMPANY DIDN’T HAVE ENOUGH WORK TO KEEP ITS FIVE MECHANICS BUSY DURING THE WEEK:

“We’d be painting and sweeping the hangar. Then on the weekends, all of the freighters would want to come in and get their inspections done. So we’d always be busy on the weekends. This business kind of runs in cycles like that.” — JOE HUFFMAN SR.

To settle the issue, Gates Learjet gave Duncan Aviation a Learjet, which had a value of about $450,000, and designated the company as a Learjet service center. Gates Learjet named Donald its National Salesman at Large. The deal worried daughter Dianne Duncan Thomas. “I thought, ‘Dad doesn’t have a job now.’ He had to buy the airplanes and then he had to find the customers. The pool of customers was much smaller back then, as was the pool of airplanes.” Donald found himself working within a larger company, even though he retained ownership of Duncan Aviation and his son was running the business. His relationship with Gates Learjet lasted less than three years. “Donald wasn’t a good fit in the corporate environment,” Robert said. “Although he loved the airplane, that wasn’t his thing.” One day in about 1970, the family was vacationing in Aspen, Colorado, when Betty asked Robert how things were going. “I could sure use Dad to sell,” Robert said. Betty replied: “I think all you have to do is pick up the phone and he’ll be there.”

A WATCHFUL EYE Robert Duncan describes Darlene Christensen as “kind of the mother hen of the operation.” He recalled her asking him once what he had planned for the day. “I’m flying to Kansas City,” he told her. “I checked the weather,” she told him. “No, you’re not going to go.” Her word was final. “Darlene wasn’t a pilot, but she was one to make sure that we all stayed alive and didn’t take undue risk,” Robert said. “We all loved her, and she was a key part of the success of Duncan Aviation.”

Robert called, and Donald came back. “We really had a great 11 years together,” Robert said. “His office was right next door to mine.” The arrangement worked well, Kathryn said, because Robert was an astute businessman and Donald was happy to be free of administrative duties and corporate restraints. “Obviously Dad had to be a fairly good businessman, or he wouldn’t have gotten to where he could even afford to buy a car dealership or an aviation company,” she said. “But he loved to sell.” Duncan Aviation’s Lincoln base had started with a front desk, the line office and a radio shop in the back. When the Omaha office closed in 1967, Darlene brought her considerable skills to Lincoln. Aaron Hilkemann, Duncan Aviation’s CEO, said one of the secrets of the company’s early success was Darlene’s ability to help employees advance their careers, not just hold a job. The company still embraces that idea. “She helped develop the succession plan for the flight department,” Aaron said. “She groomed people from working on the line department to flying a Bonanza, flying a King Air to flying the Learjet. And most of those team members are still with us.”

CREATIVE CONVERSATIONS Karen grew up in a family that didn’t curse, “but Donald was really good at it. He could swear like a sailor,” she said.

Donald’s return boosted sales. “On the phone every day, he was talking to his friends, acquaintances, customers, touching base with them, staying in touch with them,” Robert said. “The network is what really helped make him successful.”

Donald’s larger-than-life personality won over his customers, both in person and especially through his hours on the phone, building relationships with past and future clients.

Donald had a conversational style that embraced language you could call colorful, as in, “You’re a (blanking) idiot if you don’t buy this (blanking) plane.” He knew how to explain the unique advantages of owning a business jet, took the time to maintain close relationships with his customers and cultivate an ever-growing web of friendships.

“I was never as good at that,” Robert said. “I always wanted to get on the phone, get done what I had to get done and get off the phone. He’d go home and be on the phone at home.” Dianne, the youngest of the three Duncan children, worked as a receptionist one summer in Lincoln at a time when the company had grown to about 70 employees.

One day, he was on the phone when she approached his office and had “never heard such language in my life. It was really horrendous, and I looked at him. He sees me and gives me a big wink — ‘This is all just a joke, nothing here is serious.’ ” She managed later to get Donald to agree not to use his choicest words around the grandchildren.

THE LOANER PROGRAM Duncan Aviation’s free loaner program started with two Wilcox radios and grew to include radar and other avionics equipment. “We credited Harry Barr (below) for beginning the loaner pool,” longtime avionics team member Ron Hall said. Ron, Harry and Dave Wessel built up the loaner pool partly with the help of “junkers” — men who salvaged damaged airplanes for parts. Customers would call with problems. “We would kind of help troubleshoot what the problem was,” Ron said. “We’d send a loaner unit on to the customer, he sent his unit in to us, we repaired it and sent it back to him. He was happy, we were happy.” “We were the only ones that did this, as far as I know,” Robert Duncan said. The loaner program today is more regulated and documented. Even so, the cost of keeping an inventory of expensive equipment is outweighed by the value of longterm relationships with customers.

“Harry Barr did all the airplane stuff, Dad was the salesman, and Robert was the business guy,” Dianne said. “It worked so efficiently and smoothly, and they all got along great.” College business classes taught Robert to be more analytical than his father, more fiscally conservative and perhaps a better “in-house” people person. Although Robert did some selling, his real strength was administration, with a knack for spotting the right people for the job and giving them the freedom and incentives to excel. Donald, to his credit, recognized that Robert’s skills and business degree complemented his super-salesman talent and gave his son a free hand to manage the business. “Not many fathers will turn over management to a 26-year-old,” Robert said. But in 1968, Donald went along with Robert’s suggestion that he become president. Robert had planned to study law as a foundation for his business career and won a full scholarship to the University of Nebraska College of Law. But he quickly decided against it, partly because of the daunting list of books he would have to read. “I had worked at the company for a couple of months, and I was loving it,” he said. “There were only 12 or 15 people, and I did all kinds of things. I pumped gas, I flew charters and I sold airplanes.” Although he regrets not staying at Northwestern University one more year for a masters degree in business, skipping law school was the right decision. “I’m sure I got much more experience in business those two years than I would’ve gotten in law school.” In those days, virtually no one realized that the future of Duncan Aviation would rest not with airplane sales, but with the people who could solve airplane problems. But that’s exactly what happened. 

IN THE MID-1960S, AMERICAN TRUCKERS WENT ON STRIKE, AND AUTO MANUFACTURERS FORD AND GENERAL MOTORS HIRED DUNCAN AVIATION TO FLY CAR PARTS TO THEIR FACTORIES.

“They needed them immediately, and I don’t know how many trips they made. There were times when Harry Barr just got home and he would go back someplace else to take parts. They paid cash. We’d take all the guts out of the airplane. You could get fenders and everything in there. It was just a truck in the air.” — BETTY DUNCAN

Harry Barr worked with the pilots, Robert Duncan ran the business and Donald Duncan’s salesmanship flourished in the 1970s. OMAHA WORLD-HERALD

Sept. 9, 1979, The World-Herald

“I would have to compliment Southeast Community College in Milford in the very beginning days. It got to the point where the guys at Milford knew that the people who were coming to Duncan Aviation were working on airplanes, so I had a lot of help in hiring good people from Milford.” — DON FIEDLER

CHAPTER 4

Seeking the Best DURING THE 1960S AND 1970S, Duncan Aviation built a core staff of mechanics, technicians, designers and others who created a tradition of high-quality work. The growing team became the backbone of the family business. Locating at Lincoln’s airport turned out to be a good move for recruiting. One of the first to join was Ron Hall, who as a young man had scored extremely high in electronics on his pre-enlistment aptitude test in 1962. Ron chose the Air Force partly because he had flown a small plane while in the Civil Air Patrol at his high school in southern Kansas. “I had nine months at the aircraft electronics school at Kessler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Mississippi,” Ron said. “I loved it. The Air Force had really good instructors. When I finished, I signed up for England, but they sent me to Lincoln, Nebraska. I had never heard of it.” At the Lincoln base, he was one of a dozen specialists who reinvigorated a tattered B-47 fleet, earning $100 a month and all the food they could eat. Ron left the service as the Vietnam War was heating up and as the term “avionics” was coming into use to describe airplanes’ electronic systems. He took a job with Learjet in Wichita for $2.35 an hour, then ran into Duncan Aviation managers who offered him $12,000 a year. Back in Lincoln, his technician’s job led to a sales position and promotions. “When I started in the business, avionics shops were few and far between,” Ron said. “There were little two- and three-man shops. As things went on, we grew up.”

“To look at the empire today, it’s the American dream,” said Ron Hall, center, with John Slieter, left, and Gary Harpster. “And it’s made the dream for a lot of people. Appreciate it, because there was a lot of blood, sweat and tears by a lot of people along the way.”

Duncan Aviation became the top U.S. seller of many avionics products, especially radar, autopilots and radios. Ron and other salespeople developed contacts around the country, and Duncan Aviation’s name began to spread in the industry beyond the pilots who stopped in Lincoln for fuel. Starting in 1970, Ron and others from Duncan Aviation became active in the Aircraft Electronics Association, which was based in Kansas City. “I met people that became mentors outside of Duncan Aviation,” Ron said. Other aviation businesses were growing, too, and Duncan Aviation was right in the mix, hosting regional meetings of the association and establishing relationships nationally.

TRYING NEW THINGS Robert Duncan once left the speedometer from his BMW on Joe Huffman Sr.’s desk with a note: “Can you fix it?”

Joe Huffman Sr. had his Airframe & Powerplant license when he joined the company in 1967 as its fifth maintenance mechanic. He had been a commercial flight instructor but had no experience with jets. He had applied for a job with Arrow Airlines — one of many small regional airlines — but Les Noska hired him on the spot for Duncan Aviation, and he never left.

Joe’s boss, John Slieter, walked by and said, “What are you doing with that thing? We work on airplanes.”

Joe said the early “crude” Learjet engines required overhauls after 500 hours of flight, compared with today’s 5,000-hour maintenance schedules. Duncan Aviation’s shops also serviced King Airs, Barons, Bonanzas, Musketeers, Queen Airs and most other business aircraft.

“Maybe you should tell that to Robert,” Joe answered. “I looked this thing over and I found a bad transistor in the power supply, so I replaced that transistor and things started working again.”

“I kind of became the engine guy,” Joe said. “We kept spare engines. Customers would come in, and we’d swap them out, then I’d overhaul the old ones. We did that for a long time.”

He returned it to Robert, who was excited after it was put back in his car. “We need to start a business,” Robert said.

One time he flew out to Jackson Hole, Wyoming, to install a new magneto generator and check out the engine in a Queen Air. “In those days, we did quite interesting things,” he said — interesting enough that he stayed at Duncan Aviation when his job skills were in demand everywhere. “I never saw anything that I thought was that much better, and I didn’t want to move out of Lincoln. But the other part of it is, Duncan Aviation always treated me good.” That was true even when he missed out on a promotion to manager. “I remember Harry and Robert pulling me up into their office and saying, ‘We’re not going to promote you to manager, because we don’t want to lose you. We know if you get to be the manager and doing all the paperwork and all the hassle that goes with that, you’ll get enough of it and leave. So we’ll take care of you financially, don’t worry about that.’ They always have.” After 50 years, Joe’s salary was “pretty amazing when you start at $2.50.”

INFORMAL PROCEDURES By the time Duncan Aviation was 10 years old, Don Fiedler had arrived as the 17th hourly employee, becoming service manager.

In 1984 Robert Duncan asked Don Fiedler to set up a more advanced technical support group. “That’s another thing that made Duncan Aviation grow,” Don said.

Another early hire was Don Fiedler, who had worked at Atlas missile bases in the region and later started an auto body shop in nearby Wahoo, Nebraska. “I loved painting, working on cars and that kind of thing when I lived on a farm,” Don said. But after finishing electronics school in Omaha in 1966, he saw a newspaper ad for Duncan Aviation’s American Learjet affiliate, seeking avionics technicians at the Lincoln Airport. “I thought, ‘Wow, avionics technician!’ I had no idea what that was for sure, but I applied for the job,” Don said. “Phil Hartwick was the manager at that time, and lo and behold, I got the job. I think it was $2 an hour. I went home and told my wife about it, she was absolutely thrilled.” Don started installing avionics in the “cold, dark” Duncan Aviation hangar, becoming maintenance manager in 1974. He remembers Todd Duncan (Robert’s son, now chairman of the company) as a baby, crawling down the hallways at work. Don also started the technical service department, staffed today by people known as tech reps, who help customers through the service process. Years later he helped set up Duncan Aviation’s network of satellite avionics shops at airports around the country.

Things were more informal in those days. When the shop’s oscilloscope began to malfunction, Don bought a replacement from a local warehouse and charged it to the company. About a month later, Robert asked about an invoice he received for the oscilloscope. “Where is this?” he asked. Don took him to see the equipment. “He looks at the serial number on the paper, looks at the serial number on the unit, and he says, ‘OK, fine,’ ” Don recalled. “That was the only time he ever questioned anything, and that’s the way it was in the days when I started. You needed something, you just kind of did it.” It was the same way with aviation. “You jumped in an airplane and flew it,” he said. “Today, you need a lot of lessons and hours and all those kinds of things. It’s not a seat-ofthe-pants type of thing.”

“Robert wanted to make sure that we hired the best people, provided the best service and were located at the best airports that had a lot of business aircraft,” Don said. One time Don went to Hobby Airport in Houston, Texas, to recruit a highly recommended mechanic named Terry Markovich. “I snuck into Hedrick Beechcraft,” Don recalled. “I watched him for a little bit and thought, ‘Looks like he might be the guy.’ ” Don went back to Lincoln, gave Terry a call and decided he was ready to make his first hire. But first he needed to talk to Robert. “Robert looked at his résumé and said, ‘Don, this guy has worked a half-dozen jobs in the last five years. He’s not stable; he’s not going to stay.’ ” Don disagreed, telling his boss that Terry’s past jobs “didn’t afford him the opportunities that we can afford him.” Robert agreed to the hire. “Terry stayed with us for 20 years, and then he went on to be a vice president of another avionics company in the industry,” Don said. “So that was my first good move.” Tom Burt, who became chief operating officer at Duncan Aviation’s Michigan location and is now retired, said Terry was “one of those typical Duncan Aviation technicians who was looked on as being a magician who could fix anything.”

“So, you’ve got those people out there that are providing the same caliber of work, basically what Lincoln started out doing. How can you beat that as far as visibility throughout the United States?” — DON FIEDLER

Don’s hiring decision fit a pattern that has lasted throughout Duncan Aviation’s history: Although not every employee stays 20 or more years, each one is given a chance at a career rather than being stuck in a job.

Bob McCammon was 18 when he started at $1.30 an hour on the night shift of Duncan Aviation’s line department in 1968. He was recruited by his roommate, Ronnie Miller, who worked at Duncan Aviation part-time while he was a disc jockey for KLMS radio. During the summers, Bob went home to Superior, Nebraska, to help his father bale hay and work in the fields. “The work at Duncan Aviation was pretty interesting because I was the only one there for the whole night,” Bob said. “I answered the phone, refueled an airplane if it came in, swept the floor, cleaned the hangar — you know, we were expected to work all the time. There were quite a few unusual airplanes that you don’t see anymore — Lockheed Electras, C119s. “Working on the line department back then was a lot of fun, a good experience. We didn’t have very many people, probably eight or 10 total, and this was right at the start of when the corporate aircraft were coming into play.” Bob and his wife, Marlene, lived nearby at Lincoln Airpark housing, as did several other early employees. He remembers applying for a $7.50-an-hour job at a meat processing plant, which would have been a good raise, and once at another aviation company. “You kind of wonder what would have happened if they had hired me,” he said. “Maybe I would have ended up running the place, or been a CEO, I don’t know, but I was goddamn lucky that they didn’t hire me … Duncan Aviation has been very good to me. There’s been ups and downs, no doubt there will still be ups and downs, but it’s a tremendous place to work. I’ve got great friends, and it’s just a good company.” Bob said basic services such as refueling led to friendships, relationships and more business. “We had good people that stayed on the line department a long time. Some of those people are still working here today.”

“The line department was a great experience. It was kind of in the infancy of corporate aviation really getting started. One of the most exciting times in my career at Duncan Aviation was getting that thing going.” — BOB MCCAMMON

Pam Orr was a college senior in 1976 when she got a front desk job from 2 to 10 p.m. so she could continue her accounting studies. “I took money for refueling the airplanes,” Pam said. “We had a lot of interesting people. Ronald Reagan stopped at the front desk once, got off the airplane, came inside and talked to me, which surprised me. I think at that time he was governor of California. Very nice man.

“It was my team — me and Linda Smith and Marge Riemann and Betty Powers, ‘Granny’ — who were the first to use the actual computer systems. I can still remember them bringing those huge monster machines up through accounting and setting them up. We got rolling on that.” — PAM ORR

Kent Kussatz became vice president of customer service in his 23-year career. His son, Michael, joined the company as a project manager and moved into sales. Duncan Aviation has several examples of multi-generational team members.

“I didn’t get to meet a lot of the celebrities that came through, because we were supposed to leave them alone. That’s why they have their airplane, so they can get around and not be bothered by people. But when they come in and talk to you, that’s a different thing.” Rob Warner, who became general manager, later offered her a full-time day job in the accounting department, so she accepted and took a break from college, one semester short of her degree. With Kent Kussatz’s urging, she moved into marketing. “He knew he was challenging me, and that’s what I needed,” Pam said. Darlene Christensen also was influential in her career, Pam added. “I’m sure she was an influence on everyone. The woman had nerves of steel. I don’t know how she stayed as calm as she did. But in the face of fires, she was calm and collected and handled things the way they should be handled. I wanted to be like her when I grew up.” Pam said Steve Gade, Barry Colacurci, Rick Whitesell, Greg Beebe, Bob Tooker and others also “looked out for me. I had a lot of dads in the company.” Many people who leave Duncan Aviation want to return after working elsewhere, she said. “They don’t realize how good they had it when they were here. It’s the family thing. It’s like people who look out for each other. People at trade shows and conventions have said, ‘I can’t imagine what a great place that is to work for.’ It’s one-of-a-kind.” Bob Tooker started as a night shift mechanic in 1974 at $3.10 an hour — other places were paying about $2 an hour — after graduating from Spartan School of Aeronautics in Tulsa. He said Duncan Aviation had about 75 employees at the time. “It was a small, intimate group and a lot of fun, a lot of camaraderie,” he said. “The fact that we were working on Learjets, King Airs and Beech Barons and Bonanzas was very appealing to me. Plus, I’m a Nebraska native, so it made common sense for me to come back to Lincoln, because we had family close.” The lack of technical data at the time made innovation a requirement, he said. “It was all on-the-job training.” Not long after he started, Duncan Aviation began the Learjet 10-year, 10,000-hour “demate” (short for “dematerialize,” or disassemble) inspection program, and Bob got to work on the project.

“The first two aircraft that I got to supervise were completely disassembled, the engines were removed, the wings were removed, stabilizers, flight controls were all off being inspected, and it was my job to supervise the reassembly,” he said. “It was a very daunting, high-pressure job, because I was responsible and I didn’t have a lot of experience, but we got them back together. Because of the teamwork, we were able to pull together. The inspections turned out to be successful, and we just went on from there.” Many of the other mechanics had military experience, including John Whittington, who had been a top-level sergeant in the Air Force. “I asked John one time why he wasn’t an inspector or a team leader, and he says, ‘You know, I had 30 years in the Air Force doing that. Now I’m just very content to do what I do,’ ” Bob said. “He was very influential in my career.” Mentoring became a formal arrangement as Duncan Aviation grew and adopted professional human resources practices. Bob’s career track — also more informal in those days — made him a “lead man” and eventually a supervisor for Learjet inspections and repairs. Duncan Aviation was good at business basics, too — like making sure paychecks cleared the bank. “That made a big impression on me,” Bob said. “I heard over the years that there were companies where people would get a paycheck and the bank wouldn’t take their check. I would wake up in the morning really excited about going to work, excited about what I was doing, and you know, that goes a long way. I always knew that if you enjoyed what you did, you wouldn’t have to work a day in your life,” Bob said. He said personal connections led to longstanding business relationships. “Another good company that we did a lot of business with was Mutual of Omaha,” Bob said. The insurance company’s chief pilot, Al Holzapfel, might stop in the morning for something routine, like getting air in his plane’s tires.

GETTING THE JOB DONE Darlene Christensen, who scheduled flights, was at her desk one evening when an airplane came in with a bad nose wheel. Chad Doehring, who was running the night shift, told her, “I don’t think this plane is going to go.” “I’m sure you’ll figure out a way for it to go, because Robert needs that plane to go to Mexico tomorrow morning,” Darlene said sweetly. “It was like trying to tell your grandmother no,” Chad said. He and top mechanic Bill Schroeder took the parts they needed from another airplane, fixed the broken wheel and had the plane ready to go at 6 a.m. “It took us all night,” Chad said, “but we made sure it happened.”

“But he’d want one of us to take him to lunch,” Bob recalled. “I ate a lot of pancakes and bacon and eggs with Al and his co-pilot over at Perkins. I think after a while he just got passed around to us mechanics to keep him entertained.”

Service work began to expand in the 1980s when the Lincoln operation became a Cessna dealership and work began on the Swearingen Merlin and Metroliner aircraft. “We started relying more on our maintenance department to do outside customer work, which brought in additional money,” Bob said. “I always felt that I understood what Robert’s dream was, and it was exciting to make that dream come true.

OMAHA WORLD-HERALD

A FRIEND AND CUSTOMER Donald Duncan had a good relationship with Omaha businessman Carl Renstrom, who made a fortune selling Tip-Top hair curlers and other products — and loved airplanes. “Carl was just wonderful,” Betty said. “He was all for you.” He invested in Duncan Aviation to help during difficult times. “Working with Carl went well, but eventually his financial advisors began trying to dictate how the company would be run,” Robert said. Betty said Carl’s advisors were “priming for us to be taken over. I can remember a day Donald came home from the airport and was in tears. He was sure we were going to lose the business.” Instead, Donald contacted a friend in Tennessee who replaced Carl’s investment. “He took Carl out,” Robert said.

“We grew the company, and it wasn’t just one person who did it, it was the whole team working together and all of our contributions that made the company what it is today. It’s been very much a source of pride for me to know what we were when we started and what we are today.” Becoming a Cessna dealer meant expanding the maintenance department, Bob Tooker said. “That was a very interesting period in our time because of the rapid growth. It was very exciting.”

Tom Burt started with Duncan Aviation in June 1979, about a year after he and his wife married. A former flight instructor and A&P (airframe and powerplant) mechanic, he was working with young people at a church in central Iowa and wanted to get back to airplanes. He met with Leo Sawatzki and Monte Cooper and was impressed with the facility’s King Airs, Learjets and Citations. “The hangars and things were very attractive to me.” They hired Tom that day as a beginning jet airframe mechanic, employee No. 150. “Prior to that I didn’t know anything about Duncan Aviation and didn’t have any sense of what the company was about,” he said. Keeping up with the growing workload was a challenge. “I remember Leo saying we have 30 mechanics, but we have work for 40 or 50,” Tom said. “It was a smaller group, but they had a second shift going.” Duncan Aviation soon began a weekend shift, too, making it a nearly round-the-clock shop — unusual in those days but popular with pilots and owners who wanted their aircraft in the air, not waiting for a mechanic. It took years to build the reputation for all-inclusive service that is Duncan Aviation’s trademark today. By 1985 Tom was a marketing representative in Texas and other south-central states.

REPAINTED WITHOUT ARGUMENT Bob Guess of Oklahoma City was a good customer who had Duncan Aviation paint his King Air 200. “He picked out the paint and interior colors,” Bob McCammon said. “We were proud as can be of that airplane.” But when Guess came in to see his plane, he gave it a good look. “It’s the wrong color,” said Guess, darker than what he had ordered. “We didn’t argue,” McCammon said. “We said, ‘Fine, we’ll repaint it.’ ” Guess was pleased when the plane was ready the second time and let everybody know about it. “He’s told that story to hundreds of people that we didn’t argue with him,” McCammon said. “He was a lifetime customer.”

“I’d introduce myself as Tom Burt from Duncan Aviation, and they would kind of look at me like, ‘Yeah, what are you doing here?’ ” he recalled. “Obviously not a lot of people knew who we were at that point.” The company had success in installing avionics in part because of its free loaner policy — sending spare avionics equipment to customers, at no charge, while theirs was being repaired. It was a marketing coup that helped position Duncan Aviation within the increasingly competitive marketplace. “But beyond that, people didn’t know who we were,” Tom said. “That gave me the opportunity to tell the Duncan Aviation story and why they should think about coming to Lincoln.”

In 1990, Duncan Aviation opened a new 20,000-square-foot painting facility in Lincoln that tripled the company’s paint shop capacity.

With Duncan Aviation’s corps of technicians growing, the company added other services. Some of Donald Duncan’s customers needed airplanes painted, so the company added a paint shop. Another advantage was geography. “None of these airplanes could fly east to west or west to east nonstop,” said Ron Hall. “We built a really good fuel business. They were really good, really quick. People would drop in and say, ‘Oh, by the way, can you fix my autopilot?’ “The early days were a little hectic. We worked typically normal hours and a lot of weekends. We got to where we wouldn’t answer the phones at home,” Ron said with a smile. “Robert would show up at the door and say, ‘I need you to come to the airport.’ You couldn’t run; you couldn’t hide.” Duncan Aviation became the master parts distributor for Piper Aircraft in 1985, adding parts capability for Aztecs, Comanches, Twin Comanches, Apaches, Pawnees, Braves and Super Cubs, a growing assortment of popular business aircraft. Although serious problems lay ahead, the future of Duncan Aviation had been set: An emphasis on maintenance that followed customers’ growing use of jets. Lincoln Journal Star, 1971. Below: As aircraft became more complex, Duncan Aviation added capabilities. Research & Development team Don Reeves, left, Rich Teel and Ed Gilmore, with a DATE-1A test set.

“Our customers have grown up,” Robert Duncan said. “They buy bigger and bigger airplanes, so today we have to have bigger and more hangar space. There are fewer and fewer people who can do a quality job of maintaining those aircraft, while our market share continues to grow.”

JOE HUFFMAN SR. SHOWED HIS EXPERTISE AT TROUBLESHOOTING WHEN THE CREW NEEDED TO SLIM DOWN AN AUXILIARY POWER UNIT FOR A GULFSTREAM 550. THEY GOT THE WEIGHT DOWN TO 98 POUNDS:

“With the new one, we built electronic boxes, actually ended up making a computer, and we’re still using the computer today. We have over 100 units out there, and I actually wrote the software for it. Ed Gilmore helped me get set up to do that. It only has 5K of memory … but it’s worked well. We haven’t had any software glitches.”

Competition with smaller shops and with manufacturers continues to this day, he said. Duncan Aviation has top-level certifications that allow it to work on nearly any airplane, including warranty service that also could be done by manufacturers. “We work hard at that, and that’s been an advantage,” Robert said.

Tim Garity was one of the early technical support team members, a department whose work gained recognition as the best in the industry.

Don Fiedler said Robert asked him in 1984 to set up a more advanced, larger technical support group, so he hired Bill Schroeder, Dennis James, Ray Gill, Tim Garity, Ron Grose, Curt Campbell, Larry Troyer, Doyle Garrett, John Noxon and many others.

“If I had to boil it down to maybe a few key things that made Duncan Aviation grow, I would have to say free avionics loaners and tech support,” Don said. “I think Duncan Aviation is very well known for probably providing the best free technical support in the world.” As demand for technicians grew, Southeast Community College in Milford, Nebraska, became a pipeline for Duncan Aviation personnel thanks to the college’s programs in electronics and other aviation-related fields. Duncan Aviation also funds scholarships at the school, and the Karen K. Duncan Scholarship program helps children of team members, some of whom end up working for the company. With Robert in charge, Donald on the phone and technical crews transforming into highly experienced maintenance teams, Duncan Aviation was set to grow further. But a big challenge was on the horizon. 

GLOBAL MARKETING

MANAGEMENT JETS WORLDWIDE debuted in 1967 as a separate company, the creation of Donald and Robert Duncan, Harry Barr, Alex Kvassay and Per Alkaersig. It was connected to Duncan Aviation by ownership and business philosophy — namely, selling as many airplanes as possible and being faithful to its customers. Alex, a former U.S. Army sergeant with a Hungarian law degree, was selling Learjets and Beech aircraft in Wichita when he met Donald through Learjet founder Bill Lear. Per, a former Scandinavian Airlines captain, was selling Cessna and Lear aircraft in Denmark when he met Alex through aviation circles and the Duncans through buying radios and other equipment. The genesis was Donald’s purchase of Management Jets International, a Texas business that had two used Learjets. Sales in Europe were starting to flourish, especially for higher-end aircraft, Per said. “Due to the enormous gap in Europe after the world war, there was a lot of old junk, and people really wanted to buy new airplanes, trading up from propellers to jets.” Alex and Per had the language skills, sales ability and, in Per’s case, pilot experience that meshed perfectly with Donald’s high-energy deal-making. Suddenly Duncan Aviation had a sister company with offices in Paris and Copenhagen. The partners added Alec Couvelaire, president of a French charter company. “Donald and I each put in $20,000,” Alex said. “Couvelaire and Alkaersig put in $10,000 each.” Sales, as the saying goes, took off.

Donald Duncan’s international gatherings. Top: Trade show attendees include, from left, Robert, Todd and Donald Duncan and Alec Couvelaire. Bottom: Donald Duncan, left, and Wayne Juniper on the flight line.

Seated are Harry Barr, Robert Duncan and Alec Couvelaire, with Donald Duncan, standing, second from the left.

Alex got into international airplane sales simply by interviewing for jobs after leaving the military. A Beech Aircraft executive decided it was easier to teach him to fly than to teach languages to a Kansan. “I spoke several languages, and English the bestest,” Alex joked. Even before officially joining with the Duncans, Alex arranged the sale of a Lear 24 to one of Donald’s customers and received an envelope with a $10,000 commission check inside, the first of many.

Alex said Donald was intent on serving his customers, even lending a Learjet for free to a customer for a trip to South America when finishing touches on the man’s jet weren’t done on time due to a parts manufacturer’s delay. “I don’t know anybody else who would do that,” Alex said. “It wasn’t Donald’s fault that the damn thing wasn’t ready.” To avoid some complications, Alex once sold a pair of Learjets through a fictional Kuwaiti named Sheikh Yassavk. Competitors in the sale apparently didn’t catch on that the “sheikh’s” name simply was “Kvassay” spelled backward. Per said Management Jets Worldwide (MJW) was “a very simple company. Everybody worked the same direction. It was very solid, and it was easy with Donald. He was a unique businessman and deal-maker and a friend. He taught me a lot of common business sense. He said to me, ‘Per, you always stick to the deal you make.’ ” Donald might call and say, “Per, go to Montenegro and pick up a Cessna 550 they just paid for. And make sure the paperwork is in order” or, “Fly this King Air C90 to Riyadh and sell it to Sheikh Mohammed.”

“This company brought major international players together. The Duncan family, myself and other aviation personalities banded together to form Management Jets Worldwide.” — ALEX KVASSAY

If a deal fell through, Per said, he’d simply fly the airplane back to Lincoln. “No hard feelings, just routine in Management Jets Worldwide. That was the way he operated.” Another time, Donald had a customer in France who wanted a Falcon 10 owned by a dentist who didn’t want to sell for the customer’s $1.2 million offer. Donald flew to Louisiana to close the deal, Per said. “He said to the doctor, ‘I’m sitting here now and I’m offering $1.2. Tomorrow it’ll be $1.175. The day after tomorrow it’ll be $1.15,’ ” Per said. “That put so much pressure on the man that he broke down and sold it to us. That takes nerves.” There were some side perks to the international arrangement. Management Jets held board of directors meetings in Aspen, Colorado, in 1978 and St. Tropez, on the French Riviera, in 1980. “You see, MJW was a good company to belong to,” Kvassay said. At one point, the company had more than 50 airplanes in inventory or on lease. In 1983, the partners unanimously agreed it was time to end Management Jets Worldwide. Donald had died, and the other owners began to have new priorities. Per continued in the aviation business with a charter company and a cargo airline, which he later sold. Alex had flown across the Atlantic nearly 500 times and the Pacific more than 80 times, but his family was in Wichita and Lincoln. To this day, Per said, the international aviation community knows the Duncan Aviation name. He cites Duncan Aviation’s booths at the annual European Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition, held in Geneva, Switzerland. 

“Robert is the only one who still has the name that fits the company. All the other companies have been sold and re-sold, and you can’t recognize anything anymore. But Robert still sits right in front and he’s Duncan, and the brand is Duncan Aviation. I think that’s unique.” — PER ALKAERSIG

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENTS By the time Donald Duncan died January 18, 1981, he had sold about 450 Learjets, a record that may never be broken. In addition, few pilots can top his 20,000-plus flying hours, and no one would try to match his estimated 70,000 hours of working telephone time — the equivalent of more than eight years of nonstop talking.

“Donald was a person I talked to. If we wanted to bounce ideas off of each other, if you needed advice about something, you’d go sit down and talk about it. “Donald had a unique ability to not hang onto disagreements or arguments. We’d disagree about something, go home at night and be angry at one another. The next day, you’d never know it. He’d start the whole day new. No word was said, and we’d just go on.” — ROBERT DUNCAN

CHAPTER 5

A Death in the Family DONALD DUNCAN AND HARRY BARR had been friends and partners since the 1950s, when they met as airplane-happy young men in rural southwestern Iowa. As their careers developed into Learjet sales, Donald often would sit in the passenger section, making a pitch to the potential buyer, while Harry would be in the cockpit doing the same with the corporate pilot. In January 1981 Donald was at the controls when the two men took off in Florida in a King Air, a turboprop Beechcraft that had become a standard non-jet business aircraft. They flew late into the night, dropping off customers in New Orleans and other mid-flight destinations and ending up at home in Lincoln. It was routine; they had flown together too many times to count. But their trip the next morning would have a profound impact on the Duncan family and on the company that the two men, and many others, had built into a growing, lively part of the nation’s aviation industry. With very little sleep, Harry and Donald, along with Donald’s wife Katie, went back to the Lincoln Airport and loaded up another twin-engine turboprop, this time a Cessna Conquest. They headed to San Diego, where the company had a booth at a helicopter show. They had been invited to a whale-watching excursion in the Pacific Ocean. As the day aboard the boat wore on, Donald didn’t feel well and went below for a nap. The nap didn’t help, Harry recounted later. “He still wasn’t feeling very well, so we decided we’d get in the Conquest and head off.” Donald still felt ill when they arrived at the home of longtime friends Jeff and Betty Jeffries in Carefree, Arizona, just outside Scottsdale. He simply went to bed and didn’t think of going to a doctor, Harry said, because “that wasn’t his style.” They found Donald the next morning. Harry tried CPR, but it was no use. Donald Duncan was dead of a heart attack at age 58.

Donald Duncan obituary

“I’m sure he never expected to see me as a daughterin-law. I was like one of his own children. One time — I was in my 20s and married — he traded an airplane for a big gold Cadillac, a huge thing with big fins on it. He said, ‘This one’s for you,’ and I drove around in this big hog of a Cadillac.” — KAREN DUNCAN

Duncan family members gather at the Aspen Airport in 1979. Paige, left, Kathryn, Ian and Todd are in front; standing are Robert, Karen, Donald, Katie, Michael Thompson holding Eric, Dorothy Kent (Karen’s mother), Dianne and Brian holding Sean.

“If he could have been saved, Harry would have saved him,” daughter Kathryn Duncan said. “He was too young, too much life left, too much everything left in him. We had already purchased the bank in Clarinda, which he wanted more than anything else at that point in his life.” Kathryn wondered why her father had to die but eventually realized that if Donald had been revived, he might have been incapacitated. “He could not live in a wheelchair, unable to fly his own plane,” she said. “So he died peacefully with Harry there, and Katie. He had flown 16 hours the day before. He was meant to die.” Robert was in bed in Lincoln when he got the call. “I always tell people, my dad lived and worked for 58 years, but for anybody else it would have been equal to 110 or 120 years,” he said. “He just lived so hard and worked so hard that I think it took a toll on him.” The family and the company team members were deeply shocked and saddened, but the Duncan Aviation marketing crew had to stay in San Diego to work the booth at the helicopter show, recalled Ron Hall, a longtime team member. “We learned after the fact that Donald had been working 24 hours many days with only naps, combined with too many time zones. Long days, short nights,” Ron said. Betty Duncan said Donald had battled high cholesterol for years, and his work habits were legendary: long hours and rapid-fire meetings, non-stop telephone conversations and travel. “We were raised eating pounds of butter and steak, every day if you wanted to,” Betty said. Robert called Dianne and asked to talk to her husband, Brian, whose mother had died just two days earlier. “I yelled back to Brian to get on the phone, but I didn’t hang up,” Dianne said. “It was a horrible thing. You don’t expect to lose your dad when you are 32, especially when you have two parent funerals in one week. We had one on Monday and one on Wednesday.”

Brian’s mother had been ill for a year, but Donald’s death was a shock. “I wouldn’t be surprised if Dad hadn’t had a few little heart attacks beforehand,” Dianne said. “He drove himself pretty hard. He was very Type A, very stressed.” Karen Duncan was at the airport when Harry brought her father-in-law’s body back to Lincoln. “I’ll never forget it,” she said. “Harry is taking Donald off the airplane. The body is on the stretcher and Harry’s talking to Donald the whole time. He’s saying, ‘Now just be calm, we’ll get you off here,’ that kind of thing. I just thought it was amazing. I think that’s kind of how Harry controlled his loss.” A few days later, the family and many others gathered as Donald Duncan was buried in Clarinda, his hometown. “It was a beautiful day,” Karen recalled. “The timing was perfect. We were all standing around the grave, a couple hundred people. This little airplane starts circling over the sky and you can hear it. I thought that was all just happenstance, but it was well-planned, and it was beautiful.” Donald was known for being on the telephone almost constantly and had gotten one of the earliest mobile telephones so he could stay in close contact with customers and friends. “They buried his telephone with him,” Karen said. “He wore certain cologne. He wore a lot of it, and that phone smelled just like Donald.” The phone was with him in case he needed to make a call, said Pam Orr, senior travel and trade show coordinator. Kathryn said Donald was “totally unprepared to die,” and his estate was in “horrible” shape. “We couldn’t find things, and he had lots of companies.” She was tasked with figuring it all out. “Robert was kind enough to allow me to do all the paperwork, and I loved it,” she said. “I felt what I was doing was connected to Dad. I was still a part of his life.”

ROBERT IS LIKE HIS FATHER IN MANY WAYS:

“I love adventure. I love new things.” — ROBERT DUNCAN

Donald’s legacy at Duncan Aviation carries on in many ways. “He was able to delegate things to me, turn them over and let me do them and trust me that I would make good judgments,” Robert said. “He was certainly consulted on some of those things, but he really trusted me to manage the business so he could focus all his time on selling. That ability to delegate is something that I have carried forward, and it happens now throughout our company. Managers help people grow to be successful.” The family and the business struggled to push ahead without Donald — Robert called it a “crisis time.” Everything the family and the employees knew had changed, and the business was changing, too.

Trade shows are important times for Duncan Aviation, attended (above) by Kent Kussatz, left, and Kevin McGinn and (below) Ron Hall, left, and Kent, second from right.

Sales throughout corporate aviation were getting tougher, because so many customers already owned aircraft. More critically, the nation fell into a recession in 1981 as the Federal Reserve raised interest rates to battle inflation. Prices started slowing from their rapid pace, impacting commissions and profits. Without its founder, Duncan Aviation no longer had its biggest generator of plane sales. “They hired five salesmen to take his place, which says a lot about the way he was and what he did,” Dianne said. Robert was 38 when his father died. “All of a sudden he was CEO and owner of the company,” business consultant Bob Beale said. But Beale noted that Robert was already converting Duncan Aviation to a service organization. “That was really a coup on his part,” Beale said. “He did a masterful job of building that company.” Maintenance and other services for business aviation were taking precedence over sales. It’s interesting to consider how the company would have been different if Donald had lived longer.

“Selling is only half the deal,” Robert said, but Donald might have moved into something else related to his love of flying, exercising his entrepreneurial muscle once again. Robert’s daughter, Paige, said her father “carried it through the hardest time humanly possible, and I don’t know what would have happened if he and Donald would have had to do it together. I’m kind of glad that they didn’t have to do that, because I don’t think it would have been easy.” Pam Orr said she thinks Duncan Aviation would have followed the same general pathway. “Even if Donald was still chairman, he would’ve listened to Robert,” she said. “I think our sales department might have had more influence if Donald was still around those years after, but then again, maybe not.” Customers were becoming less inclined to spend money on new planes, choosing instead to update their older ones — bad news for Duncan Aviation’s aircraft sales. “But it also turned the business around to where we are more oriented toward maintenance than aircraft sales,” Pam said.

Without Donald Duncan, the company relied even more on its team members. In 1981, the customer service team was (above, front row) Denny Bartunek, left, Joanne Hoffman, Don Heinlein and Dyan Bonelli and (back row) Pam Orr, left, Ron Hall, Kent Kussatz, Kevin McGinn, Marcia Buck and Wendy Merlin. The accounting department, from left, front row, Lorna Linkugel and Lois Evans; middle row, Marla Woudenberg, Teresa Purcell and Joni Kaltenberger; back row, Marge Riemann, Denise Tavis, Bob Barry and Bonnie Melis.

Whatever Donald would have done, the business would have changed, said Ron Hall. “We went from a sales department support company to a bona fide aircraft service company with profit center responsibilities.” Executive Steve Gade said the shift to service was “a function of survival.” Duncan Aviation’s sales operation now is almost a consulting business, helping customers buy or sell aircraft. Companies that emphasized only sales either haven’t grown or aren’t around anymore, Steve said. “They certainly don’t have the business Duncan Aviation does.” Veteran Board of Advisors member John Nelson said change was fundamental.

“Robert was an absolute genius in that he took the service business, which was not their principal business, and he completely reconstructed the company,” John said. “He recognized the opportunity, because of the high cost of new aircraft, of refurbishing, rebuilding, putting new engines on, all that kind of thing. And today, of course, I think they are probably the No. 1 privately owned aircraft maintenance company in the world.” Robert and Rob Warner, who became general manager, knew Duncan Aviation had to hire more service people and expand to more airplanes besides Beechcraft, Cessna and Learjet, such as Dassault’s Falcon business jets.

“Donald and I are both risk-takers. Donald was more of a risk-taker than I am.” — ROBERT DUNCAN, BELOW

As it was, longtime salesman Bob McCammon said, “Donald’s death happened at the worst possible time, with all that inventory. I think if he would have been alive for those next several years, we probably could have gotten rid of it faster. Donald could have figured out how to get rid of the airplanes.” Excess inventory? That’s a part of Duncan Aviation’s history that could have brought the company down. 

THE PLAN TO REDUCE DEBT BY SELLING OFF AIRCRAFT AT A LOSS LIKELY ORIGINATED WITH THE LATE DUANE ACKLIE, A LINCOLN BUSINESSMAN AND MEMBER OF THE FIRST BOARD OF ADVISORS. AFTER THE FIRE SALE, SALESMAN BOB MCCAMMON SAID:

“We were a lot more cautious on what we were doing when buying, selling airplanes.”

CHAPTER 6

Weathering a Financial Storm BETTY DUNCAN DID THE calculation, and it wasn’t pretty. Duncan Aviation in 1981 had a fleet of unsold, mortgaged Learjets and other business aircraft that was costing $10,000 a day, with interest rates soon topping 20 percent because Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker had resolved to “break the back of inflation.” The nationwide financial crisis almost broke Duncan Aviation, and Robert Duncan was the CEO who had to find a way through it. “We’ve heard stories of Robert and Karen having to go to the bank and deposit money to make payroll, back when we had 100 or fewer people,” said executive Steve Gade. “I know there were times when people didn’t know if they were going to get a paycheck.” Robert called Karen to have lunch one day at the Lincoln Exchange restaurant and was almost in tears about a possible failure. “I don’t know if we’re going to make it,” he told her. Karen was an emotional fortress during those trying days, keeping both Robert and the family on track. “I slept,” he said later. “She didn’t.” The grim news was a sharp contrast to the previous decade. The return of Donald Duncan, who had worked temporarily for Gates Learjet, had helped launch a period of growth and expansion before his untimely death. During that period, Duncan Aviation was no longer a Learjet dealer but still was buying as much as 10 percent of Lear’s new production on credit, speculating that rising aircraft prices would more than make up for interest costs that had been more reasonable at the time.

Flight operations continued in 1981, but cancelled orders and parked aircraft hurt revenue.

Duncan Aviation also borrowed to buy used airplanes wholesale, hoping to make money by leasing them for up to 24 months and then selling them for more than the original price. Businesses wanted Learjets, and Donald had them. “He’d fly one to Florida and deliver it,” Ron Hall said. “And his parting words were, ‘When I get back, I’ll take you all out for a steak dinner.’ Everybody is still waiting for that steak dinner, and it was promised probably dozens of times. But he would light it up and go and very rarely had problems with the sales in the early days.” Duncan Aviation rode that speculative cycle to strong earnings and growth. The company got a boost from its technicians installing radio equipment, adding value and making the planes easier to sell. International sales added to the mix. Avionics, aircraft engine maintenance and other services grew in importance as sales slumped.

As revenue rose in the 1970s, Robert improved internal operations. He started meeting regularly with employees, encouraging them to come directly to him with opportunities or concerns. What began as gripe sessions soon turned into lively exchanges of profitable ideas. “I always stressed quality work, a fair price, a positive attitude and good housekeeping,” Robert said. Among the people promoted into management was Betty’s stepson, Rob Warner, who joined the company in 1978 and later became executive vice president and general manager, in charge of day-to-day operations.

Robert Duncan named Rob Warner as executive vice president and general manager.

As the 1970s drew to a close, Duncan Aviation’s results were at a peak, and another hangar was added to support the growing number of airplanes it was handling. The company sold 71 aircraft in 1979, including more than 50 jets and turboprops, and sales neared $90 million in 1980. Duncan Aviation had sold about 450 Learjets. The company also leased out 27 aircraft in 1979 with a value of $35 million. The balance sheet seemed strong, debt was viewed by bankers as conservative, and the tax system allowed depreciation and investment tax credits to boost profits. In 1981, employment reached about 200, but troubling signs began to appear.

With a new hangar due to open, Duncan Aviation’s base in Lincoln was ready when the economy turned around.

The oil crisis that began in 1973 had frightened the aircraft industry at first but didn’t affect sales significantly. But a second crisis in 1978 doubled fuel costs, and that same year, the government deregulated the airline industry. Robert said the company failed to recognize that the resulting lower commercial air fares would negate some private aviation advantages. Ron Hall said there was debate within the company about buying more Learjets and other aircraft on speculation. It seemed that whenever Donald managed to sell one of the planes, a new one would arrive from the manufacturer, along with a hefty mortgage. By 1981, with Donald gone, Volcker’s war on inflation had ruined the market for speculative aircraft ownership. Orders for Learjets were canceled. Buyers didn’t respond to the usual sales pitches, even at reduced prices. Businesses cut costs, dropped aviation plans and often just parked their planes. But Duncan Aviation still owed money on its fleet. “We had to watch carefully to see if it would bankrupt us or not,” Ron said.

Aircraft services gained importance, but the “fire sale” strategy ate up much of the company’s financial reserves.

Betty Duncan said she knew Robert was “desperate, in a bad situation,” and she had doubts he could get through it. She once told him, “It won’t hurt my feelings if you decide to sell the business.” Donald’s larger-than-life personality often had made sales happen through sheer force of will and personal magnetism. His death severely cut aircraft sales, the company’s foundation. The company was not prepared for declining sales and the narrowed profit margins that resulted from ballooning operating costs during the boom years of the 1970s.

Lincoln Journal Star, June 2, 1985.

Robert said he mistakenly believed that business aviation would recover when interest rates fell, slightly, and the economy picked up. For a time, Duncan Aviation held onto its aircraft inventory, trying to recover its costs, and even expanded into Texas with a Piper turboprop franchise — a poor decision, Robert said later. Instead of improving, the outlook darkened. Nationally, more than 17,000 new business aircraft were sold in 1978 and in 1979. By 1985, that figure was down to about 2,000 — nearly a 90 percent drop. Sales topped $3 billion in 1981 and were half that in 1985. Three of the 12 aircraft manufacturers in the 1970s had been sold or closed, and only two were considered to be in good financial shape. Most were bought by larger companies. Many big-business managers made tough, bottom-line decisions, and company planes were popular targets for cuts, creating an oversupply of used aircraft. Technological advances, which earlier had added to aviation’s charm and usefulness, slowed and no longer boosted sales. Instead, the expensive new equipment made the airplanes seem pricey. Duncan Aviation’s revenues were cut in half from 1980 to 1985. Three of those years were profitable, but two were not — merely breaking even for the five-year period. Lincoln Journal Star, March 8, 1985.

The service business also suffered. “There were a lot of days when we didn’t have anything to work on in the shop,” said then-maintenance supervisor Tom Burt. “We painted a lot of things and cleaned a lot of things. I’m honestly surprised that Robert kept us as long as he did.” The long-term solution wasn’t fun, but it saved the company and taught Duncan Aviation a hard lesson: Debt equals danger. “It was awful,” Robert said. “It was the toughest time that our organization has ever endured.” He had joined the Young Presidents Organization — “one of the best things I’ve ever done for business and friendship relationships” — and attended a Harvard University conference on family-owned businesses. “Bob Vlasic from Vlasic Pickles stood up and said that as a private company, you really must have an outside board of directors,” Robert said. “He gave a lot of examples. So when Donald died, I pretty quickly formed an outside board. “Pretty soon after that, I think we must have had $30-plus million dollars in inventory, mostly these new Learjets. It was nearly all debt, although I had built up some equity, about $12 million. Maybe the equity didn’t show on the balance sheet, but I had some wiggle room there.” The new Board of Advisors told Robert what he had to do. Omaha businessman John Nelson, a member of that first board, was in the same pickle, having just bought a bank with borrowed money. “We shared a common terror,” John said. “You could look forward, and there was no way to generate enough money to meet that interest if this was going to last four or five years. It was awful. I mean, you just couldn’t sleep. You’d sit there trying to figure how to get another hundred grand, and I know he was in the same situation.” The solution for Duncan Aviation would be costly. “We said, ‘Look, we’ll fire-sale this inventory and take an immediate loss of $10 to $15 million by selling it for about 50 cents on the dollar,’ ” John recalled. “Having done that, we could look at the cash flow off maintenance and see that Robert could dig his way out of it, which is precisely what he did. The board really changed the direction of the company.” “I probably would not have done that myself, but it was the right advice,” Robert said. “It was a terrible time. We lost our best salesman, so we started shifting focus toward service. Most importantly, we committed to becoming more creative in defining, then implementing, new products and services to meet the needs of a substantially different market.”

BOARD MEMBER AND FRIEND Omaha businessman John Nelson and Robert Duncan knew each other from the Young Presidents Organization and became better acquainted when John bought a Cessna Conquest in the 1970s and later looked for another airplane. John, a member of the first Board of Advisors, noted that Robert claimed not to be a good salesman. “I bought the plane from Robert,” John said. “I said, ‘I think you are a pretty good salesman.’ We had a decent friendship before that, but over the past 40 years we’ve been really close friends.”

It was difficult to make money on Learjet sales, because Duncan Aviation had no official arrangement with the manufacturer beyond being an authorized service center. “But you take care of a customer that is loyal to you, and you’re helping them make the deal,” Robert said. “Whether we made any money on the second or third sale, it doesn’t matter, because it’s taking care of a relationship, taking care of friends, customers who have become friends.” By 1986, positive things began to happen. Perceptive people in Duncan Aviation’s service division continued adding new services and new customers. That year, the service side earned more profit than the sales division for the first time in company history. While sales struggled from 1980 to 1986, service nearly doubled its annual revenue. Margins improved and revenue was less volatile, because the customer list grew to thousands of accounts.

As the 1980s recession eased, Duncan Aviation tried to revive its new aircraft sales, buying dealerships for Cessna and Fairchild aircraft and opening an office in Canada. Both moves turned out to be mistakes, Robert said, because aircraft sales were declining.

“We went on to grow the avionics shop,” Ron Hall said. “The instrument shop helped, and then the engine shop came along, and that’s when we went into what we called the south hangar.” It was a classic business scenario of finding opportunity in adversity. Ideas came forth as the company struggled: Leverage expertise in avionics; make the slow-moving parts inventory into a business; convert hourly rates to flat rates to match customers’ budgets; move ahead with new equipment when possible; adopt newly emerging business computer software; emphasize direct service marketing; support customers with technical service representatives.

Duncan Aviation’s growing service areas required more and bigger hangars, shown in this 1986 drawing.

Ron Grose managed the vital Falcon project in 1981, the same year the company touted Ed Gilmore’s Apple II-powered avionics testing innovation.

TRIAL AND ERROR Executive Jeannine Falter cited some of Duncan Aviation’s unsuccessful operations: • A Florida satellite maintenance facility opened in 1988 and closed in 1992. • Aviation fixed-base software, called ASAP, was sold only from 1981 to 1991. • A method to remove paint from aircraft using high pressure and plastic beads lasted from 1986 to 1989. • A partnership with Italian aircraft manufacturer Piaggio for custom paint and interior for the P-180 turboprop aircraft was short-lived. • Alliance Engines, a joint venture, ended after a series of losses. Yet, Jeannine said, each venture showed the company’s willingness to try new things and venture into the forefront of technology and business.

Duncan Aviation’s trade show displays, including this 1983 version, became state-of-the-art and featured employees as the source of its success.

With expanding lines of business launched, Robert decentralized the company’s profit centers, teaching managers how to track costs and revenues and encouraging them to make and implement decisions. The company tolerated mistakes, he said, as long as they resulted in policies to avoid repeating those mistakes. In summary: Invest now and reap the benefits later.

By 1986, all of Duncan Aviation’s profit centers were, in fact, profitable. Many employees had new jobs and renewed enthusiasm. “Duncan Aviation is regarded by its peers as an innovator, and our respect within the industry has never been higher,” Robert told team members that year. He took further steps to improve the business internally, staffing a full-time, professional personnel department for the first time. Human resource leaders looked at wages paid in the industry to be certain that Duncan Aviation’s pay and benefits reflected the quality of employees it wanted to attract and retain. Managers told employees what was expected and evaluated them on the results, encouraging respect for the individual and open communications. The HR Department stressed hiring and training local employees, taking advantage of the Midwest’s strong work ethic and local family ties. Today, the average team member is about 42 years old and has nearly 12 years of service. Betty Duncan, before her death in 2015, said Robert deserves the credit for making Duncan Aviation what it became. “We would have never grown beyond sales,” she said. “There would have been no new divisions, no buildings or anything else without him. He had a good business head on him, and he loves people, and he’s good to people. Donald would be so proud if he could see it now.”  Robert Duncan’s 1987 recognition for corporate leadership by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and his 1989 selection as chairman of the Nebraska Arts Council stemmed from his emphasis on community networking.

DEVELOPING CAREERS

JEANNINE FALTER’S “accidental career in aviation” helps explain one of Duncan Aviation’s basic strengths: career development. The small-town Nebraskan studied textile science and design at the University of Nebraska with a minor in business and then moved to Tucson with her husband to study industrial design and graphic arts at the University of Arizona. Acting upon a professor’s suggestion, Jeannine got a job at Gates Learjet in 1978. “I had no intention of being in aviation, but I loved the design aspect of it,” she said.

Jeannine’s interiors team included Dennis Ganser, left, Matt Spain, Mike Harris and Mike Winters.

Jeannine Falter, at left, shows one of her hand-drawn designs to customers and discusses plans with Ken Drake, above. “You lived and breathed Duncan Aviation,” she said. Mid-career, she shifted to management training, focusing on relationships and dealing with people.

COMFORT AND STYLE Interior aircraft safety became a bigger issue after the fiery 1985 New Year’s Eve crash of a private plane carrying singer Ricky Nelson and his band. “That really heightened the awareness of materials in the cabin, whether they’re toxic when they’re burning,” Jeannine Falter said.

She met Donald and Robert Duncan when they visited Tucson to oversee the design of the airplanes they were buying. They had Bob McCammon offer her a job in 1981 as part of an expansion of the paint and interior departments in Lincoln. Jeannine joined Duncan Aviation’s small design shop and met with each Learjet buyer. “We interacted with engineering and production and the upholstery shop, the cabinet shop and all the departments that actually build what we designed.” She was “thrilled” that Robert shifted the company’s emphasis from sales to service in 1981.

She was able to combine her textile science background with industrial design to find ways for people to sit comfortably and safely in small places. “How do you create a space that works, that’s as comfortable as it can be?” she said. “That was especially an issue for Learjets, which are notorious for being uncomfortable.”

“I went on aircraft sales trips to discuss any modifications to the aircraft that the potential buyer might want to make,” she said. “It was exciting, and seemed like there was a new challenge every day. I absolutely loved that. “My shoulders still have divots in them from schlepping large duffel bags of carpet, fabric and leather samples to customer meetings. There were many, many late nights doing time-consuming color illustrations of the designs. This was before computer-aided design, so all of the exterior paint and interior design illustrations were original drawings.” Department managers wore many hats in those days, Jeannine said. “As manager of the paint and interior departments, I was salesperson, personnel manager, did performance reviews, billing and quotes for customers. There was a very entrepreneurial spirit to it.

At left, top to bottom: Ken Drake, Dennis Ganser and Mary Stephens Bill. Below and facing page: Jeannine Falter sketches.

JEANNINE ENJOYED WORKING ON PLANES FOR THE LATE OILMAN T. BOONE PICKENS:

“Through the years, we were on the leading edge of many interior modifications and were figuring it out on our own, from window shades and coffee makers to new cabinets and seating,” she said. “Early on, we used contract engineers to meet federal certification standards, until we grew enough to need our own in-house engineers.” Eventually the Federal Aviation Administration recognized Duncan Aviation’s engineering expertise and authorized in-house certifications, officially Organization Designation Authorizations.

“T. Boone had really short legs. He spent like $20,000 modifying the lavatory seat to lower it.” — JEANNINE FALTER

“Those are the differentiators that make Duncan Aviation amazing and allow us to continue to be innovative,” Jeannine said. “The whole innovation idea — really smart people figuring out how we are going to solve a problem or make something work — is embedded in the company. That entrepreneurial spirit really lives in every single one of us.” Jeannine, who completed a doctorate while serving on the Senior Team, retired from the company in 2016 but continues to teach the leadership and career advancement classes that she created for the company and is a member of the Board of Advisors. “Duncan Aviation is definitely part of my family,” she said, “so in some way, shape or form, I will always be connected to the organization.” 

73 81

How many airplanes did Harry Barr have? “That’s a secret,” he said, although he admitted to owning five aerobatic planes, including a Bonanza, a Hiperbipe, a One Design and an Eagle. “Too many toys, not enough time.” 82

CHAPTER 7

Flying High LET’S STEP BACK IN TIME to share one of Duncan Aviation’s enduring sagas, the story of Harry Barr. One day in early 1952, Tom Barr settled his brand-new Piper Super Cub into an Iowa alfalfa field, a short hop from his Iowa home, to visit his aunt and uncle and his 17-year-old cousin Harry at their dairy farm near Clarinda. Tom, a contractor from Osceola, used his airplane to scope out road projects. “I conned him into giving me an airplane ride,” said Harry. “I was sitting behind him, in the back seat. He let me grab ahold of the stick, and I found out that I could make this thing do something. I got hooked.” More than a half-century later, Duncan Aviation employees cheered when Harry, the pilot extraordinaire, was introduced at company gatherings. They tell stories burnished into the stuff of legend: Helicoptering power poles in Alaska, plucking daredevils off motorcycles with a rope ladder dangling from a Piper Cub, circling above veterans’ funerals in his P-51 Mustang, taking off from short runways and staying humble about it all.

HARRY BARR, 1935-2020 Harry taught me to fly. He gave me my first flying job. He showed me what adventure was all about. Harry came to the office every day until the end, years after I had stopped coming in. He was “a pilot’s pilot” and survived way more than nine lives. He was a partner. He was loyal. He was like a brother. Everyone looked up to Harry. He will be missed. Tailwinds, Harry. — ROBERT DUNCAN

As a young man, Harry had saved enough from his job with the town plumber, plus $2,000 from his father, to buy his own 1950 Pacer PA-20. “When I finally got my airplane, I gave my dad a ride and my mother a ride.” Aviation quickly became the major force in Harry’s life. “I haven’t been back to the farm since, except to visit.” Harry’s friendship and business alliance with Donald Duncan began in 1954 — after he had been turned down for a driving job at Duncan Motors by Darlene Christensen, who thought he was too young for the responsibility of transporting autos. Along the way, Harry played key roles in Duncan Aviation’s development, including a time as a one-third partner in the business, and added an aura of adventure and fun to its history.

Harry with Jack Ager, right. Jack and his wife, Bunny, managed the Argosy program in Alaska for Duncan Aviation.

“Harry would never do anything that wasn’t up-and-up, as far as Dad was concerned,” said Donald’s daughter Dianne Duncan Thomas. “Dad brought him along, let him live in our house, got him this job, and welcomed him into our company at some point.” Harry made the most of the opportunities. In the late 1950s, Donald sold a Beechcraft Travelair — and later a Twin Bonanza and still later a Beech G18S — to E.A. Callaway of Walnut Grove Products, a livestock feed company in Atlantic, Iowa. Harry agreed to be Walnut Grove’s pilot. “Then I was a real corporate pilot flying a Twin Beech for those folks,” Harry said. “And through all the traveling that I did for Walnut Grove, I ended up getting a helicopter bug.” Harry borrowed Duncan Aviation partner Bob Graf’s Brantley B-2 chopper to earn a helicopter rating.

“We used to have a spiral staircase that took you up to the sales department. I looked over and here’s Harry, walking on his hands down the spiral staircase, and then onto the floor. Yeah, he was a character.” — PAM ORR

In 1962, he heard about a government plan to contract helicopters to haul equipment to five Minuteman Missile bases being built in remote parts of Nebraska, North Dakota, Montana and South Dakota. “I took the liberty of making a few contacts and phone calls, because I had a helicopter license.”

Harry’s five Argosy cargo transports delivered freight and firefighting support people for the Bureau of Land Management in Alaska starting in 1967.

With Donald as co-founder and financing help from Omaha businessman and family friend Carl Renstrom, Harry started a helicopter business under the name Panhandle Aviation, since some of the missiles would be installed in the Nebraska Panhandle. When he won the helicopter contract with the Air Force, Harry moved to Cheyenne, Wyoming, where the missile operation was headquartered. Harry and Donald bought the last production of Bell J2 piston-powered helicopters and hired a cadre of civilian pilots. “I ended up with at least 15 Bell J2s and J2A-type helicopters on all five of those Minuteman Missile wings,” Harry said. He worked under a contract with Boeing. When that ended, he moved to Alaska for a contract with the U.S. Department of the Interior. There, he arranged for large four-engine turboprop Argosy air transports to carry fuel and cargo for firefighters, plus helicopters to deliver poles to teams installing power lines across wilderness areas.

Robert Duncan said Panhandle Aviation brought in steady, vital revenue to the Duncan family businesses. “We did really well, and we’ve done a number of things through the years in the helicopter business, but eventually we tailed down at the end and we sold the helicopters,” he said. “Panhandle Aviation” still existed as a legal corporation, so Harry, Donald and Robert used it as a holding company when they bought the community bank in Clarinda. The name switched to Bank Iowa when its headquarters moved to West Des Moines years later. Harry was a member of the bank’s board of directors.

“In those days, people just weren’t buying Learjets. You really had to go out and sell them — demos, demos, demos until we were blue in the face. A lot of people were scared, you know, and money was scarce then.” — HARRY BARR

He also managed to become a dealer for Hughes Helicopters. “I found a little Hughes 269 up in Culver City, California, while on a trip once, and signed up to be a dealer,” Harry said. “When I came back, I told Robert and Donald. They said, ‘Great idea,’ so we’re good.” It was one of several businesses that Harry and Donald formed over a period of more than 25 years. Like Donald, Harry knew Learjet inventor Bill Lear well and became the 17th Learjet-rated pilot in the world. He was there when Donald became one of the first six Learjet dealers. “Bill Lear was looking for a way to market his airplane, and Bob Graf, Donald Duncan and I all held his hand, so he took good care of us,” Harry said. “We all got the territories that we wanted and, early on, the airplanes.”

Harry became the 17th pilot qualified to fly Learjets on March 17, 1965.

Harry was the pilot when Donald took possession of his first Learjet, stopping in Aspen, Colorado, to pick up Donald’s wife, Betty, who had been skiing with friends.

“If you had a Learjet, you didn’t worry about anything. No cloud was too tall, no weather was too bad for a Learjet.” — HARRY BARR

OVERCOMING OBSTACLES When Learjets were new, one crashed in Michigan after an electrical failure in bad weather. “We had a tremendous hurdle to jump over,” Harry said. “That was bad publicity for the early jet program. That’s when we kept demoing.” “We worked that much harder,” Darlene Christensen said.

After Harry landed the Learjet, someone from the airport told him that the runway was too short for the plane, Betty recalled. “Harry was going to show those guys, and I think we took off at this angle, straight up. We brought it home without paint or seating, just a bench or something. I was sitting back there holding on to whatever I could find.” “The Learjet was the answer,” Harry said, because it could outperform all other civilian aircraft. “The Learjet was just a natural fit, fun, easy, did everything you asked it to and lots more.” Harry frequently demonstrated the jets to Donald’s sales prospects. “I delivered a lot of airplanes in Europe,” Harry said. “Over time, I had my share of Atlantic crossings.” Harry recalled that by the mid-1970s, “Donald had inventory that wouldn’t quit, 20 or 22 jets, and a bank debt that you couldn’t believe. As time went on, 1979, things started going downhill in the airplane world, and maybe a lot of businesses.” Harry didn’t agree with Robert’s “fire sale” plan and knew that Robert’s business philosophy was different from his and Donald’s. “Neither Donald nor I ever went to college, and we were lucky to graduate from high school, I think. Robert was the main man and doing it his way, and I could see we were gonna be at odds if I wasn’t careful.”

“I used to be in awe, before I bought my airplane, when this guy (Donald) Duncan was a Pontiac-Cadillac dealer, and he had a cigar that was always this long, and he’d come taxiing in with his 170 Cessna. I thought, ‘Man alive, I’d love to have one of those.’ ” — HARRY BARR

One day in the early 1980s, Harry decided it was time for them to talk. “I said, ‘Hey, Robert, you do things a little bit different than we used to in the old days. Why don’t you just take me out?’ ” Harry recalled. “And, long story short, he did.” Harry’s role as a partner ended in 1983, putting ownership of Duncan Aviation entirely in the family’s hands. “I was an employee, and my responsibility was flight department and looking after training, delivering airplanes and so forth,” Harry said. The new arrangement was amicable, and Harry told Robert, “Oh, by the way, I’ll stay and help you as long as you want me to, but show me the door when you are tired of me being around.” Robert never did.

“There are airplanes out there that I haven’t flown and would be fun to fly, but I don’t think I’m gonna get many invitations at this vintage anymore,” Harry said. “So, I’ll just be happy with what I did. We’re required to keep track of our hours, and 30,450 was my last tabulation.”

“I’ve ridden a motorcycle from here to Deadhorse, Prudhoe Bay in Alaska, and clear to Panama. It’s just freedom, looking around, seeing things, going anywhere or doing anything you want to do, whatever you can think of. Bikes are a fun way to tour, if it ain’t raining or snowing.” — HARRY BARR. BEFORE HIS DEATH, HE RECEIVED AN EARLY COPY OF THIS BOOK AND READ PORTIONS WITH FAMILY MEMBERS.

As for selling the airplanes at a loss, Harry later admitted, “He was right, and Donald and I were wrong. I didn’t like to see the airplanes given away, so to speak. But Robert saw the need to get rid of the inventory, and he did it his way and it was the right way.” Revenue from Harry’s other aviation ventures helped right the ship at Duncan Aviation, and he went on to celebrate his 60th anniversary with the Duncan family businesses. Robert and CEO Aaron Hilkemann had pledged that he would always have a place at Duncan Aviation. Chandy Barr Clanton as a stunt pilot and below with her brother, J.B.; father, Harry; and Donald Duncan.

There were hard times. His daughter, Chandy Barr Clanton, an experienced pilot, was killed when her aerobatics plane crashed near Tarkio, Missouri, on July 10, 2009, during practice for an air show. She also was president of Bank Iowa Corporation, owned by Harry and the Duncan family. Bank Iowa established a Spirit of Chandy Scholarship for students in the bank’s Iowa communities. Harry’s connections to the Duncan family went far beyond business. “Harry was devoted to my dad,” Kathryn Duncan said. “Harry was devoted to me. Robert considered Harry a brother. Robert would do anything for Harry. Harry would do anything for Robert.” Harry once sent checks to members of the Duncan family, proceeds from the Panhandle Aviation days and businesses with Donald. Kathryn spent the money on a party for family members.

“We had huge amounts of drinks, huge amount of hors d’oeuvres, huge dinners, huge desserts and after-dinner drinks, and left a huge tip,” she said. “Dad was a huge tipper, way beyond what anyone tipped in those days. I thought, that’s what Dad would have done, and that’s Dad’s money.” Dianne bought a painting with baby goats on it, reminiscent of her grandparents’ collection of farm animals. “Whenever I look at it, that’s Dad’s last gift to me. If it was Panhandle Aviation, it was either Dad and Harry, or Dad, Robert and Harry.” For all his business activities, flying remained Harry’s passion until his death in July 2020 at age 85. In interviews for this book, Harry said he would come to the office every morning “to convince people that I’m busy doing something” but would end up flying every day if time and the weather allowed — sometimes upside down. “I’ve only got about four airplanes that I use for upside-down flying,” he said. “I’m about done with the air show program, though. I think people are trying to tell me that at my age I ought to knock off the air show return. So, I may take their advice.”

Harry with Robert Duncan and Darlene Christensen, above, and in front of his legendary Piper Cub with Todd Duncan, below. He taught flying to many family members and was known to be generous with special appearances of his P-51 Mustang.

Even so, he remained fascinated with flying of any kind. “I was fortunate to get a ride on a Concorde once,” Harry said. “I had to go pick up an airplane over in Europe, and we went on the Concorde to get it. It was a fun experience. Before you know it, we were doing Mach 1.8 or something, maybe as high as 2.3.” And he was intrigued by private companies’ plans to let civilians ride rockets into space. “Wow!” he said. “That would be special.” 

1991 Pro Pilot FBO Contest Specialist Winner: Best Avionics Shop, Duncan Aviation, Lincoln (above) and Best Maintenance Shop, Duncan Aviation, Lincoln (right)

CHAPTER 8

From Shoes to Satellites SOMETIMES GREAT IDEAS emerge when you just listen. Karen Duncan was shopping for shoes at the Hovland-Swanson store in Lincoln one day in the early 1980s. Husband Robert began talking to the shoe department manager. “It’s not really a Hovland-Swanson department,” the manager told him. “We just rent spaces in department stores. We’re a separate company, just buying and selling shoes.” He explained that the arrangement freed Hovland-Swanson from dealing with shoe inventory, attracted customers who were there to buy other things and gave the store some rent. All the store had to provide was space. The shoe company, for its part, didn’t have to open brick-and-mortar locations and could focus on buying the right brands, setting prices and hiring salespeople. It was a classic win-win-win for the two businesses and their customers. “I went back and thought about that,” Robert recalled. How could Duncan Aviation do something like that? The question inspired an innovative business opportunity. By 1984, Duncan Aviation had honed its skills in avionics, and Lincoln was becoming the go-to place for corporate jets to buy, maintain and upgrade radar, autopilots and other fancy, fast-developing equipment. Customers would fly to Lincoln specifically for avionics work, even if it was a bit out of the way, because of the staff’s reputation for high-quality, on-time service. The Lincoln business was voted the best avionics shop in the country in 1985 and the next 25 years, until the aviation trade journal stopped doing that particular survey.

Lori Hermsen works on an avionics console. Satellite shops grew out of the Lincoln avionics department and now represent a steady source of revenue and service relationships.

“The satellite idea was one of the things that really made Duncan Aviation grow. It gave us another sales force. The idea was to keep it small and hire the best people that we could.” — DON FIEDLER

At the same time, some other fixed-base operations (FBOs) struggled to find qualified avionics staff and to keep the latest — and expensive — equipment at hand. They often had to send customers to Duncan Aviation or elsewhere for the work, costing them time and money and inconveniencing their customers. If you can install separate shoe shops in department stores, Robert wondered, why not install avionics shops in other FBOs? Both Duncan Aviation and the FBOs would earn money, and customers would gain convenient, Duncan Aviation-quality service. The other FBOs would be free from the headache of the increasingly high-tech avionics service business. It was an original idea, said manager Don Fiedler, but some details needed to be nailed down before it could be launched. Don and Rick Whitesell, avionics and instrument sales manager, already had been talking about Duncan Aviation opening locations elsewhere in the country. “Rick and I always talked about how Lincoln was a pretty good-sized city,” Don said. “But I always thought we really needed a bigger hub out on the West Coast and maybe one out on the East Coast. Then Robert came up with this idea of one or two people in several locations and, you know, we thought, ‘Well, that might work.’ ” Don and Rick traveled to the 1985 Aircraft Electronics Association convention in Reno, Nevada, but spent much of their time in a hotel room putting together a business plan for Duncan Aviation satellite shops.

Experience counts: Mike Hanson, left, Todd Duncan, Rick Whitesell, Dan Magnus and Don Fiedler.

“The only time we’d come out was at 5 o’clock, when happy hour started,” Don said. Back home, they presented their plan to Robert, who had one question: “OK, who’s going to do this?” “I raised my hand before Rick did, so I got the job starting it up,” Don said. “Rick went ahead and managed the whole avionics and instrument department.”

Their plan filled in the details of Robert’s vision. “We wanted to locate in airports where there was a high level of traffic for the types of airplanes we worked on,” Robert said. “We’d rent some small space, and sometimes it was a very low rent, because they wanted us there to be able to service their customers. It worked, because they could turn their problems over to us.” The first avionics satellite shop was in Houston with Beckett Aviation. “We had a good reputation, we had a lot of tech support, and we had a lot of things behind us,” Don said. “It was a fun thing for me, but it wasn’t real super-easy.” In the next year and a half, Duncan Aviation opened three more shops — in Chicago (Illinois), Cleveland (Ohio) and White Plains (New York) — followed by Van Nuys (California) and Fort Lauderdale (Florida). Duncan Aviation’s Lincoln avionics shop in 1989. Satellite shop team members have direct connections to the main base.

GOING DIGITAL Duncan Aviation installed its first management information system, better known as a computer, in 1977, a rarity among aircraft service organizations. “Everyone got excited about what a computer could do for Duncan Aviation,” Robert said. With a typical Duncan Aviation “can-do” attitude, everyone pitched in, and before long the company was leading its industry in generating management information for aviation. Joe Moritz completes a service ticket.

The concept, Don said, was to partner with well-managed FBOs that had lots of corporate aircraft flying in and out and good, reputable aircraft maintenance shops. Not every location worked, for various reasons, but overall the operation has been a resounding success, enhanced by Duncan Aviation’s avionics loaner program and troubleshooting tech reps. Chairman Todd Duncan said the satellite shops are an important and growing source of revenue and profit, as well as a means of keeping customers happy and aware of Duncan Aviation’s larger facilities.

Dave Mullsberry, left, and John Noxon at the Denver satellite shop in 1994. Robert Duncan: “The customer can have a problem, take it in and turn it over to us. He hands us the box or hands us the problem and then we either fix it in that satellite shop, or more than likely we’ll send it back to Lincoln.” Below: Airport Business, May/June 1987

LOANER PROGRAM CONFESSION The loaner program attracted service business but sometimes had unexpected results. On occasion, Don Fiedler said, Donald or Robert or Harry would try to take out a Learjet and discover that its radar had been loaned to a customer. “That’s kind of a little confession thing, I guess,” Don said. “We did that with autopilot stuff and communications systems and everything. Later years, we had to red-tag the airplane if we took something out of it.” Team members are tasked with carrying out service requirements: at left, Rick Conner in the foreground and Jarrod Bovard in the background; top left, Justin Neil, engine line technician; top right, Joshua Hull, accessory technician.

The company’s slow-moving aircraft parts inventory led to another new business, with Robert again providing the creative spark. “We had lots of parts that were in inventory and weren’t moving,” he recalled. “They were old, or we had bought them for some reason or got a special deal to inventory them.” Other fixed-base operations at airports had the same parts inventory problem. Robert’s plan was for the other shops to send unused parts to Duncan Aviation to sell on consignment, sharing revenue 50-50, minus a 15 percent management fee.

“All of the things that happened in the 1980s really, really helped launch the service business.” — ROBERT DUNCAN

Betty Duncan remembered hearing about the idea at a time when she had thought the family business had reached its peak and couldn’t go any further. “Mother, we’re going to add another division,” Robert told her. “We’re going to start a parts business. We don’t have to pay for them until they are sold, so it won’t cost us anything.” It was a classic business response to a growing problem for the entire business aviation industry, because airplane parts were becoming more complex and expensive. Robert had to overcome some initial skepticism within the ranks. Don Fiedler said some people at Duncan Aviation “thought it was crazy. He had very little support within the company for this idea.” Robert’s brainstorm led to what Duncan Aviation originally called AvPac, the Aviation Parts and Communications Network. It grew so quickly that it took over an entire building on the west side of the Lincoln Airport. Despite the initial doubts, Betty eventually gave her seal of approval: “It’s been a good business.” The AvPac name gave way to Duncan Aviation Parts & Rotables Sales, using an industry term for parts that must be regularly “rotated” and restored to serviceable condition.

“That’s been a viable business since it started, and we sold a lot of our dead parts in the process,” Robert said. “That morphed a little bit into more of a buying function for Duncan Aviation’s regular customers.” Today, the parts business has many fans within Duncan Aviation. “I thought it was the most brilliant idea,” Dianne Duncan Thomas said. “That’s why Robert gets paid the big bucks. Otherwise, the parts are just sitting there getting old, waiting for the right plane to come along.”

Tonia Peters, above, and Shirley Crouch, facing page. “That whole business was created when we thought we were going to have to lay off employees,” Robert said. “Times were really tough, and so we created a new initiative that would allow us to keep the employees and allow us to make some money.”

Another example of Robert’s creative thinking? Consider the Sotheby’s episode. The famous auction house specializes in artwork and other high-ticket items, attracting international bidders and generating record-setting bids. Robert and Karen, who collect contemporary art, were familiar with the auctions. Why not sell some top-dollar aircraft through a high-profile, live Duncan Aviation-Sotheby’s auction? “That was another crazy idea,” Robert said. Some dubious Sotheby’s people met with Robert, Bob McCammon, Don Fiedler and aviation innovator Jack Demeis. “They had never done an aircraft auction before, but Robert convinced them,” Don said. Robert’s goals were ambitious.

Above: June 27, 1990, Lincoln Journal Star Below: June 27, 1990, The World-Herald

“I had this idea that we could sell airplanes at auction, consign maybe 15 or 20 airplanes. We got a good crew in here, a good group of people. Some of the top people in the industry came to see it, because they couldn’t believe it.”

June 26, 1990, USA Today

Tom Burt said the idea was to bring out buyers at a time when overall sales were sluggish. “What was fun about it was that it was done with such class.” The auction couldn’t overcome the slump in the industry and ended up selling only a few aircraft. But the auction generated a tremendous amount of publicity and helped build Duncan Aviation’s brand as a creative, can-do company. “The Sotheby’s auction was fun, and it was scary,” said Pam Orr. “Robert taking the chance and trying it is true Robert. If it works, great. If it doesn’t, oh, well, let’s move on to the next thing. It was very cool to sit in the hangar and watch these airplanes come through and do the auctioning, and it was fun to create the marketing materials for it.” Robert admits that it wasn’t one of his money-making triumphs. “Even so, I loved it,” he said. “John Marion, who was the head auctioneer and one of the owners of Sotheby’s, came out. It was my kind of deal.” 

“I had been playing with these PCs and databases and so I was given the task of putting together these mailing lists for the Sotheby’s auction and these really fancy invitations and having them all individually named and addressed. What did we sell, maybe two airplanes? But it was fun to have that Sotheby’s connection, and the catalog was pretty.” — TOM BURT

MANAGEMENT TRANSITIONS

ROBERT DUNCAN LEARNED that even success has its downside: The company had grown to the point where he needed help with the day-to-day operation of the aviation business. “I was at the stage where I was questioning my ability to manage all these things, attend all the meetings, keep everything on track,” he said. In 1992, he turned to Rob Warner, the son of Betty Duncan’s second husband, Willis Warner. Rob, already working for the company, became general manager. During Rob’s three years in leadership, Duncan Aviation grew from about 100 employees to about 360. Ron Hall, a longtime avionics team member, said Rob was a big part of that growth, especially at a time when many of the company’s early employees were nearing retirement age.

ROBERT BEALE, 1936-2020 Bob Beale deserves much of the credit for Duncan Aviation transitioning to a professional organization. He helped me know myself and realize my shortcomings. He guided me through critical leadership transitions. He was very proud of what Duncan Aviation has become. Tailwinds, Bob. — ROBERT DUNCAN

“He made a major difference in our company,” Robert Duncan said. In time, Robert hired Bob Beale, a Denver business consultant, to offer outside advice on managing the company. “One of the things he told me that I’ve always remembered is that you can’t know yourself by yourself,” Robert said. “You need to have someone else help you and give you feedback.” Bob came to Lincoln to see what Duncan Aviation might need, meet the people and discover ways he could help.

Robert Duncan promoted Rob Warner to general manager.

“We looked at how the company needed to be changed over time so that it could go forward as a mature, financially stable, professionally managed company,” Bob said. “I didn’t just tell Robert what he needed to do. We figured out what the going-forward organization structure needed to look like and particularly the key people changes that needed to occur.” Bob and Robert agreed on a plan that led to hiring Omaha Mayor P.J. Morgan, a real estate man, as president in 1994.

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“To Robert’s credit, he went with the plan, and the company got unstuck and made other changes that were needed as time went on, and he put an outstanding team together,” Bob said. The plan included implementing formal business systems, processes and procedures, which helped in the years that followed.

Celebrating: Karen Duncan, left, with Gil Nickel, founder of Far Niente Winery; Robert Duncan; and P.J. and Annie Morgan. P.J. resigned as mayor of Omaha in 1994 to join Duncan Aviation as president and CEO.

“I’m not big on consultants, but Bob Beale really helped us,” Robert said. “He wasn’t rabid or making a big deal out of any of these points. He’d just suggest things and get me to try them. But it changed me. I became better.”

As president, P.J. made major contributions, Robert said, such as helping acquire a significant service authorization with Dassault Falcon corporate jets. “That turned out to be a big deal,” Robert said. “P.J. has a great ability to work with people, and he was really able to bring that to a conclusion.” After 18 months, Robert sought another leader — the fourth person in charge since Donald Duncan died. It was a change that would help define Duncan Aviation’s future. 

Duncan Aviation lists its leaders as world-class experts, including, above, Bob McCammon backed by Darlene Christensen, left, Richard Peterson, Bill Prochazka and Dave Lewis; and below, Ron Hall backed by Rick Whitesell, left, Larry Collier and Don Fiedler.

“Betty Duncan always used to give me a hug and kiss and tell me how thankful she was for some of the changes that we made,” CEO Aaron Hilkemann said. “She was part of the company for a long time and knew it from the beginning, so I know she was very happy how the company grew and evolved.”

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CHAPTER 9

Right Man, Right Time AARON HILKEMANN REALIZED he would soon be out of work when his employer, FirsTier Bank, went up for sale. But that unexpected twist in Aaron’s fortune turned out to be good news for Duncan Aviation. Executives like Aaron usually had long careers at FirsTier, an Omaha bank that had been independent since 1856 and didn’t seem a likely candidate to be bought by an out-oftown corporation. Aaron, a Norfolk, Nebraska, native, had worked eight years for a national accounting firm after graduating in 1980 from Wayne State College. He learned a lot about business from his half-dozen large clients, including FirsTier and Omaha construction and mining giant Kiewit Corporation. FirsTier hired him as director of internal audit and, soon after, he met Robert Duncan, who was chairman of the audit committee of FirsTier’s Lincoln bank. “I remember he came in with the bow tie on,” Aaron said. “He was talking about his new president who had just been hired and some of the changes they had gone through.” Robert said his non-executive role with FirsTier turned out to be a valuable connection. “It’s a good reason to get involved in other things, to meet other people, to network.” Before long, Aaron became chief financial officer of FirsTier and Robert became a director of the holding company that owned the banks in Omaha and Lincoln. The two ended up working closely together on the bank’s finances for eight years. In 1995, First Bank of Minneapolis made an offer to purchase FirsTier, and Aaron was one of several FirsTier executives who would be leaving. Robert saw Aaron’s departure as an opportunity for the Duncan family businesses, even if he didn’t know anything about corporate aircraft. Aaron was spending about half his time at FirsTier acquiring other banks, a skill that might come in handy for the Duncans.

Business consultant Bob Beale said Aaron “is really an exceptional leader-manager. Managers pull the day-to-day operations together, and leaders inspire and motivate.”

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“We’d always done OK as a company, but it wasn’t until we hired Aaron that things really started going well.” — ROBERT DUNCAN

“We still had some farms, and we had the banks in Iowa, and we had the aviation business,” Robert said. “I remember going up and visiting with him at a restaurant in Omaha, and I said, ‘Why don’t you come to work for us and run all the financial aspects of what we do?’ Of course, the aviation business was the most complex and, as he quickly learned, the one that needed the most help.” The hiring wasn’t cut and dried. Two other FirsTier board members also had talked to Aaron about jobs. “If I had stayed in banking, I was going to have to move away from Nebraska,” Aaron said. “My goal was to try to stay in Nebraska if I could.” Joining Duncan Aviation carried some risk, Aaron said. Its joint venture with a Texas company was losing money, for example. “I’d been in banking, and you always had to have certain capital requirements to operate,” he said. “Everything was pretty restricted.” With a private company like Duncan Aviation, which didn’t face strict bank-like financial limits, “I just felt like they had a lot of opportunity to grow,” Aaron said. “Not that I knew the market very well, but I just felt like it was a company with great potential once it would overcome some short-term challenges.” Some people avoid such challenges, he noted. “Other people say, ‘Hey, this will be a great opportunity,’ and that was kind of my assessment.”

“We have a lot of technical structure people, analytical people, but we can’t forget that we’re also a customer service-driven, marketingdriven organization, and we’re the underdogs in this. We’re not the guys that made the aircraft, so we need to be creative enough to be following our customers’ needs and being ahead of our customers and certainly ahead of the competition.” — TODD DUNCAN

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One day Robert invited Aaron and his family to Lincoln for a tour of the Duncan Aviation facility, including a ride for each of his children in a Piper Cub that Todd Duncan had recently restored. It was an example of Robert’s family-focused style. The Piper Cub restored by Todd Duncan was used as a trainer and basic transportation in the early days.

WORKING AS A TEAM When Aaron was new and working in the shops, an intern from Norway who was working next to him asked, “So, what do you do at the company?” “I am the chief operating officer,” Aaron said. The intern said, “In my country, the chief operating officer would not be working on the floor with the intern.” Aaron met with each new employee, and a monthly newsletter keeps employees informed. Wages are above industry standards, and profitsharing bonuses can come twice a year if company performance allows.

Aaron Hilkemann with Tim Renner, above, and with Harry Barr during his early days at Duncan Aviation. “That’s what we’re all proud of, the fact that we have created the environment we wanted to create,” Aaron said, “and it’s kind of a special place for people to have a career.”

In the end, Aaron agreed to come to Duncan Aviation. While the FirsTier sale was going through the usual regulatory process, he kept his bank job but worked two or three afternoons a week at Duncan Aviation in Lincoln. He switched to full-time when the bank sale was finalized in January 1996. An adjustment period followed not only for Aaron but also for the Duncan Aviation people who saw another top-level executive headed their way. He was coming to a key job in an industry that was new to him, employed by a company where he knew no one but Robert Duncan. “I was kind of a banker coming in from the outside,” Aaron said. “I wanted to understand the different models of aircraft, but I also wanted to understand the workers.”

Senior team members sometimes serve lunch to team members. When an employee has a baby or adopts, there’s an embroidered blanket, and family funerals are recognized by flowers and memorials.

He decided to work in the various departments for about a week at a time, meeting as many people as possible and getting an idea of what they did and their daily challenges. Aaron ordered a mechanic’s shirt and got a standard name badge which, like everybody else’s at the time, showed his years of service — in his case, “00.” It was a down-to-earth signal that won over Duncan Aviation’s talented, long-time employees. “He gained the respect of the people just like that,” Robert said, even if they didn’t let him fiddle with the high-tech aviation components and vital aircraft parts. “They let him take the panels off. They just didn’t let him put them back on.”

GIVING BACK Duncan Aviation’s staff restored a NASA space capsule for the Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum near Ashland, Nebraska, and a single-engine Cessna airplane for the Lincoln Children’s Museum. Exhibits at the Henry Doorly Zoo & Aquarium in Omaha, Denver’s airport and the Air Zoo Aerospace & Science Museum in Portage, Michigan, have the Duncan Aviation touch. Staff members also helped children at an elementary school build and fly an ultralight.

Aaron said he still values the relationships he built with production team members during those first months. “They helped me understand their challenges and what they were up against. It’s helped me throughout my career to understand how we can support them and solicit their ideas.” Aaron commuted from Omaha to Lincoln for a year before moving to Lincoln. “I was glad when that was done. For our kids, it was a little challenging because of the move from city to city and new schools, but they were all pretty young. It’s worked out great for them.” Robert said it wasn’t long before he knew his judgment about Aaron had been correct. “He came to me within that first six months and said, ‘This is wrong with the aviation business, this is wrong, this is wrong, this is wrong,’ ” Robert said. “And I guess I knew that, but I didn’t have the gumption to do something about it, or I wasn’t completely committed.” Robert put Aaron in charge of the Senior Team at Duncan Aviation, explaining the move to team members and telling Aaron, “Sort this all out, and do those things that you’ve told me need to be done. “Within a year he’d done a beautiful job, and we made him president. It was an amazing transition for Aaron, because he came here from this environment where he had a relatively narrow set of responsibilities, to this minor chaos at Duncan Aviation.” Aaron said he learned that the company’s employees had a fundamental dedication and passion for doing what was right, even when some things weren’t working well. “In fact, sometimes they’d know there would be another change, so they kept doing the right thing,” he said.

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Betty Duncan said Robert had no doubt that Aaron would be successful. “Heavens-to-Betsy, should he ever decide to leave,” she said. “He has been Mr. Perfect. He was very competent, very honest, very congenial.” One employee told her that he was impressed by Aaron’s sitting in the lunchroom with him. “That’s terribly important in a place like this,” she said.

Betty Duncan

Retired Vice President Jeannine Falter wrote that Aaron “worked hard at learning the details of the aviation business, got to know the technicians and, in a relatively short time, earned the respect that served him well.”

POSITIVE CHANGES Shortly after Aaron arrived, Duncan Aviation ended its engine inspection and overhaul joint venture, recording a $6 million loss, almost half the company’s capital at the time. Aaron said the losses would have continued. “It was the best decision to walk away from it. We focused on a new plan to try to grow the company.”

Bill Prochazka, who served as chief operating officer at the Provo facility, said some of the changes at Duncan Aviation over the years have been smooth, while others have been painful. “But I think they were all very appropriate and very timely. They needed to happen, and they seemed to happen at the right time, whether they were leadership changes at the top or changes midway through the company.” Jeannine wrote that Aaron “refocused on creating a positive and supportive family environment throughout the organization. Leadership from above showed employees, in many ways, that the company cared about them. Such overt caring about people creates transformation.” At the same time Aaron took control of Duncan Aviation’s day-to-day management, Jeannine said, the economy and the aviation industry were on an upturn. His “servant leadership” style — in keeping with early Duncan Aviation managers — was welcome and successful. “What Aaron brought to Duncan Aviation was professionalism, professional management and discipline,” Robert said. “He’s just a superb businessman, superb manager.” Longtime staffer Bob McCammon said hiring Aaron “was probably the No. 1 best thing that’s ever happened in the history of the company.” Jeff Lake, who succeeded Aaron as president in 2020, said, “Aaron really turned things around. It’s kind of like the culture that was bubbling underneath the surface was able to come all the way to the top.” 

Mark Earnest, left, and Lance Boatwright in Duncan Aviation’s engine shop.

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Duncan Aviation leaders assemble in Buena Vista, Colorado, for a four-day Senior Team retreat in August 2019, a later trip than the one described on the next page. Activities included bicycle rides, fly fishing and hiking, including optional treks to the peaks of Mount Belford and Mount Harvard.

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CHAPTER 10

Leadership and Teamwork DARLENE CHRISTENSEN GOT AN odd phone call one day at her desk at Duncan Aviation. The connection was so scratchy she couldn’t make out for sure who was calling, or exactly what the person was saying. Something about “Cherry Hill” or “Cherry Peak”? It sounded important enough that she decided to call Tom Burt, who was in Colorado with five other Duncan Aviation executives on a hiking expedition. That morning, the group’s goal was to hike up Colorado’s Mount Harvard, a 14,000foot peak that required a long walk through a river valley not far from Aspen. Aaron Hilkemann, then Duncan Aviation’s president, and two others decided they also would hike up Mount Columbia, another 14,000-footer across the valley. His idea was to log two peaks in a single day and then meet the others back where their van was parked. Tom’s group of three could see Aaron’s trio making its way toward Mount Columbia to the southeast, but before long, radio contact broke off around the rugged terrain. Tom’s group was headed for the hotel to get cleaned up for supper when his mobile phone rang. It was Darlene, relaying the “Cherry something” message. “I think it was Aaron,” she said. Puzzled, Tom and the others pulled out a map and spotted a place called Cherry Point. “You don’t suppose those guys ended up back there?” Tom said. He took the van and headed for Cherry Point, about 10 miles in the other direction.

Darlene Christensen, at her desk as usual, received a phone call while team leaders were on a retreat.

“We were driving on these off-road tracks,” Tom said. “Sure enough, I see these spent pups walking toward me, just beat to death. When they saw me, they were happy, because they were about 10 miles from the hotel at that point, and nobody knew where they were. So I was lucky enough to find them.”

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LOOKING OUT FOR EACH OTHER Steve Gade, former vice president of marketing and aircraft sales, previously worked three years for the FBI and then for IBM, where he managed Duncan Aviation’s account. Robert Duncan, whom he hardly knew, called him and said, “I understand your children have some health issues. I have a friend who is a neonatal specialist in Scottsdale, and I’d like to have you call him up.” It was an example of personal caring that gave Steve a good picture of Robert’s character.

A LITTLE PERSPECTIVE “We sometimes think that our business has changed so much,” Steve Gade said, “but I think we’re a little spoiled, because our pace of change is really much slower than most businesses. “We’re highly regulated, and the cost of entry is very expensive. Not anybody can just start doing that overnight. And so we’re able to take long-term views of things.”

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“If someone hasn’t worked somewhere else, then they may not appreciate what we have here. It’s not perfect, but boy, is it so much better than a lot of other places,” said Steve Gade.

That hiking rescue illustrates Aaron’s effort to give Duncan Aviation’s top executives common experiences in achieving goals, sometimes through adversity, and success in the open, honest crucible of the mountains. Aaron acted upon strong beliefs in how a leadership team could function well together. “We began to realize that we needed some type of leadership training,” Tom said. “It was fun to become part of that.” Steve Gade, Duncan Aviation’s vice president of marketing at the time, came to Duncan Aviation five years before Aaron’s arrival. Steve said the company’s culture began to flourish immediately after Aaron installed a formal, consistent leadership structure. “Today’s culture is a hybrid between Robert and Aaron,” Steve said. Aaron’s operational and leadership skills encourage strategic thinking, while Robert Duncan’s continual desire to grow and try things leads to new initiatives.

“Robert has the vision, the positive attitude, always sees the good in people,” Steve said. Robert assigned Aaron to develop a strategic plan, and his first step was to form the Senior Team. “I put people on it not because of their position, but because of who they were, people who I thought were helping me finish that painting to see what the company is like,” Aaron said. “If you’re going to war, you want to have people that really understand the battlefield and what was occurring.” Carol Hunt

At first, the Senior Team met at least twice a week. On Monday mornings, each member would update the group on what was going on. Wednesday evenings, from about 5 to 10 o’clock, Robert’s assistant Carol Hunt would order pizza and the teamwork sessions began.

“The value I brought to this whole equation was that I had the sense to recognize Aaron’s ability and bring him on board, and then I gave him the authority and the responsibility, and I backed him up. I didn’t second-guess him, and that’s kept Aaron here.” — ROBERT DUNCAN

Below: April 2004, Midlands Business Journal

LEADING A TEAM “Aaron brought a toughness and a professionalism to the company that’s made it successful to date,” Robert said. He recalled Aaron once making a decision after the Senior Team had debated it. “One of our longtime employees started arguing with him. Aaron said, ‘Listen, we’ve made that decision. You get on board, or you get out,’ ” Robert said. But disagreements were always handled professionally. “He was never cruel about it.”

Duncan Aviation leaders: From left, front row, Todd Duncan, Cindy Morris, Kasey Harwick, Chad Doehring, Andy Richards, Aaron Hilkemann, Jeannine Falter and Tom Burt; middle row, Lori Johnson, Mike Cox, Tom Fischer, Doug Alleman, Jeff Lake, Jamie Harder and Steve Gade; back row, Mike Minchow, Travis Grimsley, Mark Cote and Nate Klenke.

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“We started to work hard on not only making the right decisions, but also trying to implement them properly,” Aaron said. “We might take a challenge that we had and try to figure out as a team how we could tackle that challenge. “For instance, one department had made some changes, and so I would have them present to the rest of the team — here’s what they’re doing and how they’re going about doing it, and do you have any suggestions? “At first, I had Senior Team members who didn’t like getting suggestions. It was like we were letting other people tell them what they should do with their department.” But Aaron was determined to install a team culture. “First of all, you had to accept that, because that’s what we were going to do,” he said. “Pretty soon they realized they could get a better product at the end. You could learn from others, and they would learn from you, building up credibility among team members. It was a way to bring the team up together at the same level quicker.”

After about six months, retreats began, with the first at Estes Park in Colorado. “We did one full day of meetings, and then we did a training hike one morning, an afternoon meeting, training hike the next day, afternoon meeting again,” Aaron said. “We had a full day of meetings and then the next day we met in my room at 2 a.m. to pack lunches and dinners, because it was like a 12-hour, 16-mile hike up Longs Peak.” Todd Duncan, who later succeeded his father as chairman, had a different idea. “I remember him carrying a pillow out to the van,” Aaron said. “Oh, you sons of bitches, I’m not going to hike all day,” Todd recalled himself saying. He planned to hike for a while before returning to the van to sleep. But Todd eventually went along and was one of several in the group who made it to Longs Peak’s “keyhole,” skipping only the most exposed final mile or two of the climb. “They didn’t have to go all the way to the top,” Aaron said, although he led about five members of the group to the peak. Over the years, Aaron has topped 29 of Colorado’s 14,000-foot peaks, and most of the management team has hiked all the way to the top on about half as many. Sometimes the group has gone on bicycle rides, typically 50 to 75 miles a day for five days. Tom Burt, who joined the Senior Team in 1998, said he had some doubts about the adventuresome trips at first, including a five-day, 380-mile “Tour de Nebraska” bicycle ride. “Is this about trying to kill us off?” he wondered. “What’s this all about, really?” Later, he realized, “These trips turned out to be a real great way for the Senior Team to bond together.” Steve Gade said the trips “may seem like real grinds at first, but you look back now and realize there was a method to the madness.” People tend to hike or ride with those who go at the same speed, not necessarily those who are their friends or daily business contacts. “You end up connecting with others, and it’s been a way for us to really get to know each other,” Aaron said. “We’ve had a lot of great memories.”

“You can quickly look at our hangars and you love the equipment, but that shiny stuff wears off in a couple of weeks, and pretty soon it’s really about the people you work with, the career that you’re building.” — TODD DUNCAN

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Besides building personal relationships, the Senior Team can talk about long-term topics that they don’t consider day-to-day. “That’s where we’ve done our 10-year plan,” Aaron said, starting with the difficult task of the first one. “I bet we spent 12 to 18 months of just getting foundational information put together. By the time we were done, we pretty much agreed — ‘Let’s move forward’ — and we did, and it really has created the foundation for the company.” The Senior Team began taking on bigger and bigger projects, Aaron said, and then celebrating its successes. “I think all through that time, all of us grew as a Senior Team not only in terms of our knowledge,” Aaron said. “We also tried to grow with the company in terms of how we communicated, how we led, how we did our planning.” The same nucleus of the original Senior Team, with some adjustments for retirements, has continued for 24 years. Robert celebrates the resulting team culture. “It’s rare to have everybody on the same team, everybody respecting one another and treating one another as they would want to be treated.” Retired executive Jeannine Falter said the company’s technical aspects are fascinating, “but when all is said and done, it’s more about all the people.”

“Aaron always said he didn’t care what we paid him, and he always said we’re paying him too much. It’s the gratification he’s gotten from the employees and the industry. He’s totally respected as one of the best, if not the best, in our industry and he’s totally respected by the employees. And then he’s been able to run the show, make the calls.” — ROBERT DUNCAN

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In the past, Jeannine said, “we would always take our best and brightest technicians and promote them into management positions. Some of them succeeded, but many of them didn’t. In the early 1990s, we started to understand that we weren’t really preparing them to have the skill set that was required to do management functions.” The problem wasn’t unique to Duncan Aviation, said Bob Beale, a management consultant who worked with Robert. A person may be highly successful in a technical role, but without training in management and leadership, the same person risks failure if promoted to supervisor or manager. “There was a lot of talk about hiring professional managers, which for a lot of us, scared the heck out of us,” Jeannine said. “You’re going to hire people who know nothing about our business? How’s that going to work?

“That was where the light bulb went on. Yes, we can learn these new skills and how to interact and manage and lead people. We don’t need managers from outside who don’t know who we are and what our culture is.”

Harold “Skip” Madsen

The late Harold “Skip” Madsen, chief operating officer for the Battle Creek, Michigan, operation for many years, introduced business consultant Steven Vannoy’s training program that focuses on building healthy corporate cultures by helping individuals and groups reach their potential. Vannoy’s principles include leading from the heart by serving others.

“It was a very big deal for the company,” Tom Burt said, with more than 400 employees training and learning a “leadership language” for communications. A list of corporate values followed that define Duncan Aviation as a company. The concept of service-based leadership has been ingrained into Duncan Aviation’s business culture, Aaron said. Eventually, he said, the goal became to develop team members with the skills they need to be great managers and leaders through an intense in-house program called Leadership Dynamics, taught by Senior Team members. Andy Richards, now leader of the Battle Creek operation, took one of the first Leadership Dynamics classes, three two-day sessions aimed at learning how to become a leader and later, to improve leadership skills. Andy said the Duncan Aviation culture is a specific way of doing business. “Leadership Dynamics educated you on how different Duncan Aviation was. If you’re interested in the individual and the uniqueness of what the individual can contribute, then this is the place for you.”

AN INTEGRATED SYSTEM Tom Burt responded to customers’ complaints that the company’s quotes for different work on an airplane — avionics, interior, paint, maintenance and others — came separately, causing delays and confusion. “I had been playing with database programs, and I wrote a program that connected all the sales people together so they could see each others’ quotes online and package them together and send them out,” Tom said. “That was the beginning of what we all know as the quote management system.”

One psychometric assessment tool the company uses is called Emergenetics. The Emergenetics model combines the core principles of effective learning, communication styles and team interaction by helping team members understand how they prefer to think and problem-solve, and how they prefer to express themselves, assert and flex to accommodate change. Team members use this personal insight to have more effective communication and better interaction with others, with better results, Andy said.

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The company has a certified Emergenetics Team to help people use the concepts successfully. “If you want to have a high-performing team, you go out and find somebody who is the complete opposite from you and can provide a different perspective,” Steve Gade said. “That permeates our culture.” The emphasis on training and career development means the company can promote from within when openings occur, Aaron said. “We have Senior Team members who have two-year degrees who are very successful,” he said. “We are not trying to get some perfect outside candidate. We’re trying to develop our own candidates and move them into those roles — ‘high potential’ is the terminology we use. “We try to make sure we’re getting them into our leadership training program. We’re trying to maybe move them into different roles again to see how they’ll function. It doesn’t matter what background they had or what department they came from. If they can serve that role, we want to help them in their career.”

GRAPHIC BY JEANINE FALTER

“There have been so many people. The customers — this is the best job in the world. I have developed relationships with guys that are sports agents, attorneys, entrepreneurs. They are CEOs of major corporations, and some are mechanics, some are pilots. It’s just so much fun to hear each one of their stories.” — STEVE GADE

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Robert said he learned the hard way that not everyone can succeed in every position of responsibility. “We’ve had a number of instances in the company where it doesn’t work out,” he said. Once those people are reassigned, it’s often a relief for them, too, because they usually knew they were in the wrong positions. Duncan Aviation’s culture is strong enough that 75 percent of the people who had to move back “down” the ladder stayed with the company, Robert said. And about one-third to one-half of new hires result from recommendations by other team members. Aaron and Robert also implemented a formal succession plan that includes all key people. “We’ve got a whole list of people and who could replace them if there was an accident or problem,” Robert said. “Sometimes there’s more than one person listed there. Sometimes it’ll say this person will be ready for this job in another year. That whole succession plan is very comforting. “We’re such a professional organization today. We are so well-run. I mean, it’s amazing if you think about it, how professional our Advisory Board is. We do all this research. We’ve got great people.”

The succession plan came into play with the late-2019 announcement that Aaron would partially retire and become chief executive officer and chairman of the Board of Advisors, a new position. That meant Jeff Lake would succeed Aaron as president and Mike Minchow would succeed Jeff as chief operating officer of the Lincoln facility. “They are both excellent choices for their new roles,” Aaron said in announcing the promotions.

Jeff Lake

Todd Duncan remains chairman of the Board of Directors, which approves major decisions, policies and procedures. No matter what, Todd said, he will remain closely involved in the company.

Jeff said the team concept works through the ranks of the company as well as for top executives. For example, crew leaders attend lunches with executives to discuss their concerns and ideas.

“There are so many examples of people’s careers that have started here in one way and, because of their expertise and their learning and growing, have gone all kinds of different ways and have been very, very successful. We’ve been fortunate to have a lot of good internal people grow up through the leadership ranks.” — TODD DUNCAN

Duncan Aviation’s different shops weren’t collaborating well at one time, Jeff said. “Airframe guys would work together with airframe, but they weren’t working very well with maybe the engine shop or the interior shop, or paint shop or whatever.” Team leaders addressed the challenge. These days, notes from the crew leaders help the Senior Team’s planning and sometimes generate suggestions for training, he said, resolving questions that keep coming up. “These crew leader lunches have been very good.” Jeff said the Senior Team inspires him. “There are so many people on our Senior Team who are different than I am,” he said. “I look at somebody like a Steve Gade, or a Mike Cox (now deceased), or a Doug Alleman, really all of them, Mark Cote, it doesn’t matter who it is. We’ve all got our strengths, and what we’ve learned from each other.

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“We’re not just trying to make the next quarter’s numbers. We’re trying to do the things that are going to last for 10 years. Robert and Todd and Aaron and the whole Senior Team have been tremendous.” Although Aaron put the Senior Team together and serves as a mentor for members, he and Todd never make decisions on their own, Jeff said. “There were many times that Aaron would think we’d go one way, and the Senior Team convinced him that we should go another. It’s just a great environment to be in.” A few months after Aaron arrived, a paper company called and offered Jeff a good job. “But I really liked what I saw out of Aaron in a short period of time,” Jeff said. Robert and Aaron asked him to stay, and he did. “There were so many good things happening at Duncan Aviation, I just felt it was the right thing to do.”

A FRIEND TO THE END When Aaron arrived, executives were talking about cutting jobs, most of them administrative assistants, which included Darlene Christensen. “She somehow heard that discussion was going on,” he said. “So I went to her and said, ‘Darlene, as long as I’m here, you can stay as long as you want at the company.’ And she basically did, until maybe two weeks before she passed away on June 17, 2004. “She was like everybody’s grandma, and anytime you had a challenge, she would always just sit and listen. She didn’t want to give an opinion unless she had to. She was a great listener, and eventually you could get her to say something.”

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Jeff said team members on the floor trust the Senior Team, partly because it communicates its decisions and listens to them. “We tell people why we’re making decisions and, if they have questions, they can ask,” Jeff said. “We do annual presentations, but more than that, we’re meeting with them all the time.” Andy Richards, the Battle Creek executive, said leaders share information to build trust within the organization. Andy Richards

“It doesn’t matter if it’s a recession or just a smaller change that doesn’t have as much impact, whether it’s good news or bad,” he said. “This company’s very transparent, with the financials, the employee policies, why and how they’re created — anything that affects the employees. We’re willing to trust you with all this information, hoping that you in return will trust that we’re making the right decision for the company.” Aaron said new ideas can come from within the company as well as outside, including customers and members of the Board of Advisors. “The company is different today than it was 10 years ago. It was different 10 years before that. Our strategic planning is much better today than it was five years ago or 10 years ago.” Aaron said Robert challenges the company to be greater, to be the best at what it does. “I think he’s always optimistic about the future,” Aaron said. “I think all that translates into a long-term view.”

Duncan Aviation reinvests about 80 percent of its profits into equipment and facilities. “If we hadn’t done that, we wouldn’t have the Senior Team and all the positions they have and the managers in their positions,” Aaron said. “We would be a stagnant company, and people would be complaining that there’s no way to move up or there are no new positions.” People compete internally for jobs and promotions, he said, and sometimes managers decide that moving a person to a new position is healthy for that person’s career. “It’s been fun because a lot of times, once they get into that new role, they’ll say, ‘I wish you would have made me do this five years earlier.’ ” High-potential employees also take turns attending Senior Team meetings over four-month periods. “That way they just have a chance to see how we operate,” Aaron said. “After that four months, they are always like, ‘Man, I wish I could stay,’ because it is a lot of fun. It’s a group that challenges each other and they’re open to taking criticism and input, but they all have a sense of humor, and so we can be transparent in everything that we are doing.” But sometimes a little temporary secrecy is necessary in business. 

“It’s the American dream, and has made the dream for a lot of people. There was a lot of blood, sweat and tears by a lot of people along the way. They allowed us to fail carefully. Aaron was a strange duck when he came to us. He was a banker, and was a breath of fresh air because he’d sit down and want to learn.” — RON HALL

Duncan Aviation’s Lincoln facility in 2006.

A jet outside Duncan Aviation’s facility in Battle Creek, Michigan, formerly Kal-Aero: Aaron Hilkemann’s banking experience before he joined Duncan Aviation was valuable in the 1998 acquisition of Kal-Aero, including arranging financing. “But it wasn’t just me. It was the credibility of Duncan Aviation.”

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CHAPTER 11

‘A Major Leap’ JOHN ELLIS STARTED KAL-AERO with the Navy flight pay he had saved during his military career, plus money from his then-father-in-law. He had a successful 35-year run, but he began to weigh his options because he would need more capital to compete and his partners, Suzanne “Sue” Upjohn Parish and her husband, Preston “Pete” Parish, were closing in on retirement age. (Suzanne’s grandfather, William E. Upjohn, had founded the pharmaceutical manufacturer Upjohn Co., which merged into a Swedish company and later became part of Pfizer Inc.) General Electric made an offer to buy them out, and other big businesses also were interested in the Kalamazoo, Michigan-based Duncan Aviation competitor. “I was concerned about what was going to happen to Kal-Aero,” John said. He suspected that corporate ownership would disrupt the family-oriented business he had founded, just as an earlier buyout had disrupted the Upjohn family’s pharmaceutical business. John began discussing the problem in 1997 with Aaron Hilkemann, Duncan Aviation’s president, while waiting at an airport after an aviation industry meeting. “Somehow we got to the idea that there might be a way to combine our businesses in some way or other,” John said. “That was the genesis of what happened.” Their discreet meeting turned into Duncan Aviation’s biggest expansion, a defining step in its advancement as a nationwide aviation service company. Back in 1974, after John’s marriage ended, his former father-in-law planned to sell his part of the business and gave John a chance to find new investors. The Parishes were good customers and agreed to become majority owners and board members, with John running the aircraft service company.

John Ellis flew F-4 and F-8 fighters and was a flight instructor in the Navy. He opened Kal-Aero on April 1, 1967, hiring three technicians, a salesman, an office manager and a line service man.

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Kal-Aero had expanded into top-of-the-line facilities at what is now Battle Creek Executive Airport at Kellogg Field, but improvements eventually were needed. The Parishes were not eager to invest more money. Suzanne Parish — a Women Airforce Service Pilot during World War II and avid civilian pilot — was more interested in the Air Zoo Museum she supported in Kalamazoo than in the Kal-Aero operation in Battle Creek. After the GE offer came, John decided Duncan Aviation might be an excellent owner. “We thought about the way that Robert Duncan ran his business,” he said. “They treat their people very well, and our business succeeds based on the employees of the company. We tried to treat everyone like family.”

A WOMAN AHEAD OF HER TIME Suzanne “Sue” Upjohn DeLano Parish became a pilot at 19 and joined the Women Airforce Service Pilots during World War II at age 21, flying military aircraft across the country. After the war, she couldn’t find work as a commercial pilot but continued her interest in aviation. In 1974 she and her husband, Pete, became co-owners of Kal-Aero Inc. in Kalamazoo, Michigan, along with co-founder John Ellis. The Parishes also founded the Kalamazoo Aviation History Museum, also known as the Air Zoo, in 1977. Wearing her red flight suit, Suzanne flew a pink P-40 Warhawk in air shows for 25 years and continued flying almost until her death in 2010.

John had gotten to know Robert through the Independent Fixed Base Operators Association and was aware of Duncan Aviation’s success. “Everything we had heard about Duncan Aviation was pretty good,” John said. At the same time, Duncan Aviation was looking for an “East Coast” outpost. Aaron Hilkemann lacked an aviation background, but he had experience in acquisitions with his former employer. “I told John I would send him the list of due diligence things that I’d like to look at,” Aaron said, “and then within about two weeks we arranged for us to come offsite to look at the materials. Then he gave us a tour, maybe at 10 o’clock at night, of the facilities. Very few people.” Betty Duncan said she had thought that with Robert in charge, it might be best to sit tight and enjoy what the family already had built. But Aaron’s arrival at the company added opportunities, Betty said. “I don’t think they would have ever bought Battle Creek if Aaron hadn’t been here. In my day, we always said that you don’t buy anything until you had the money to pay for it. But they had good credit. That’s what it takes nowadays.” Duncan Aviation executive Tom Burt reviewed Kal-Aero’s financial documents in Michigan and worked on a comprehensive financial and business analysis.

SUZANNE PARISH, WITH JOHN HOSKINS AND JOHN ELLIS, ONCE TOLD AVIATION FOR WOMEN MAGAZINE:

“When I fly, I just feel so free. When you’re concentrating on flying, you’re able to forget everything else. It’s like playing a game that you know you’re going to win. You might have to fight a little along the way, but eventually you’ll win.”

“We were kind of holed up in the Radisson Hotel with piles of books,” Burt said. “Nobody in the facility was to know we were there at that point.” Despite the secrecy, Battle Creek executive Andy Richards, who started at Kal-Aero as a cabinetmaker, recalled hearing early rumors of a possible acquisition. “We all knew who Duncan Aviation was because they were the bigger guy,” Andy said. “I was working in the cabinet shop, and in walked this gentleman in an orange suit and these round glasses, very eccentric dresser. And he came up to me and said, ‘Hi, how are you doing?’ I didn’t know who he was. He just kind of made the tour of the shop and he left.” A co-worker told Andy, “That’s Robert Duncan.” That’s when he knew the rumors were true. The acquisition moved fairly quickly. “Pete Parish, who was the major shareholder, called me on Christmas Eve,” Aaron recalled. “He wanted to close as quickly as possible. I remember calling Robert Duncan and saying, ‘Merry Christmas, I have a present for you. We just acquired Kal-Aero.’ We closed about two or three weeks later.” That smoothness, Aaron said, was a credit to Kal-Aero’s owners. “They weren’t trying to hold an auction and get the highest price. But they were concerned about having the ownership of the company to be with a family.” Aviation gathering at Kal-Aero with a Ford Tri-Motor: James Clifford, left, John Hoskins, John Ellis, Pete Parish, Suzanne Parish, Pete Ginocchio, Ron Velivis, Gerry Goguen and Jean Rosanvallon.

BUYING KAL-AERO The Kal-Aero deal began to take shape while Aaron Hilkemann was in Washington attending a meeting about an FAA rules change. “John Ellis and I were out in the parking lot getting ready to get picked up to go to the airport, and he said he wanted to talk to me about a strategic alliance,” Aaron recalled. “I could see the car that was coming across the parking lot to pick us up, and I said, ‘Well, John, are you talking about a strategic alliance or are you talking about potentially selling the company to us?’ “He was kind of taken back. He said, ‘Well, yeah, actually I’m interested in selling the company to you guys.’ We could see the car was getting closer, and I said, ‘Why don’t we try to talk more at the airport?’ I went to his gate and we proceeded to talk more about the potential sale.”

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Co-owner Pete Parish attended some Duncan Aviation board meetings and dinners and became comfortable with the sale, Aaron said. “Pete’s proud of the fact that he can run into current or retired employees and they say, ‘Hey, we’re really glad you sold to Duncan Aviation.’ They were looking for the right buyer.”

“Pete Parish had an aircraft that we provided maintenance for. That was our agreement, that we would continue to do it at a low rate. It’s a small thing for us to show our gratitude. We honored our word, they honored theirs, and it was an easy transaction for all of us.” — AARON HILKEMANN

“At one time we were met with skepticism. I had several managers talk to me over that first year or two or three, and what I would hear quite often was, ‘Yeah, we heard what you were saying when you first got up here, but nobody believed it because it couldn’t be that good.’ It took a couple years for people to finally accept that this is the real deal, this is Duncan Aviation, this is how we operate.” — BILL PROCHAZKA, RIGHT

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Duncan Aviation maintained great relationships with Suzanne and Pete Parish. Suzanne, who died in 2010, would stop to talk every time she came to a Duncan Aviation facility to refuel. “I remember at the end she was in a wheelchair and she had an aide with her, but she still wanted me to come down and say hello to her,” Aaron said. Pete’s second wife, Barbara, said Pete “has always been satisfied with Duncan Aviation’s superior operations, standard of care for employees and connection with southwest Michigan communities.” Pete Parish was 100 years old when he died in 2020. After the official announcement in early 1998, an affiliation team arrived in Battle Creek, including executive Bill Prochazka. “Duncan Aviation had about 600 employees and Kal-Aero had about 300, so that was a major leap for us in head count and complexity. Kal-Aero was a good, strong competitor for many years.

THE MOVE TO BATTLE CREEK Years before being bought by Duncan Aviation, Kal-Aero wanted to expand in Kalamazoo but met resistance from the airport directors, said veteran Kal-Aero project manager Gary Dunn. “We were more of a nuisance to them. They wanted all the airline work, to compete with Grand Rapids. But Battle Creek invited us over here and gave us anything we wanted.” Kal-Aero open house: “It was one of the most premier, state-of-the-art aviation facilities anywhere in the country,” John Ellis said.

“They had good processes in place, and when Skip (Madsen) and I went up to get the organization aligned with our processes and systems, we were met with open arms — a very good group of people up there, very professional.” Although the purchase was “exactly the right thing to do,” President Jeff Lake said, “it was also a culture change … the systems and IT and everything else.” Duncan Aviation decided to keep the Kal-Aero name, calling it “Kal-Aero, a service of Duncan Aviation.” But customers quickly started calling it Duncan Aviation, and the awkward moniker became a distraction. “There were missteps,” said Todd Duncan, chairman. The Kal-Aero name quickly moved into history. More seriously, it took at least a year to meld the cultures and people of the Lincoln and Battle Creek facilities. Perhaps the toughest adjustment was for top-level leadership.

It was a parallel to Duncan Aviation’s friction with Omaha’s airport and welcoming treatment in Lincoln. Building a hangar at Battle Creek.

COLLABORATION IS KEY Soon after the Michigan purchase, a Kal-Aero executive in charge at a senior management meeting in Battle Creek started knocking his watch on the table to signal a speaker to stop talking. Steve Gade said that kind of “micro message” wouldn’t fit in Duncan Aviation’s collaborative culture, where attentively listening to each other’s complete viewpoints is the standard.

John Ellis, a prime mover in the sale, said that for him, the transition “didn’t go well. I hadn’t thought through what was going to happen to me when this took place. My responsibilities ended a few months after the paperwork was signed. “From 1967 until the sale took place, I was president of Kal-Aero. That was my life. When it was sold, I didn’t have an identity anymore. It was a traumatic thing, but it didn’t hit me until it was all over.” While John still was there, Duncan Aviation executives Prochazka and Madsen, and later Tom Burt, arrived to spread Duncan Aviation’s culture to the Michigan operations. “We were trying to get that facility to function more like a Duncan Aviation facility,” Tom said. “It wasn’t far off, but there was still work to be done, trying to get the sales team and the production teams to work together.” Andy Richards immediately saw the difference in Duncan Aviation executives. “I was in a meeting with Skip Madsen, and he asked for input from everybody,” Andy said. “That was new. And he said, ‘If you want, just email me if you have some thoughts after the meeting.’ So I emailed him and said, ‘thanks for asking’ in my email. He said, ‘Any time.’ ” The two met later in a break room and Skip introduced himself and said, “Thanks for your feedback. Any time you want to talk, just let me know.” Andy said. “That was completely different, to have the head of the facility to be that open and approachable.” “He did a silly thing, too,” Andy said, namely taking a turn in a dunk tank at a fund-raiser for United Way. “That showed us that this was a much flatter organization.” Aaron said it quickly became clear that the leadership style of some managers, including John Ellis, wouldn’t fit. “We recognized that we had to make some changes,” Aaron said. “If you don’t accept the style of being a servant leader, of trying to listen to your employees and lead, and not just dictate, then you have to go.” John said he also realized there was a problem, and after a few months he “got rescued.”

George Bajo, left, and Todd Wright.

An airplane from Lincoln arrived, and Aaron came into John’s office and told him he could continue working for the company but wouldn’t have any responsibilities. “I wasn’t upset,” John said. “I have great respect for Aaron. It’s something I suspected was going to happen at some point. But I didn’t have a plan for myself.” John left Battle Creek and moved to Missouri, where he and fellow Missouri native Wes Stricker began a short-lived effort to resurrect Ozark Airlines.

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Looking back, John said, the sale of Kal-Aero went well for the Parishes and, financially, for him. “They treated me right,” he said. “I consider Robert and Aaron good friends. It was the right decision at the time. I didn’t adapt as quickly as I could have, but that’s a long time ago.” Since then, he said recently, he has become a Christian and has different ideas about life. The important thing, he said: “Kal-Aero’s still alive. It’s just a part of Duncan Aviation. We sold the company to the right people. They’ve done well, and I applaud them for what they have done.” Duncan Aviation commissioned bronze busts of John and the Parishes for the Battle Creek office. “I felt really honored,” John said.

Pete Ginocchio, left, John Ellis, Suzanne Parish, Gerry Goguen, Jean Rosanvallon, Ron Velivis.

For Kal-Aero team members, the reaction was generally positive. Longtime Michigan employee Dennis VanStrien had been told early on about Duncan Aviation’s interest in buying Kal-Aero and met the due diligence team.

“Everybody that got off the airplane was friendly,” Dennis said. “It didn’t feel like a threat. We’d built up a good company here, and Duncan Aviation’s culture best fit what we had.” Dennis said that while Kal-Aero’s pre-Duncan Aviation leaders weren’t as approachable, they were friendly and businesslike. “You always knew where you stood.” Maurice Hovious, the second in command under John Ellis, met for breakfast regularly with managers. “He was big on pulling together. He really cared about the people that reported to him,” Dennis said of Hovious, who had left Kal-Aero for health reasons before the acquisition.

CAN-DO ATTITUDE Kal-Aero had the same can-do attitude as Duncan Aviation, Dennis VanStrien said: “What do you mean, we can’t do that? Let’s think about it. Let’s get some heads together and figure out a way we can do that.” Dennis said if John Ellis didn’t like what he heard, “you’d rethink it and say, ‘OK, I know how we’ll do it now.’ ”

Dennis also recalled the Parishes visiting the hangars on Christmas Eve to extend holiday greetings. “They didn’t have to do that, but they did,” he said. “They truly looked after us at Kal-Aero as employees, trying to get the best company to come in and acquire and keep it privately owned and family-owned.”

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DUNCAN AVIATION CULTURE The Rev. Sue Petro, a Battle Creek minister, told about a Battle Creek employee in 1999 whose child was in the hospital for a serious operation. A supervisor from Duncan Aviation came to the fifth floor of Mott Children’s Hospital and delivered a manila envelope filled with cards and letters, along with slips of paper offering gifts and co-workers’ donations of more than 200 hours of personal time. “There were tears and awkward moments of silence, which often happens when we look into the face of angels,” the Rev. Petro said. “It was the miracle of compassion transforming four hundred men and women in Battle Creek from a group of co-workers into a community of faith, hope and love.”

One item that didn’t need an adjustment: Both Lincoln and Battle Creek emphasize a clean workplace, including hangar floors. “People come in and say how clean it is, how organized it is,” Dennis said. “That held up during the transition.” Overall, Dennis said, “The Duncan family and the culture just fit. We were blessed when the Duncans purchased Kal-Aero.” These days, Aaron said, there is little difference between the full-service locations, including the newest facility in Provo, Utah. “We had people from Battle Creek move to Lincoln and Lincoln people move to Battle Creek. We worked very hard to create that environment of consistency between Battle Creek, Lincoln and all our satellites as well.” Under Duncan Aviation, the Michigan operation has grown from 357 employees to nearly 650, and annual revenue from about $30 million to $150 million, Aaron said. Duncan Aviation renovated Battle Creek’s facility and expanded it by about one-third in 2005-2006, spending about $20 million. “It’s been very successful for us, of course,” Aaron said. “That’s been a great fit for us in terms of both the people and the location and facility. It’s really kind of set us up for the future.” Today the two locations are well-integrated. The College of Aviation at Western Michigan University in nearby Kalamazoo graduates many good people to Duncan Aviation. “Production people are doing it the same way, so that we can ensure the same quality,” Aaron said. “We feel like we’ve got one harmonized organization.” The wisdom of the sale later became even clearer: A few years after making its unsuccessful offer for Kal-Aero, General Electric dropped out of the full-service aviation business. 

John Ellis said he enjoys attending Duncan Aviation’s Silver Wings events, held for people who have been with the company for 25 or more years. “I go in there and see some of the employees that were my employees at one time,” he said. “It’s just like a family reunion.”

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JOB COMPLETION When French aircraft manufacturer Dassault had trouble in 2005 keeping up with demand for the large-capacity Falcon 7X, it hired Duncan Aviation to complete the aircraft, a big service expansion. “We would engineer and design and build and install the interior, paint the exterior and do some cabin electronics installations as well,” Andy Richards said. “The customers would come here, we would hand them the keys and they would take the planes and leave.”

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Private aviation moved to larger aircraft over the years, and big corporate jets needed large facilities.

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CHAPTER 12

Great Recession U.S. REPRESENTATIVE GARY ACKERMAN had the microphone at a 2008 House committee hearing on a proposal to bail out automakers as the nation’s economy was collapsing. “There is a delicious irony in seeing private luxury jets flying into Washington, D.C., and people coming off them with tin cups in their hand, saying that they’re going to be trimming down and streamlining their businesses,” said Ackerman, a Democrat from New York. “It’s almost like seeing a guy show up at the soup kitchen in a high hat and tuxedo. Couldn’t you all have downgraded to first class or jet-pooled to get here? It would have at least sent the message that you do get it.” And with that, corporate aircraft became a target in the debate over whether the government should help Big Business survive what became known as the Great Recession. The very jets that were Duncan Aviation’s bread and butter became unwanted symbols of corporate hubris. Within 90 days, as corporate stock prices plunged and a financial crisis spread, Duncan Aviation’s monthly revenue dropped by more than 30 percent. In addition to the economic recession, some corporations didn’t want to admit they owned airplanes, let alone spend money for new avionics, renovations or even fuel for flying, CEO Aaron Hilkemann said. “It was a difficult time,” Aaron said. “If the company hadn’t reacted correctly, it could have been lost.” Chairman Todd Duncan said the company cut its 2009 revenue projections to $327 million from $415 million in 2008. Business aviation flying hours dropped by 40 percent within three months. Companies were cutting out discretionary spending and widening their definitions of what was discretionary.

The economic downturn hit the entire aviation business, including Duncan Aviation.

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“The president was saying, ‘Don’t fly in your private jets,’ ” Kathryn Duncan recalled. “The industry tanked. I mean, it totally tanked.” Todd said some corporate jet owners began putting their aircraft up for sale, killing the market for used airplanes, and doing only minimal maintenance. “When corporate America suffers, we suffer,” Todd said. “The jobs were booked, and companies just called and said, ‘We’re not coming. We’re canceling our paint and interior work. We’re canceling that mods (modifications) job.’ Some of this was maintenance and had to be done, but people were putting their aircraft up for sale.” Steve Gade, one of the Senior Team members, said the response was both difficult and effective. “It’s Aaron and the Senior Team who deserve credit. They said, ‘Uh-oh, we cannot continue the way we are running the business. Let’s figure out how we’re going to make adjustments and let’s do it fairly, let’s do it thoughtfully and let’s do it respectfully for the employee.’ It was tough.” Word of the rapidly developing problem spread quickly through the rank-and-file. “We didn’t do a good job of predicting it,” Todd said. “But when it happened, Aaron was the first to step up and say, ‘OK, now we have to do a tremendous job of communicating. What are we going to do?’ ” Management began a weekly email newsletter explaining exactly what was happening, including financial information. After a planning period, pay cuts ranged from 5 percent for wages up to $30,000 to 25 percent for Senior Team members. The company’s 401(k) contributions ended.

“We didn’t even go through the steps of the contingency plan. We just went to Ground Zero, Defcon 5, whatever you call it, the worst of the worst.” — TODD DUNCAN, HERE WITH HIS FATHER, ROBERT

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Todd and Robert cut their wages in half and shut down contributions to their own retirement funds. “You’re still working harder than you’ve ever worked, making less money and not putting money away for retirement,” Todd said. “It was a horrible time, a humbling time.”

“Ridiculous” price cuts for service took effect, such as a 50 percent discount on aircraft painting. Even then, customers didn’t budge.

CAREFUL WITH EXPENSES

Especially troubling, the recession came with Duncan Aviation in the midst of an expansion at the Battle Creek facility. “We were hiring like crazy in Lincoln and Battle Creek, growing by leaps and bounds, all the way up until 2008-2009,” President Jeff Lake said. “Then all of a sudden the floor got pulled out from under us.”

Karen and Robert had a company phone extension installed in their house so Robert could make longdistance calls from home. One day the phone rang and Karen answered.

In past downturns, engineers and others would spend spare hours scrubbing the floors or painting the walls. That didn’t work this time.

Office supplies buyer Betty “Granny” Powers was on the line and asked, “Who is this?”

“I just remember a lot of sleepless nights,” Aaron said. “There was a lot to worry about.”

“This is Karen.”

The Senior Team realized that spending cuts needed to be made all at once.

“Oh, I’m sorry, Karen,” Granny said.

“There were companies where people were waiting every Friday to see whether they were going to lose their jobs,” Aaron said. “That’s not the environment we wanted to create. So we waited to try to figure out what our revenue would be in this recession, and what shops we could keep busy before we made any decision on a reduction of force. “We had to give it some time and keep losing money in the meantime, but if you waited too long, that was not going to be a positive result. If you did it too quickly, you might make the wrong decision. So, we were trying to balance that.” First steps included cutting capital projects, training costs and discretionary spending. “We went through a three-stage contingency plan in two or three weeks,” Aaron said. “It was that rapid, the deterioration in the bookings and cancellations of work that we already had. We thought we had a backlog of orders, but it went away in a short period of a time.” “The worst of the worst,” Todd added, was laying off 12 percent of the workforce — 306 people between Lincoln, Battle Creek and the satellite shops network. Aside from a small number of job cuts 30 years earlier, Duncan Aviation had never had an involuntary reduction in force, or RIF.

“Well, why are you calling?” “Someone’s making long-distance calls from this extension,” Granny said. “I’m checking on it.” Robert said Granny “knew exactly who she was calling.” “That’s Granny,” he explained. “She would count every pencil.”

Executive Bill Prochazka said the RIF was the most difficult task he had ever been involved in. “Having to reduce the force of good quality people, hard-working people, people of integrity, was difficult, but the survival of the company depended on it.” Jeff Lake said the cuts were “tough on all of our team members. It was tough on the Senior Team, but the nice thing about it is that we were able to make decisions quickly.” Todd Duncan said he isn’t sure he could have made the job cuts and other reductions on his own. “I would have probably put the company in jeopardy,” he said. “But it was Aaron, Jeff Lake and our leadership that said, ‘We gotta react immediately. We can’t wait.’ ”

A DIFFICULT TASK

People from every department were given severance pay and placement assistance. Among those whose jobs ended: Kathryn Duncan, a part-owner along with other family members. Aaron came to her office in the human resources department and said, “You know, we have to let you go.”

Steve Gade said the recessionprompted layoffs and cutbacks were done “thoughtfully, honestly. We didn’t just tell them to like it or leave it. We anticipated what some of the objections would be, and then I think addressed those objections.”

Kathryn said later, “I was the logical one to go. I was getting near retirement. We had three managers in a department of five. They were young girls who needed jobs, but I never envisioned it would be me. I loved the job, and I knew the employees loved me. But I often said it should be me, because I didn’t need the money.” Kathryn Duncan

She advised some other employees not to offer to leave and to accept any proposed switch to other in-company jobs. “I said, ‘Take it, don’t leave. Even if you don’t like the job they’ve given you, take it.’ ”

Even with the careful planning and evaluation, she said, “people were let go that never should have been let go. I mean, they were good employees.” Business consultant Bob Beale said laying off Kathryn Duncan showed that family members weren’t considered untouchable, an important lesson for the entire work force. Pam Orr, who had joined the company in 1976, said the 2009 layoffs were “one of the worst times in my life. I was scared, because I could have easily been gone. I remember thinking about having to go out and find another job. “Thank God I wasn’t, but it broke my heart … that senior management had to go through that, because I knew they did not want to. I saw a couple of the Senior Team members in tears because they were having to do it.”

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FULLY INVESTED Todd Duncan says that 90 percent to 95 percent of his family’s assets is in Duncan Aviation. His son, Harrison, said that’s as it should be. “When we do really well, I want us to be part of that. But when we do poorly, I want us to be part of that, too. That’s just the way it should work for any executive of a Fortune 500 company.”

Todd Duncan in 2007.

Dianne Duncan Thomas said she talked to her mother about the job cuts and reductions. “Mother cried terribly, she was so distraught,” Dianne said. “It was something we just didn’t do.”

Dianne Duncan Thomas

Dennis VanStrien was in service sales in Battle Creek when the recession hit. “We could see it coming on the sales team,” he said. “We weren’t getting calls. We weren’t getting requests for quotes that we needed to keep the shops going. We were on the phone, beating the bushes. But when companies start cutting expenses, they’ll start parking airplanes and shutting down flight departments, and that affects us.”

“We grew up doing just about everything together,” said P.K., right, with Harrison. “Our junior and senior years of high school, we went to the Entrepreneurship Focus program at Lincoln. It was actually pretty interesting.”

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PLANNING AHEAD Jeff Lake, now president, said the company would have lost a lot of money in 2009 if it hadn’t acted quickly. “We ended up about breaking even in 2009, but what I also remember was we were still in the recession in 2010. And then Aaron said, ‘Well, this recession is not going to last forever. What are we going to do when we come out of it?’ “We started planning for our future. That’s when we decided that ultra-large aircraft were going to be part of our future, and we needed to actually grow. By the time we came out of that recession, the business was growing again, and we filled up both hangars almost overnight.”

One engine sales position was eliminated, and another salesman moved to project management on the Falcon 7X program, then back to sales when things started to recover. “It was tough, but I feel they handled it really well,” Dennis said. “Some of the people let go have come back as business recovered. It was something that had to be done.” Aaron said the job cuts and other spending reductions helped offset the reduced revenue, but doing it the right way also was important. “I feel that we all did it together. I feel very good that we lived up to our values. You kind of know who you are when things are tough. We made the right decisions. We did them thoughtfully, we worked through it, and it made us into the company we are today.” President Jeff Lake said that was especially true because of the open dialogue that management maintained with the staff about the problems and solutions. “We explained the process we were doing for the layoffs,” Jeff said. “It wasn’t just going by years of service. It was going to be based on performance. We even gave them the matrix we used. It was nine or 10 questions basically, and we ranked every team member in the company. “We had some people who had only been here for maybe a year or two and they were kept, where somebody who had been here a long time wasn’t kept. We took care of people when they left, and when we started hiring again, we were able to bring some of those back on.” Andy Richards, based in Battle Creek, was part of the leadership group that set up evaluation criteria to measure individual performance. “We figured out how many people it had to be, and we started to evaluate.” Tom Burt, who was in charge of the Battle Creek office, said the process was “very fair and well done” — but not easy. All the employees had been informed of everything that would happen, and it fell to him and other managers to deliver the bad news. “People were very professional, very respectful,” he said. “There were a few tears. And you have to kind of walk people out at that point. And so, when it’s over, the people who are still there, on the one hand they’re happy that they’re still there, but they’re unhappy that their workmate is gone. “It was not easy for any of us to do that, but I think everybody who went through that felt like it was done as well as it could have been. Everybody did understand why it was being done.”

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KEYS TO SUCCESS Trust between team members, such as Jennifer Wilksen, above, and customers is a key to the company’s success, Jeannine Falter said, driving word-of-mouth recommendations among pilots, aircraft fleet managers and business aviation insiders.

Duncan Aviation’s wide range of services, such as custom-painting private airplanes, helped keep some revenue flowing. This Cessna exterior was completed in 2008.

By the end of 2009, Duncan Aviation cut expenses to offset most of a reduction in revenue of $20 million and ended up recording a small loss. It was a swing of about $40 million from record revenue in 2008. “We couldn’t have survived losing $20 million,” Aaron said. The salary reductions stayed in place until 2012. The response to the Great Recession illustrated Todd’s belief that the company has to be conservative financially because its business can go through wild swings. “We’re really fortunate that our team members stood with us, those that were remaining, and we weathered that ugly time,” Todd said. Duncan Aviation may be even better prepared for future crises, Steve Gade said, because the Senior Team has matured since 2009. “Today there’s the cultural depth, there is the intellectual depth and the leadership skills depth,” he said. When a business has a challenge, Aaron said, it often can look toward opportunity at the same time. As Duncan Aviation charted a course through the worst of the Great Recession, it was time to plan for the future. 

Professional Pilot magazine gave Duncan Aviation top ratings for decades in avionics and maintenance.

Bill Prochazka was the second employee transferred to Battle Creek and spent 12 years there, ending up as general manager. He also helped get Michigan tax laws on aircraft changed through the state legislature. Then he went to Provo to get this new site started.

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CHAPTER 13

Time to Build AFTER THE BIGGEST LAYOFFS in company history — with trimmed wages, suspended dividends, cancelled orders, declining revenue and losses on the books — Duncan Aviation’s leaders made a decision: Time to build. Plans moved ahead for an expansion in Lincoln and the opening of an entirely new operation in Provo, Utah. It might have seemed risky, but Duncan Aviation’s leaders, including then-President Aaron Hilkemann, Chairman Todd Duncan and his father, Robert, believed the economics were clear: Interest rates were low, builders were hungry for projects and the timing was right in the aviation industry for bigger facilities and geographic expansion. The Senior Team listened to its economic consultants from New Hampshire. “They recommended that it was time, when you’re in a down cycle, to build and get ready for the up cycle,” said Vice President Steve Gade. “Aaron and Robert and others had the courage to do that, as opposed to a lot of leaders who would just say, ‘We’re going to hunker down here and not take any risks.’ ” It worked out. Steve said the decision to build during the Great Recession was key to the company’s resurgence and advanced the process of opening a full-service maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facility in Provo. Todd Duncan said the recession and slow recovery prompted executives to look ahead 10 or more years in their planning, further into the future than past management plans. A walk through the Senior Team’s reasoning illustrates Duncan Aviation’s ability to find the right strategy, even in difficult times.

“We have to have bigger and more hangar space,” said Robert Duncan, with son Todd. “There are fewer and fewer people that can do a quality job of maintaining those aircraft, while our market share continues to grow.”

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“We tried to look ahead at what the company should look like and what should we be doing now or 10 years from now. We recognized that there was a lot of growth in that large and ultralarge fleet. We’ve actually projected out over the next 20 years the scheduled maintenance events, and we know how much floor space, as well as how many maintenance hours, that are going to be required over the next 20 years.” — AARON HILKEMANN

With temporary cutbacks in place to survive the Great Recession, company leaders in 2010 started focusing on what the industry would be like in the next decade. Aaron said the Senior Team considered this question: “What should we be doing now, in the worst of times, to position ourselves for the future? We tried to look at what our competitors were doing, the facilities they had, where we were at and how we should position ourselves.” Over the previous decade, many large and ultra-large aircraft had been delivered to corporations, which meant many of them soon would begin looking to Duncan Aviation for services such as repainting. “Even though we were still in the recession, we recognized the right thing to do would be to build a larger paint facility, because our current facility couldn’t paint those aircraft,” Aaron said. “So here we were, still on the salary reduction, and we announced we’re going to build an $11 or $12 million paint facility in Lincoln.” Some employees wondered how the company could consider such spending after making severe cutbacks, he said. “The response was that we could borrow money for that future expansion. We can’t borrow money for salaries. The banks don’t want to fund expenses, they want to fund a hard asset, a facility.” Beyond that, Steve said, “We explained to the staff that these represent long-term opportunities for all of us, for the company and also for you in career growth. More space means more customers, means more technicians, means more leadership and so on and so forth down the road.”

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Aaron said the company had a good credit record, and it had proved to bankers it had reacted properly when the recession hit. “We had shown them we were successful in managing the Kal-Aero acquisition,” he said. “We showed them that we can grow successfully through expansion. We had a lot of credibility with the banks.” The paint facility was finished within 15 months, and by then the aviation market had begun to rebound.

“We have the ability to see that there’s going to be a need for more hangars. We used that as a foundation to move forward on building Provo.” — AARON HILKEMANN

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Jets fit into a hangar in Lincoln in 2014 for maintenance, inspections and other services.

“All of a sudden, the new paint facility was full,” Aaron said. “So as soon as we finished that, then we started a second project,” building two more hangars in Lincoln for other departments. In all, the Lincoln expansion cost about $37 million, tens of millions less than it would have cost during a normal economy. “Think of it this way,” Aaron said. “While our customers were getting great discounts on our work back then, we were able to take advantage of discounts that the people in the building industry were still giving out to try to stay busy, too, because they were all trying to survive. “It was a great time to spend money. The cost was less, and people were willing to sell their labor just to keep them busy, just like we were doing. We took advantage of the situation, and we know we saved a lot of money.”

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The recession did slow the plan to open a new full-service MRO facility in the western United States, where over the years Duncan Aviation had built a strong clientele of customers who had to fly to Lincoln or Battle Creek for service. “We really needed to do something out west,” said Chad Doehring, who became vice president of operations and then chief operating officer at the Provo facility. “The number of service providers out there wasn’t real bountiful, especially service providers that can offer what Duncan Aviation does.” That means painting, interiors, engines, airframes — “the whole one-stop shop,” Chad said. Aaron said choosing Provo was a complex process. Airplane manufacturers and West Coast customers wanted a Duncan Aviation shop as far west as possible. “The challenge is, if you go too far west, you run into a lot of different rules on paint, not being able to put a paint facility in certain states, like California and others.

“We’re offering a career. It’s our family culture. You can tell there’s something special at Duncan Aviation facilities. It’s just a reflection of the Duncan family. We’re not just co-workers. We tend to treat each other like brothers and sisters.” — CHAD DOEHRING

“You also run into a cost of living that is excessive. We didn’t want to have a market where we had a product that was priced differently on the West Coast than it was in Lincoln and Battle Creek. To do that, you have to have a similar cost structure so you have to have employees who have a similar cost of living.” A committee of a dozen or more team members looked into several cities’ housing, crime rates, environment and other quality-of-life factors, especially focusing on education from kindergarten through universities. Aaron said the company wanted a community where people from Lincoln and Battle Creek would want to move, providing an initial base of experienced employees. On all those counts, Provo stood out, Chad said.

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Provo differs from Battle Creek, Bill Prochazka said, in that it started from scratch. The operation began with 14 people in 2010 — “a very good, solid group, good camaraderie,” he said. Provo is still hiring aggressively.

“The culture for the employees, the community, it’s just a really good place,” he said. “Customers can get there, easy flight connections.” Even so, the economy couldn’t support a new facility as originally planned. Instead, Duncan Aviation rented an existing 15,000-square-foot hangar (about one-third of a football field) in 2010 and began adding a few employees at a time, starting with a 14-person airframe and engine crew. Local officials in Provo, who had been promised a vibrant new Duncan Aviation facility, were understanding. “That speaks volumes for the City of Provo and the State of Utah,” Chad said. “They understood the financial constraints we were under as a company. They were OK with our plan, knowing that we were doing what we could and that we were committed to growing.”

“There’s good morale, good attitudes and good excitement out there.” — BILL PROCHAZKA

As the recession eased, that one-stop shop concept returned, with $60 million in new hangar and office space and a paint facility nearly identical to Lincoln’s. Starting a new full-service facility in Provo was entirely different from acquiring the existing Kal-Aero facility, said Chad, who had learned the Duncan Aviation system from the ground up. He joined the company after working as an aviation mechanic for Northrop Grumman on the U.S. Air Force’s B-2 bomber project in Palmdale, California. When that Air Force work ended, he was offered a job at Duncan Aviation. His parents’ families were from Nebraska, and he would visit frequently as he grew up.

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“It always felt like home,” Chad said. “I jumped at the opportunity to come back to Nebraska. And jobs in aviation were not really plentiful. I was excited just to have an opportunity in my career field.” He was promoted to lead mechanic, night shift supervisor, airframe manager and customer service manager, and became closely involved in the planning, construction, tooling and other aspects of the Lincoln expansion, especially the new airframe hangar. “Aaron kept telling people, ‘This is going to change Duncan Aviation,’ ” Chad said. “These big hangars that we opened up allowed us to work on ultra-large aircraft.” By late 2015 and early 2016, the signal came: “OK, it’s time to grow in Provo,” Chad said. The contractor for expanding from the initial small office was Tectonic Management Group Inc., of Wheat Ridge, Colorado. Jeff Lake, who was chief operating officer at the time and now president, began asking people if they wanted to work on the Provo expansion.

BILL PROCHAZKA SAID CUSTOMERS USED TO COMPLAIN THAT THEY HAD TO TALK WITH SEVERAL PEOPLE IN THE COMPANY TO FIGURE OUT WHAT WAS HAPPENING WITH THEIR AIRCRAFT:

“We thought this project manager concept would help, as one point of contact who would know everything that was going on with an aircraft. That ended up being the industry standard. A lot of people have copied us.” — BILL PROCHAZKA

Many of the questions were directed to Chad, because of his experience with the Lincoln expansion, his technical expertise and his management experience — honed by Duncan Aviation’s training programs and mentoring, both formal and informal. Chad’s family was in a position where a move was possible, and so he began flying back and forth to Provo as the project grew. In October 2017, he moved to Provo and in 2018 became the full-time leader of the Provo unit. The Duncan Aviation hangar rests at the north end of the Provo Municipal Airport. Chad said the Provo project mimics the Lincoln facility, “on a bigger scale,” because the main hangar includes all the services plus administrative offices. Technicians and many others had input into the Lincoln building plans, Chad said. “What do you wish you had? We incorporated that into the design and the building of the hangars. When we started in Provo, we used that as a blueprint.” The first maintenance hangar opened in January 2019, followed by the paint hangar in April and a second maintenance hangar that June. By mid-2020, the opening phase of the Provo base was complete. The first large aircraft painted in Provo was memorable: A Global Express with a unique design that fades from black at the nose to silver toward the tail.

The custom paint job on this Bombardier Global Express was the first by Duncan Aviation’s Provo paint shop.

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In June 2019 Provo opened a second 43,000-square-foot hangar, plus another building for the interior and upholstery shops. The company’s summer sales meeting was in Provo as a grand opening, with customers flying in from around the country to see the new facility. By then, about 160 people were on board, including more than 20 key people who had transferred from Lincoln and 10 from Battle Creek. “The only way we could pull off Provo was by those experienced people transferring out there,” Aaron said. “If you tried to do this with no support, you couldn’t do it. It takes time to grow people.” While the Provo operation once was limited by hangar space, Chad said the challenge soon became to hire enough people to handle all the work that could fit into the new facilities, which have room for as many as 400 employees.

Aaron Hilkemann said building the Provo operation cost about $60 million, plus $10 million for equipment and tooling.

“We have a number of 40-some year employees, and the nice thing is that we have a lot of 20-year employees that are moving up into those roles.” — AARON HILKEMANN

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“It is difficult to find technical-minded people,” he said. “They don’t necessarily have to be aviation mechanics, just technical-minded. There’s such high demand that it’s becoming very competitive. There’s a lot of wage pressure there.” So far, customer projections for Provo have been accurate, Chad said. “We have folks coming in and saying, ‘Wow, this is great! I get the whole Duncan Aviation experience closer to home.’ ” At a recent meeting of Duncan Aviation’s Board of Advisors in Michigan, Chad phoned in a progress report from Utah and showed pictures of the new facility, which includes a staff lunchroom with a deck that looks over the Wasatch Mountains. “Even though this is a new facility, this isn’t a new group,” Todd pointed out. “It’s not a start-up by any means.”

Another advantage: Provo is more of a destination than either Lincoln or Battle Creek. People fly there for recreation and other activities in that part of the country, rather than just stopping for refueling or bringing aircraft in for service. “It’s just awesome, what you’ve brought together,” Todd told Chad. As the Senior Team expected, the Provo base is providing openings within the company for lead mechanics, supervisors and other promotions, in addition to bringing new employees into the company. That also opens jobs in Lincoln and Battle Creek as employees transfer to Provo. And finding the right people, Aaron said, remains the most important job of all. 

Bill Prochazka says the Provo expansion has brought new blood into the company.

“We’re finding recruits out there who grew up working hard out in the desert and the mountain areas on farms, and they know what a hard day’s work is. It’s refreshing to see, and similar to what we have in Battle Creek and Lincoln.”

DUNCAN AVIATION PAINTING Duncan Aviation’s large-scale facilities in Lincoln, Battle Creek and Provo paint more than 200 aircraft a year and can offer custom designs: A Cessna 525, above; a Citation 750, below; and a Gulfstream G-IV, facing page.

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Colombian-American artist Nancy Friedemann Sanchez designed a “Roses and Ravens in Flight” paint and interior theme for this Duncan Aviation-owned Citation 560XLS, executed by the company’s paint and interior artisans in Lincoln.

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Global 5000, and detail top; Gulfstream G-IV, right; and Beech A36, facing page.

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DUNCAN AVIATION INTERIORS Interior renovation and custom design options include stone floors, flat-screen monitors, handcrafted upholstery and storage, sleeping facilities, work spaces and cabin dividers. When a viral pandemic appeared in 2020, Duncan Aviation developed aircraft sanitation protocols, and its upholstery department made masks for staff and area hospitals.

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“More than anything, Duncan Aviation is known for its interior and paint completions. Their cabinet construction, upholstery, finishing, sound dampening and interior installation is absolutely first rate.” — FLYING MAGAZINE

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Landing gear assemblies undergo testing and refurbishment before installation.

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CHAPTER 14

‘Everybody Has an Impact’ BILL WAGNER, FORMER CHIEF PILOT for Townsend Engineering of Des Moines and a customer of Duncan Aviation since the late 1970s, once called Robert Duncan when he was stuck in Waterloo, Iowa, with a seized-up engine. Robert turned to technician Doug Alleman, who flew to Waterloo and took a look. “I think I know what it is,” Doug said. As the sun set, he began removing the fan section, a two-hour job. It was dark outside when he grabbed a flashlight, peered into the engine’s innards and saw something wedged between the teeth of two gears: a piece of a cotter pin that had broken off and slid inside. “It’s rare, but I saw this happen one other time,” Doug told Bill. That little pin could have ruined the engine, a major expense, if a technician had missed it. Or another repair technician might have misdiagnosed the problem and simply overhauled the engine, another costly move. But Doug, who is now vice president of customer service for Duncan Aviation, gingerly extracted the wayward bit of metal and put the parts back together. “What’s special about Duncan Aviation are the employees, the technicians, particularly,” Bill said. “A lot of them are old-school and actually fix things, instead of just what we call R&R, remove and replace.” That’s a sentiment widely shared by Duncan Aviation’s customers and its Senior Team. “The company’s strength and source of success over the years lie in committed and dedicated employees,” retired executive Jeannine Falter wrote in 2000. “Their willingness to explore new ideas and work hard, in their effort to respond to and successfully meet customer demands, has resulted in a depth and breadth of quality of products and services that set the company apart from its competitors.”

Technician Doug Alleman, above, fixed Bill Wagner’s jet. “I have more stories, but every one has a good ending because of the brilliant technicians that work on these airplanes,” Bill said.

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‘GEARHEAD WANNABE’ Donald Duncan brought a new customer into the shop: Roger Penske, the racecar team owner, Bob Tooker said. “I was working in the back and he brought him through, and Donald says, ‘Tooker, this is Roger Penske,’ and I went over and shook his hand, and Roger said, ‘How you doing, boy?’ I said, ‘I’m doing fine, sir.’ It was kind of fun. As a kid growing up I was a gearhead wannabe, and Roger Penske always had Indy cars and those were kind of a favorite item that I liked to follow. He always had a good racing team, and that was fun to know.”

EFFORTS PAY DIVIDENDS Joe Huffman Sr. said the chief pilot for a company out of Chicago was “a terror,” because he would argue about everything being done to the company plane. “He was never happy with anything. Then he retired and bought his own airplane, a Cessna 441 Conquest, and he brought it in for something and we’re going, ‘Aaaah!’ “He was the nicest guy then. The problem was, he had pressure on him from his boss, and so the pressure went on down to us. He was a completely different guy when it was his own airplane.”

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Her study showed Duncan Aviation’s cultural dynamics were similar to that of a large family. “In the final analysis, the little things make a big difference and define the essence of the culture, caring about and valuing people.” That dates to the company’s earliest days. Consider master mechanic, veteran aircraft salesman and longtime manager Bob Tooker, one of the 40-year-plus veterans at Duncan Aviation and, before that, a Navy avionics technician. He credits a long list of people with influencing his career, including Henry Craft, Gene Conway, Rob Lear, Marc Shoemaker, Bob Barry, Keith Helms, Larry Graham, Kent Kussatz, Wayne Stephens, Wayne Matthes, Art Befort, John Whittington and Joe Huffman Sr. Bob Tooker

“These were guys who took an interest in you and knew what you could do,” Bob said. “You knew they trusted you. They allowed you to make decisions that made you feel like you were really contributing to the overall company.”

In recognition of his 50 years as an aircraft mechanic, Bob received the national Charles Taylor Award, named for the machinist and inventor from Nebraska who built the engine for the Wright brothers’ Flyer, the first successful powered aircraft. Bob is active in the Nebraska Aviation Council, which holds training seminars, and serves on the Nebraska Aviation Hall of Fame Committee. “Aviation’s been good to me, and I’m going to try to give back a little bit.” Chairman Emeritus Robert Duncan said the most gratifying recognition in the company’s history was being named four times — as high as No. 25 — in Fortune Magazine’s Top 100 Best Companies to Work For, a national honor that depends on employees’ perceptions of their jobs. “To me that’s the most important thing, if you can have two thousand employees who think that it’s the best place they could work,” Robert said. “They’re happy. It’s been good for their families. It’s been good for their careers. I often said that if you do things right and you work hard, the profits will come.” His mother, Betty, said she wished Donald Duncan’s parents could have seen the “Best Companies” ranking. “They would have been overwhelmed,” Betty once told a company gathering. “It makes me very proud, and I know it’s an honor you guys all have earned.”

Most team members come from within 100 miles of Lincoln, Nebraska; Battle Creek, Michigan; or Provo, Utah. “They want to be here, and want to grow their careers here,” Todd Duncan said.

Heather Cranor at work. The Duncans invite veteran team members to vacation at their place in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.

Robert describes Duncan Aviation as a triangle, with family shareholders on one side, customers on the second and team members on the third. “We used to think that the customer was the most important,” he said. “I switched to the team members many, many years ago. “I said, ‘You guys are the most important, because if you do things right, the company will be successful. It’s your responsibility to take care of safety and quality. And if you see something going wrong, you stop the process right away, because everyone’s gotta be responsible for the customer and for the quality of our service.’ “And that has worked.”

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“We’re all proud of the fact that we have created the environment we wanted to create, and it’s kind of a special place for people to have a career.”

When someone in Lincoln or Battle Creek or Provo asks, “Where do you work?” and the answer is “Duncan Aviation,” the response invariably is, “I hear that’s a great place to work.” The company hears a lot of praise for its work force.

— AARON HILKEMANN

“I look at what we do for customers and I truly am flabbergasted, the kind of quality we put out, their dedication to customer service and doing the right thing,” President Jeff Lake said. “They do not come in and just punch a clock. They’re here, they’re doing their craft. They care about Duncan Aviation.”

“Everybody has an impact with the customer. Everything has to do with the delivery of a component or an aircraft or the servicing of a customer, and everybody is responsible. Everybody has to play their part, kind of like a baseball team or football team.” — TODD DUNCAN

Kelly Allman at work. “We don’t hire bad employees,” said Kathryn Duncan.

“Duncan Aviation treats its people with respect, and they stay and stay and stay, and that’s great because you see the same people over and over again.” — BILL WAGNER

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A manager from Lincoln once said, “It is the people — strong leaders valuing great people. People who care about each other and enjoy working, succeeding and having fun together. There are so many little things about Duncan Aviation, and individually they seem almost insignificant. It is the combination of all of those little things that make it a great place to work.” Altogether, Todd said, Aaron’s Senior Team supports a “total package.”

“Many of those things don’t always have a financial reward at the end of them,” he said. “What we are talking about is just creating an environment around here that people feel good about and that they want to be here, they want to work here, and they want to help the customer, and they want to improve.” Not only that, he said: “I have a good time every day I come to work. At the end of the day, you do want it to be a fun place.”

Fun doesn’t mean there isn’t intensity. Although most promotions come from within, there is still competition. Andy Richards became vice president of modifications in April 2012. He and the other finalist, Michael Hill (now engineering manager), were well-known to Duncan Aviation, but they went through a thorough interview process. They met for an hour with each of three separate groups of senior managers, four or five in each group, with five minutes between meetings. “We had to run the gauntlet,” Andy said. Dinner with everyone followed, and the next morning the two finalists made half-hour PowerPoint presentations to the entire group on what they would do if they were selected.

Team members David Rice, left, and Britten Bankhead on the service floor. “If you take care of the employee, the employee will take care of the customer,” Steve Gade said, “especially when retaining knowledge is so important to our business.”

“We have a responsibility at the company to be involved. You always network out from those things, and people get to know you.” — ROBERT DUNCAN, HERE WITH TODD AND HARRISON

SHOWING APPRECIATION “Every Wednesday we have lunch for customers that are here in town and sit around the table, and it’s an honest-to-gosh love-fest for Duncan Aviation,” Robert said. “They talk about the positive experiences they’ve had and the people that they’ve met, and it’s really something.” In addition, the company has a dinner every other Wednesday for customers who are in town. “This type of thing costs the company hardly anything,” Robert said. “I go every time I’m available.”

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Mark Joy at work on an aircraft interior. Duncan Aviation services Cessna Citation Models 500, 550, 560, 650 and 680; Bombardier Challenger 300 and 600 Series and Globals; all Learjet models; all Dassault Falcons and Beechcraft Hawkers; Embraer’s Phenom 100 and 300; and has service authorization from Honeywell, General Electric, Pratt & Whitney, Williams International, Rockwell Collins and Universal Avionics.

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“It was a heck of a second round, a day and a half of being in the spotlight,” Andy said. Pam Orr benefited from the promotion policy. She switched to service marketing and became a manager who issued orders to start work on airplanes. She then moved to the marketing department, working with Marcia Buck, Kevin McGinn, Don Heinlein, Denny Bartunek, Bob McCammon, Clark Gordon, Rick Whitesell, Greg Beebe, Bob Tooker and others.

Duncan Aviation team members Pam Orr and Lee Bowes, above, and Tracy Bohaboj, right, are part of Duncan Aviation’s front line with customers.

She at first helped with annual trade shows, an important source of sales and contacts with customers and industry colleagues, then was put in charge, starting with a huge convention of the National Business Aviation Association.

“I was scared to death,” she said. “I was so stressed and so worried about things. When the show was over and we tore it all down and boxed it all up, we were walking out of the convention hall and I burst into tears, because the pressure was gone. But it was fun, and we got along fine.” It’s no accident that the display booth at aviation conventions features team members, Pam said. “People look at the booth and say, ‘That is so cool that you guys recognize the fact that you wouldn’t be who you are without the employees.’ “People at the shows understand our culture and admire it and probably wish they had the same thing. There are not very many, if any, companies out there that have the philosophy that Duncan Aviation does.

CUSTOMER SATISFACTION Maintaining the Duncan Aviation brand is “always a struggle,” Robert said, even with the company’s long history in a fairly small industry. “We’ve advertised over the years. We go to the conventions. But the most important thing, the very most important thing, is word-of-mouth. A satisfied customer will tell his friends, and a dissatisfied customer will tell even more people. “We do a thing called a Net Promoter Score that rates us between minus 100 and plus 100,” Robert said. “Would they come back, and would they recommend us to friends? Our Net Promoter Score is about 85, which is phenomenal. Some top companies that you would recognize are not that high. So we work really, really hard at making that possible.”

“We are family, and that’s one of the reasons I’ve been here as long as I have. I cannot imagine being anyplace else.” 

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DUNCAN AVIATION’S CULTURE

CAREER DEVELOPMENT

TRANSPARENCY

“It’s a tool to help people recognize where their careers are going, where they want to go, what help that they need,” Todd Duncan said. “That’s been an ideal place for us to raise a flag of opportunity or raise a flag in terms of a problem.”

Todd said it’s even important to share contingency plans with employees so they know what would happen if hard economic times return. “We get a lot of good feedback from people who understand what we’re planning.”

HUMAN RESOURCES

ETHICAL CONDUCT

CONNECTIONS

Mollie Anderson, a human resources executive under former President P.J. Morgan, started a policy that pays for employees’ advanced education. Ron Hall earned a college degree in 1997, after his children had finished college. “Mollie changed the complexion of HR,” said Ron, one of the original avionics technicians along with Phil Hartwick, Gene Bartosh, Ed Mataya, Joe Norbeck and Jim Mathe.

In 1990 Robert Duncan and other founders of the National Aircraft Resale Association developed a code of ethics, and in 2017 the National Business Aviation Association issued a statement on ethical best practices. Duncan Aviation team members and leaders agree to a strict Code of Ethics, with an open third-party hotline to anonymously report potential violations. “The actions of Duncan Aviation team members affect the reputation of the company,” Todd Duncan said. “And collective actions of those who work in business aviation will have a direct effect on the way our industry is perceived.”

Duncan Aviation team members are an important part of the aviation industry, said veteran engineer Joe Huffman Sr. “You’re exposed to the whole industry when you work here, because it’s a small industry. The FAA Forums, we’re all there and we’re all doing basically the same stuff, what everybody is required to have.” Todd Duncan said working at Duncan Aviation has been a steppingstone for careers elsewhere. “It’s good to see that going on throughout the industry.”

MENTORING

PASSION

QUALITY

Andy Richards worked with Tom Burt and followed him as chief operating officer in Battle Creek after Burt retired following a 40-year career. “I learned under the best,” Andy said. “He touched a lot of lives here. He prepared me and many, many others. I owe no small debt to him.”

Andy Richards said team members are “passionate about their jobs, whether they’re an HR specialist or a warehouse specialist or an aircraft mechanic or a vice president. That’s the type of people we hope to attract, and certainly the people that we retain. We want people who are all in, and we aren’t willing to lower that standard.”

“We make sure customers understand that while they can get the same job somewhere else down the road, they can’t have the same experience,” Andy Richards said. “The experience may cost a little bit more, and we’re proud of that, and we can stand by our pricing that way.”

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A UNIQUE GIFT Bill Wagner, who served as Ray Townsend’s pilot, said he and Ray were trying to figure out something special to give Robert Duncan at the company’s 50th anniversary party, since they had been customers for about 30 years. “Everything we thought of, they already had,” said Bill, at left. “About that same time, I had a trip to Denver Stapleton, and on the side of the airport there is a boneyard of aircraft and parts. I love old aviation memorabilia, and I collect old wooden props. I went over there and was looking around and here in the corner was this three-bladed DC-3 propeller.” It reminded him of the days when a DC-3 was parked on Duncan Aviation’s ramp. “I said, ‘This is it!’ and we bought that DC-3 hub and propeller.” Luckily the anniversary party was still a year away, so it was cleaned, polished and mounted in secret, under the supervision of Doyle Garrett. The propeller was unveiled at the party as an aviation work of art and is now on permanent display at a Duncan Aviation hangar, a symbol both of the company’s heritage and its long-lasting relationships with customers.

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TODD’S CHILDHOOD Todd fondly recalls going along with his Grandfather Donald to visit customers. “He would just have me sit in the lobby or sit in the airplane. I would always meet the customers and hear what they were talking about doing. All of a sudden he’d come out of an office and we’d jump in the airplane again and go to the next spot. “I got to be with his friends, travel on vacation with him and some of his friends and watch him have fun. I think that was part of my attitude of, life’s gotta be fun.” In turn, Todd flies with his sons to meetings and to visit satellite shops.

“Todd is so much like Donald that it’s scary, and it is also cool that he is like Donald.” — PAM ORR

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CHAPTER 15

Family Matters TODD DUNCAN WAS A KID when he flew with his Grandpa Donald to Kentucky to sell a Learjet. “This guy and his company were the ones responsible for making the hamburger buns for Wendy’s,” Todd recalled. “What a small world! I would eat at Wendy’s.” It was a trip he would never forget. “I got to experience what a day in the life of Donald Duncan was like,” Todd said. “He was a giant personality in my life, not just because of the company but because of his friendliness, his grandfatherliness with me.” At the time, Duncan Aviation was a small business: A dozen or so employees, just enough profit to make ends meet, struggling to compete in the world of corporate aviation and lots of hurdles ahead. Family ownership fit just fine. Todd grew up around his grandfather and his father, Robert, so he figured he would end up working for the company someday. Robert and Todd Duncan: Family connections from the start. Fast forward to today, and Duncan Aviation has grown up: Big revenue, big payroll, big facilities, big reputation in the industry. Nevertheless, the Duncan family ownership remains strong, beloved not only by family members but also by the company’s growing work force.

More than a decade before he died, founder Donald Duncan turned over management to son Robert. Todd joined the company, and eventually Robert turned over the chairmanship.

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“Work has to be fun.” — TODD DUNCAN

Robert Duncan is hands-off when it comes to running the company but he is a hands-on pilot.

Now Todd’s twin sons Harrison and P.K. are starting careers at Duncan Aviation, with the plan that they will take over some day. That’s four generations. An estimated 97 percent of family-owned businesses don’t make it to fourth generation ownership. (The twins recently married, meaning there’s a potential fifth generation.)

Robert with Todd and the Piper Cub in 2014.

Duncan Aviation is making it, thanks to a combination of personalities, respect for earlier generations, agreements among family members and a willingness to hire, develop and listen to non-family professional managers. “You know, it doesn’t occur to me that there is a difference between family and business,” Robert Duncan said. “I really don’t separate it in my mind. We’ve had the fortunate circumstance, in my case, of growing up in this business.”

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Todd’s experience is a bit different. While he occasionally gets off-duty calls from customers, he said, “when I’m home, it’s just kind of home time.” By delegating authority, he said, “our people have been able to run with it.” These days Robert is hands-off, Todd said, “and yet so supportive. He is involved where he needs to be and wants to be involved, but he doesn’t have to worry about getting that call at 11 o’clock at night because somebody’s motor didn’t show up.” From the start, Todd loved watching his father and grandfather work. “I’d see them do something different, unique, and they got to be around different people, customers and our own people and different experiences,” Todd said. “I felt this was a unique opportunity for me to be in a family business, to be in an industry that my family enjoys.” Harrison Duncan said he understands the responsibility he and P.K. will face. “I’m ready for it. Bring it on. Let’s do it.” P.K. said some people may be nervous about continuing family ownership beyond the third or fourth generation. “But Harrison and I know we’re going to beat that, so this is going to be great.” Betty Duncan said her son Robert was responsible for the company’s biggest growth, which supports the family ownership model. “There were a half-dozen people working here” when he started, she said. Aircraft sales brought in some money, but service was virtually nonexistent. “Robert was prepared, so when sales dropped off and times started to get hard, that’s when they went into service in a big way,” she said. “This is their life now, their blood, their income.”

Harrison, left, Brooke, Connie, Todd, Katie and P.K. Duncan celebrated two weddings in 2019.

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THE DUNCAN FAMILY CONSTITUTION At Todd Duncan’s urging, family members and company leaders developed a document that describes the business relationships and responsibilities of family members, drawing partly on other family-owned businesses’ “family constitutions.” The Duncan Family Constitution tells the story of the company’s first 60 years, the constitution states the family’s mission, vision and values and sets down the individual roles of family members and policies affecting family shareholders such as dividends and stock transfers. The constitution defines the role of the Board of Advisors and outlines communications practices such as the annual management report to family members, which is similar to financial reports to shareholders of publicly traded corporations. “The Family Constitution helps ensure that future Duncan generations continue to build upon the legacy of the first three generations who have led the organization,” said CEO Aaron Hilkemann. “Each generation will have an opportunity to use the Family Constitution as a foundation for its future and will have a better understanding of its past.”

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Executive Steve Gade said family ownership works at least partly because Robert Duncan relies on CEO Aaron Hilkemann, President Jeff Lake and a corps of other top non-family executives to run day-to-day operations. “When that happens, you make good decisions,” Steve said. “If you’re running it by yourself because you think you are the smartest guy in the room, sometimes you have blind spots, and that’s when you get in trouble. But if you truly have robust discussions, that seems to reduce some of the error factor.” Harrison heard that same lesson from Aaron during one of their monthly lunches. “I told him that I wanted to be part of the day-to-day operations and be here every single day, part of the success and learning from the failure,” Harrison said. Aaron agreed, but told Harrison, “You know, we need a president who’s not a Duncan.” Todd said, “His biggest reason was, if we do poorly and you’re making poor decisions, they’re not going to come tell Mr. Duncan that he’s making a poor decision.” Business consultant Bob Beale, who helped with the company’s management transitions, said Todd was in the difficult position of being the grandson of the founder and son of the company’s successful top executive. “In a family business, sometimes the son is even more effective than the father, but it’s often the other way, that he simply doesn’t have the horsepower to take over,” Bob said. “I got to know Todd well. He’s a really nice guy, and it took some time to decide what he wanted to do. “He ended up heading the avionics department and apparently did a good job with that. Todd is, I think, really smart, but he would not have been the right person to be the CEO of the company. Robert, to his credit, acknowledged that.” Instead, Todd followed Robert as chairman, with Aaron remaining as president and becoming CEO in 2020. Jeff Lake, another non-family member, is president. “Robert handled that extraordinarily well, from what I can see,” Bob said. He said Harrison and P.K. may or may not develop into hands-on managers. “You can destroy a company if you put non-qualified family members in a key position. That happens all the time, but I think the Duncan family is wisely attuned to the possibility of limitations.” P.K. said he hopes to work his way up through the organization, starting with a regular job interview and a normal hiring process. “I don’t want to be known as someone who’s been given everything all his life, even though I’ve been very fortunate,” he said.

Even after relinquishing day-to-day management and becoming chairman emeritus, Robert still brings unique qualities to the company, Aaron said. “He’s never been a micromanager, but he does have a certain amount of flair, that bow tie flair, and the arts flair,” Aaron said. “And the focus on the vision of having great quality, a great work environment for our team members, a great family atmosphere, that’s continued to permeate the company.” Steve Gade said the family members’ personalities give the company zest. “Todd’s a little more energetic, we would call it expressive,” he said. “Robert’s a little more reserved and cerebral. Todd’s emotional, which he channels positively.” Todd’s and Connie’s sons, Harrison and P.K., are “chips off the old block,” Steve said, benefiting from her mothering skills as well as Karen Duncan’s grandmothering skills. “Karen’s always been the one that, I think, level-set the kids.” Tom Burt, who recently retired as executive vice president, said family ownership makes Duncan Aviation special. “Having been at it for almost 40 years and having known the Duncan family nearly the whole time, you begin to have an appreciation for how much the family has to do with the atmosphere at work,” Tom said.

Robert and Karen Duncan travel extensively, partly for their collection of contemporary art.

A SECOND FAMILY Duncan Aviation’s family orientation is especially beneficial to employees who don’t have nearby family members or who didn’t grow up with strong family connections.

“It’s interesting how the family’s regard for our employees — like the Silver Wings program (for employees with 25 or more years of service) and investing in the business — have really put a stamp on the whole company. I think what helps us be unique is that ongoing, 60 years-plus of the family staying the course, even when it wasn’t easy.” Family philosophy extends to respectful treatment of employees and openly sharing the business’s financial information, a rare, perhaps unique, practice. Even the employee newsletter, with items about new babies and employee accomplishments, helps spread and strengthen an upbeat family-style culture. Besides Robert’s family, minority ownership of Duncan Aviation is held by his two sisters’ families, alongside ownership of the Duncans’ Bank Iowa Corporation and other businesses. The older shareholders typically gift their shares gradually to younger family members. Dividends are based on company profits after reinvestments in the business.

“Personally, it’s a matter of trust, respect, caring and concern,” one employee told Jeannine Falter. “I feel very close to a significant number of people here that transcends the traditional employee-co-worker relationship. When I come to work, I don’t feel like I’m going to a job as much as I’m going to my second family. I’m comfortable sharing and discussing things with certain people at work. I’m sure that doesn’t exist in other organizations.”

The Duncans’ most public contemporary art piece is “Pitch, Roll & Yaw” — the three motions of an airplane in flight — by artist Shannon Hansen. The paper airplane-like metal craft, with a wingspan of 20 feet, greets visitors to the Lincoln Air Park.

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“The banks and Duncan Aviation are pretty separate,” said Robert’s daughter, Paige, who is chairman of the banks’ Board of Directors. “Duncan Aviation is much larger and has more resources, so we occasionally come over and steal some ideas, like human resource ideas and things like that.

“They’ve been a good complement to one another, because when the aviation business was really in trouble, the banking business kind of chugs along, and there have been times when banking’s been tougher.” Betty Duncan encouraged her daughters, Kathryn and Dianne, to sell a lot of their Duncan Aviation stock to Robert years ago. “I wish we wouldn’t have sold as much as we did,” Kathryn said. “On the other hand, he’s the one in the business. But we got a lot of the stock in the banks, and the banks are pretty steady. All the banks are doing is increasing in value. “Duncan Aviation has now become more like their family business, and Dianne and I and our families are less involved, because we have less ownership. But when I come here, I still feel like I own the company, and they never put me down.”

Robert and Karen, shown having some close-up fun with the sculpture, also display part of their collection in a former Carnegie Library in their hometown, Clarinda, Iowa.

Dianne said she and Kathryn are fine being in the background. “I find over the years that some people think I am in Robert’s stratosphere of finances,” she said. “I have to go, ‘No, no, no, I don’t have money to give to you like that.’ ”

Family members get along personally, Dianne said. “We love Todd, love Paige. The cousins are always eager to see each other. In so many businesses, there’s somebody who’s always trying to shake the tree, rock the boat. “I’m real happy with how things have gone. I love having Robert for a brother, he is a great guy. He’s a lot of fun.” Steve Gade said Duncan family members don’t make short-term decisions that would bring them more money. “They are in it for the long haul,” Steve said. “It’s amazing, compared to our peers, how much of our profits we reinvest in the company at a relatively low margin, but that’s how the Duncans do things. We are very fortunate for that.”

OWNERSHIP Robert and Karen share ownership of the company with son Todd, daughter Paige and Robert’s sisters. “One of these days, my sisters will probably want to sell their interest,” Robert said. “Karen and I owned 90 percent and my two sisters, Kathryn and Dianne, owned 10 percent. More than 20 years ago we started selling our interest to Todd and Paige. “We’re down to about 15 percent of the company and will probably stay at about that level. Of course, the company’s continued to grow, and that 15 percent is worth a lot more. Our children are at about the point where we were when we made that decision. They’re going to have to start selling stock to their children.”

“I’m really pleased with the job Todd’s done. I trust him, and I’ve never really disagreed with anything. He has a great team of people and takes their advice. We’ve been very lucky.” — PAIGE DUNCAN

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BUILDING A LEGACY

FAMILY OWNERSHIP WASN’T a big deal in 1965 when Robert and Karen, both 23, married and moved to Lincoln. “Robert worked night and day, and I was in this house on J Street that had squirrels in the ceiling,” Karen said. “I was going crazy, so I did come down and answer the phones for a while. “I never knew when I married Robert what our life was going to be. I knew Robert was going to stay in aviation, but I never knew whether it was ever going to grow. At the time I thought, ‘crazy business,’ and we had 12 employees. They basically pumped gas out here. That was pretty much it, and a few flying charters.” From the start, Duncan family members have worked long hours, Robert said. “I remember on Saturdays, Donald, Harry (Barr) and I and whoever else was around would go to one of the hamburger joints,” he said. “We’d have a hamburger, then we’d go back to work.” During the summers between his junior and senior years of college, Robert essentially lived at the Lincoln office. “I flew charters, I flew demonstrations, I helped pump the gas. It was easier just to stay here and do it.” Those hours gave Robert and his father plenty of time to talk.

Paige, Robert, Karen and Todd Duncan.

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“If we wanted to bounce ideas off of each other, if you needed advice about something, you’d go sit down and talk about it,” Robert said. “Donald had a unique ability to not hang onto disagreements or arguments. We’d disagree about something, go home at night and be angry at one another. The next day, you’d never know it. He’d start the whole day new.”

Todd was an intern in the sales department when he joined the company and then spent four years in the components department. “I had great opportunities to interact with my dad, but I also had great opportunities with my team, and I really appreciated both of those.” Todd has been part of the Senior Team under CEO Aaron Hilkemann for more than two decades. “He saw the company evolve and grow,” Aaron said. “Since he became chairman, I would say he’s been just as supportive as Robert. He still comes to most of the Senior Team meetings, not as chairman but as a team member, just like the rest of the team. “It wasn’t like it was another family member who had not been knowledgeable about what had occurred. He had history and involvement. I think he’s grown in his role as chairman, just like all of us have grown over the last 20 years together.” Todd said working with the Senior Team has been his “greatest pleasure. They’ve been my training ground. When I entered that deal, I was 30 years old. I was really, really young to do the Senior Team thing and to run the components department, 300 or so people in that group. “I couldn’t have done it without the people I work with here, without the Senior Team. We made sure we created this throughout the rest of the organization, so they all had that support.” Tom Burt has watched Todd develop into a leader. “We are all confident and feel the future is still pretty bright. I thought it was kind of nice the way Robert stepped away from it when he retired, left it to Todd as chairman and said, ‘You got it, Bud.’ Obviously, Robert is still connected, but he let Todd do what he wanted to do.” Robert said passing the chairmanship to Todd has worked out well. “I’m amazed at what Todd has done, figuring out how we best fit the company and getting the right people who are strong enough and smart enough to do the things family members can’t do.” For the future, Robert said, “I give Todd a lot of credit for creating the enthusiasm with his sons and giving them the opportunity.”

Betty, left, Karen, Robert and Todd in the back row; Paige with Summers and Connie with Harrison and P.K. in the front row.

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ON THE JOB TRAINING Betty Duncan said Robert invested in the Garden Cafe restaurant chain, and Todd drove to Omaha to learn the business. “He did the whole bit,” Betty said. “He did the baking, cooking, everything, waiting on tables, he learned the whole thing. His dad thought it was good for him. It was very difficult. It’s awfully easy for kids, if they have money, not to apply themselves.”

Harrison has an economics degree from Nebraska Wesleyan University, and P.K. has technical certifications from an aviation school in Denver, in addition to a degree in communications from California Lutheran University. “I think it’s exciting that they’ve both got a career path in the business, whether it’s the technical side or the relationship side,” Todd said. “They get along, although they have a bit of competition there. It’s a great way for P.K. to enter the business, and Harrison’s really enjoyed his work.” Aaron said he and Harrison worked out a plan for him to gain broad experience with the company, starting with the Internal Audit Department. “He needs to have a good foundation, and through that, he’ll start to see what he might like to do within the company and grow,” Aaron said.

Betty Duncan with Todd, Connie, Harrison and P.K.

“I think they’ll do a great job there,” Karen said. “I’m already really proud of Harrison. He shows up with his tie at 7 o’clock in the morning. He’s there, very proud of it, and of course P.K.’s training in Denver was wonderful. I think the boys will be great.”

Licensed pilots Robert and Harrison share some cockpit time. P.K., who has his Airframe & Powerplant certification, is earning a pilot’s license, too.

Karen said she sees Duncan Aviation continuing as a family-owned business. “I’m very proud of that. Of course, I love Duncan Aviation. It’s given us a great life, and I like to think that we’ve given all the people that work there and their children great lives, too.” 

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“We’re not trying to come into the company and immediately run it. We want to learn about the company first. We want to know everything we can before we take on the next level. It’s a growing business, and it’s a growing place for everybody.” — P.K. DUNCAN

Harrison and Brooke, above; P.K. and Katie, top; Todd and Connie, right.

The Board of Advisors meets at Battle Creek, Michigan, in 2019. Outside members provide independent viewpoints, react to plans, track industry trends and, in general, work with inside members to watch over the company.

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CHAPTER 16

Sound Advice AT THE CONFERENCE TABLE on the second floor of Duncan Aviation’s base in Battle Creek, Michigan, Aaron Hilkemann cites a new study of family-owned businesses. Without an independent advisory board, he says, three-fourths of them don’t make it past their third generation. “Harrison, just listen up,” says Todd Duncan, chairman. The line has the ring of truth but also gets a laugh from the 13 men and one woman (Jamie Harder, chief financial officer) in the room, including Harrison, who is just starting his career at the company founded by his great-grandfather Donald. Duncan Aviation’s Board of Advisors is holding a 2019 quarterly meeting, with its five outside advisors plus company executives, some via conference call. Such boards have become much more common in recent years, but Robert Duncan recruited his first in 1984. “Dad was way ahead of his time,” Todd Duncan says. Todd runs the two-day meeting and comes prepared: He had attended a conference presented by Goldman Sachs to gather the latest thinking on the world economy. Robert offers sage suggestions, and Harrison — a fourth-generation family member of the company — is indeed listening. He and his twin brother, P.K., vow to keep Duncan Aviation as a successful family business, and the Board of Advisors is part of that effort. While the morning meeting is under way, a jet outside the window starts cranking up for a flight. Nobody seems to hear the twin engines’ rising whine. Eventually the aircraft taxies toward the runway and takes off, but the sound is so common to these folks that nobody turns to look.

Harrison and P.K. Duncan in 2013.

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It’s a collegial group, with occasional laughter and good-natured kidding, but its business is serious, and it has saved Duncan Aviation from dangerous situations more than once. The board was created fairly soon after Donald Duncan’s death. Robert had relied on his father for ideas and feedback, so he needed someone he trusted to fill that role. How do the advisors and the executives contribute? During the two days in Battle Creek, the agenda included charter flights, fractional jet ownership, acquisitions, customer service, the economy, government regulations, new safety requirements, on-time delivery, quality service ratings, training investments, hiring and promoting, competitors, lawsuits, short-term planning, long-term planning, retirements, aircraft manufacturers, aviation equipment makers, interest rates, oil prices, steel production, exports, production incentives, vertical takeoff airplanes, software, jet engines, 10-year sales projections, expansion in Battle Creek, the grand opening of a new Provo base, partnership opportunities, satellite shop leases, marketing ideas, federal and state taxes … The list goes on. It’s not just aviation gossip. The discussions can influence Duncan Aviation’s business operations, correct mistaken strategies, resolve problems and lead to new, profitable directions. Duncan Aviation counsel Tom Fischer, left, Todd Duncan and Board of Advisors member John Reed study reports before a meeting.

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For example, the detailed succession plans for Duncan Aviation managers and executives came from an advisor’s suggestion.

Chad Doehring

In the early 1980s, when interest rates rose to choking levels, the Board of Advisors called for selling off Duncan Aviation’s $30 million in excess Learjet inventory. The fire-sale prices ate up $10 million of the company’s capital but reduced its debt and likely saved it.

2019 BOARD MEETING

Board members also recommended forming customer advisory boards and now Duncan Aviation has one for the United States, one for Latin America and one for customers in Europe, Africa and Asia.

• ERNIE EDWARDS retired president of Embraer Executive Jets, senior vice president and chief commercial officer of aircraft manufacturer Aerion Corp. and non-executive director of Veling Tayara aircraft dealer.

In early 2017, when the Senior Team thought the company was doing well, the advisors took a deeper look at costs and revenue and raised an alarm.

“We as a management group weren’t really looking for peak efficiency,” said Chad Doehring, vice president of operations at Duncan Aviation’s facility in Provo, Utah. “We were kind of bumbling along, thinking everything is OK.” With the board prodding, management realized that potential trouble lay ahead, requiring changes. “It was kind of our ‘Aha!’ moment,” Chad said. By mid-2019, efficiency had improved, and the lesson became solidly embedded in Duncan Aviation’s management strategy. “We’ve always got to keep our pencil sharp, especially in this low-margin industry,” Chad said. “We want to be the best employer and have the best facilities, but we have to make money to invest in those facilities. It’s good to have the Advisory Board around to challenge us.” Duncan Aviation recruits the board members from industry contacts and pays them to dispense business advice. The outside members also love the contact with each other and with Duncan Aviation executives. “It’s a good group,” Aaron Hilkemann said. “We’re not just talking among ourselves and thinking we’re doing a great job. You have to have outside help.”

As the Duncan Aviation Board of Advisors convened its mid-2019 meeting, the outside members were:

• LARRY FLYNN retired president of Gulfstream Aerospace. • MARTY HILLER owner of Marathon (Florida) Jet Center and Marathon General Aviation and CEO of Hiller Carbon, a supplier of carbon to steel mills and foundries. • JOHN REED managing member of Reed Capital Partners investment firm and managing director of NorthMarq. • ROGER WHYTE retired senior executive with Cessna Aircraft and chairman of the Central European Private Aviation Association.

Before the meeting starts, board members receive three-ring binders with a Duncan Aviation logo on the front, blue background at the top and fading to white like a highaltitude jet descending into the clouds. Tabs for Items 1-10 have reports and statistics and keep the conversation on track.

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THE SUCCESSION PLAN Gary Hay, former CEO of Cessna, suggested a succession plan for managers through the Board of Advisors. “We continue to update that every year,” Aaron said. “We try to identify individuals in the company who have the potential to move into those roles. We give them either assignments or special projects or put them into certain roles so they have the background to move into the Senior Team. When we have had openings in the Senior Team, it’s usually a 20-year person who we can move into that role.”

After a three-hour afternoon session, the out-of-towners head to a hotel in nearby Kalamazoo and then meet for dinner downstairs. It’s like a gathering of old friends. Someone kids Aaron that his next management bonding trip will be to Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa. The social aspect of the dinner quickly dies down, giving way to a discussion of issues that came up during the afternoon session or that board members want to bring up tomorrow. For example, how many hours is the average corporate jet flying per year? It’s a vital factor when it comes to inspections and upgrades on aging aircraft. The next day brings six hours of meetings. “Is there a model in the future, if you look at a big, bodacious goal, that’s transformative, to differentiate ourselves from the competition?” an advisor asks. “You’ve got the best facilities, the best people, the best quality, the best team, the best family.” He wants Duncan Aviation to go beyond that. Todd offers to set up tours when advisors visit cities with Duncan Aviation’s satellite shops. Satellite managers are “very innovative, very bright,” he says, and the shops provide help to customers so they will think of Duncan Aviation’s larger facilities as needed.

BOARD DIVERSITY There was just one woman at the table — Jamie Harder, chief financial officer — and everybody at a two-day meeting in 2019 was white. The group discussed diversity issues more than once. Board members agreed that military veterans are a good source of qualified women and minorities, and immigrants also are possibilities.

At an earlier board meeting, an advisor suggested having customer advisory meetings at the satellite shops. Todd already has scheduled four of them. About noon, Todd announces, “It is lunchtime.” The Battle Creek staff has arranged sandwiches on a nearby table. Within 15 minutes, the meeting resumes. Todd talks about computer apps that turn iPads into integrated flight centers, with real-time images of airports, even small ones. Chad Doehring briefs the board on the Provo facility’s progress and upcoming customer open-house briefings.

“We’ve tried,” Aaron said. He resolved to make progress.

The advisors take turns in a wide-ranging discussion on how Duncan Aviation potentially could be impacted by everything from steel prices to competitors’ executives to international trends in aircraft sales and manufacturing.

Since then, retired executive Jeannine Falter has joined the Board of Advisors.

“I think each one of us Advisory Board members, we have a charter, governance guidelines,” one of them tells the Duncan Aviation executives. “We understand what you expect.” 

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Advisors report industry trends, such as the move to larger aircraft, and offer ideas to Duncan Aviation managers.

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HARRISON DUNCAN

HARRISON DUNCAN SPENT WEEKS visiting each of Duncan Aviation’s production shops before starting in the internal audit division in January 2018, working on the compliance and regulatory audits. “I think that I know a little bit about a lot of things,” he said. “I know what each shop does, but I want to learn more of the specifics of what they do.” Harrison doesn’t want to be considered “Mr. Duncan’s kid, someone who can do whatever he wants.” He felt that as a member of the owning family, he had to work harder to prove himself when he started. “I would pressure myself and push a little bit, because I wanted to prove to everyone that I deserve to be there.” But in the process, he learned that he also needed to be himself. “I’m like anyone else right now, I’m just another employee. I like working with everyone.” That’s not unlike his father, Todd. “People say we’re a lot alike,” Harrison said. “We sound a lot alike, too, so when I call people around here, they think I’m him sometimes.” Harrison received his private pilot’s license just before Thanksgiving in 2019, joining the tradition of Duncan family members becoming pilots. Harrison said he knows that he isn’t like the average new employee coming on board at Duncan Aviation, since he owns a small part of the company and is destined to become an officer in the future.

P.K., Todd, Connie and Harrison in 2014, before the twins joined the company.

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“That’s a discussion I’ve had with my brother,” Harrison said. “Our dad is not going to work forever, so we need to be prepared to take that position and be leaders for the company. We need to continue to progress in our careers and gain more experience.”

Harrison plans to earn a master’s degree in business, which he considers unfinished family business since his father and grandfather didn’t earn advanced degrees. “We continue to grow, and we’re going to be a bigger company in ten, 15 years, and so I need to prepare myself for that.” Harrison said he likes new ideas. At a recent National Business Aircraft Association convention, he and Todd met a man who hopes to bring personal helicopters to people in big cities. “I thought, ‘We have to get into that. That’s the wave of the future,’ ” he said. Spoken like a true Duncan. 

P.K. DUNCAN

WHEN P.K. DUNCAN WAS about 12 years old, he and his father were walking through the displays at the annual international air show at Oshkosh, Wisconsin. P.K. stopped at a booth for Western Michigan University’s College of Aviation and was handed a T-shirt with the school’s logo and some important words: Airframe and Powerplant. “That would be really cool to do,” he told his dad. Then P.K. completely forgot about it. After graduating Lincoln Lutheran High School, he and his future wife, Katie Lupori, went to California, where he earned a degree in communicationsjournalism from California Lutheran University and began writing for a surfing magazine. He was well into his early 20s and still relying financially on his parents when Todd said, “What do you want to do? We’ve got to change things up.” P.K. wasn’t sure what was next, but he knew he was done with the surfing life in California and realized he could make as much money flipping burgers as he could with his writing — and without a 90-minute commute to work each way. He finally told his father, “I want to work at Duncan Aviation, but I don’t know what I want to do.” Todd reminded him of the Western Michigan T-shirt. Technical training still sounded good, so he enrolled in 2017 at the Spartan College of Aeronautics and Technology in Denver. “I love it,” he said. In mid-2020, Paul Kent Duncan became the first member of his family certified as an airframe mechanic. “I’ve never been much of a suit-and-tie, sit-at-a-desk type of person. I like the hands-on idea of it.”

Harrison, P.K., Todd and Connie in 2014: Airplanes are a part of family life.

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That year he joined twin brother Harrison as an employee of Duncan Aviation.

An aviation job wasn’t a certainty for P.K. As teenagers the two boys sat in on business meetings, read articles that their father recommended and were well aware of what happened at the company during the Great Recession. But the family has never put pressure on younger members to join Duncan Aviation. “If you’re interested in it, then that’s great,” P.K. explained. “If you’re not, then let’s see what you are interested in. Just being around Duncan Aviation all of my life, I slowly found out that this is something I do want to do.” A bonus: Robert “Coco” Suarez, the twins’ friend from childhood, also works for Duncan Aviation. For now, P.K. plans to work as an entry-level mechanic, and although he has taken flying lessons, he isn’t certified. “It still hasn’t interested me yet,” he said. “I’d rather work on them and let others fly them right now.” He particularly enjoyed his sheet-metal class. “My grandfather and dad have always said I’m just like my great-grandfather Donald,” P.K. said. “Unfortunately I never got to meet him, but he was just an outgoing person. I enjoy talking to people.” No matter what his job is at Duncan Aviation, he knows the future includes ownership responsibilities alongside his brother. He expects Duncan Aviation to continue, “not just for my brother and my generation, but hopefully for our kids.” 

Todd Duncan in his restored Piper Cub in 2012.

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CHAPTER 17

‘We Get to Fly’ AS A NEW DECADE BEGINS, Duncan Aviation is looking ahead — not just a decade ahead with a formal 10-year plan, but generations ahead. While precise predictions are impossible in the cyclical aviation business, the company’s leaders believe in a clear, long-term course: steady growth, continued careful financing, an emphasis on quality and working hard to attract the best people in dozens of specialties. Possibilities include expansion within the company’s locations in Nebraska, Michigan and Utah and a new location, perhaps in the South. New services. Acquisitions. The international market. But Duncan Aviation can’t control things like viruses, national and international economies, technological advances, workforce availability and competitors. “I don’t believe aviation’s going away,” Chairman Emeritus Robert Duncan said. “I think it’ll grow at a very slow pace, and the opportunity for Duncan Aviation is to take market share.” While the company is the largest operator in a number of aviation segments, he said, it still has room to grow, because the industry is so “spread out.” “There’s not going to be any Facebook-type growth, but it’s a business we know,” he said. “We’re very good at it. It’s provided us with a reputation around the country and around the world that’s just fabulous.” Because privately owned companies have limited funds, he said, “we have to make the right decisions, make the right investments. But I am optimistic. I don’t see any reason, through this next generation and beyond, that the company cannot be successful.” Chairman Todd Duncan said the immediate plan is to increase the Provo facility’s range of services and general internal growth at the satellite shops and in Lincoln and Battle Creek.

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“We are, in my opinion, state-of-the-art in today’s maintenance world. We have competitors, but our shops are staying full and busy because of the product we turn out and customer satisfaction.” — HARRY BARR

The Lincoln operation in 2012, above, and technicians Jon Abrahamsen, left, and Chelsea Ortiz, facing page. Diversifying services is important for the future, Todd Duncan said.

“Diversifying into other areas makes us a safer, more competent company for the future as well,” Todd said. “We’ve got to be a little bit nimble and flexible at the same time.” That flexibility showed through as the COVID-19 virus slowed down business travel in 2020. Duncan Aviation responded by reducing spending, including reductions in pay and work hours, and developed new methods for sanitizing aircraft, along with other measures designed to keep team members and clients healthy. The upholstery shop began making face masks for team members and for hospitals in Lincoln, Battle Creek and Provo. In a newsletter that spring, Todd wrote to team members, “Business aviation will be instrumental in helping our nation recover from the economic impact of this pandemic response. … I have no doubt that together, Duncan Aviation has the best team going into this fight. Together, we will prevail.”

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Although travel, the economy and daily life in general were all significantly altered in 2020, CEO Aaron Hilkemann said he still anticipated future growth within Duncan Aviation’s existing operations, with the next building addition coming in Battle Creek and the one after that in Lincoln. Jeff Lake, newly named as president, was an accountant for International Paper in Lincoln before joining Duncan Aviation in 1993 as controller. He soon became vice president of finance and, in 1998, chief financial officer. He worked with several teams before becoming chief operating officer in 2008. “I like the customer interaction, but probably the thing I like most is working with the team members on the floor,” Jeff said. “That’s why customers come to Duncan Aviation. To me, that’s where the reputation for Duncan Aviation comes from.” Business growth depends on team members, he said. Duncan Aviation has worked hard to become faster and more efficient with less waste. That means the next challenge is to cultivate labor resources. “There are going to be a lot more in the way of retirements when it comes to that technical area, and young people today aren’t looking to be a mechanic or a painter,” Jeff said. “We’re going to have to do a lot of training and developing people ourselves.” Growth also depends on relationships with customers, aircraft manufacturers and vendors. Duncan Aviation needs to maintain its trusted brand and make certain that reputation is spread throughout the industry. “Not only do our customers respect and feel like we have the best quality, but the people in the industry that we work with, our competition, the original equipment makers, all look at Duncan Aviation as being top-notch and really leading the group,” Jeff said.

“They’ve really developed a superb culture over time, where employees are respected and treated fairly. They have been able to attract very good people, and not everybody wants to move to Lincoln, Nebraska. It’s a nice city, but a really good company can attract people who want to be part of it.” — BOB BEALE

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Executive Steve Gade said internal growth and capturing market share depend partly on letting potential customers know about Duncan Aviation’s collection of about 20 airplane-related services. “That’s one of our challenges,” Steve said. When potential customers come in for tours, they not only meet the Senior Team — including Robert, Todd and Aaron — but also the people on the floor. “The Duncan Aviation people light up and express such pride in their work, you can’t replace that with all the advertising in the world,” Steve said. “The customers always leave after that experience saying, ‘I had no idea you guys did all this.’ ” Business consultant Bob Beale said Duncan Aviation’s performance resonates with customers, and that bodes well for the future. “Without exception, they say, ‘Wow, they do a really good job. They do what they say they will do and they’re always within the time limit.’ ” On the international front, Aaron said, Duncan Aviation is helping the U.S. industry work with its European counterpart to make the two largest markets compatible in such areas as required aircraft maintenance. Members of Duncan Aviation’s European customer advisory board have discussed different nations’ aviation regulations that sometimes conflict. Aaron, as chairman of the U.S. General Aviation Manufacturers Association, was able to bring those issues to the European Aviation Safety Agency, the EASA. Robert Montano and other team members sometimes meet visitors touring the hangars and shops.

“We started a maintenance focus, so now they are working with EASA to try to change some of the regulations in Europe to make it better for our operators to manage aircraft and do maintenance over there,” Aaron said. The company’s European advisory board met with Patrick Key, director and the president of EASA. “It’s great that he could see first-hand the challenges they have, and what needed to be changed,” Aaron said. “All those things help us be a positive influence on the industry.” They also enhance the company’s reputation. Duncan Aviation already services many aircraft from Central and South America, but the overall strategy in other nations is to work with existing companies rather than trying to compete.

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The success with the Kal-Aero acquisition and expansion also are important for the future, said Dennis VanStrien, who recently retired at the Battle Creek facility. After some early worries about filling hangars, the operation is running smoothly and serves as a model for any future expansion. “Customers from Atlanta are always saying, ‘Can you get a place down here?’ ” Dennis said. “They know that the culture will be the Duncan Aviation culture. They’ve got it in Lincoln. They’ve done it in Battle Creek, they’re doing it in Provo.” The Provo facility has land for expansion if the need arises, said Chad Doehring, vice president at the Utah operation.

Todd said he’s proud that Duncan Aviation does business with most of the nation’s professional flight departments. “They are the very best operators in the United States, the very best of companies.”

Omaha businessman John Nelson, a member of the first Board of Advisors, thinks the company will continue to grow and prosper. “They’re just a very well-run, disciplined organization.” For example, John said, Duncan Aviation successfully coped with the shift to larger executive aircraft by adding larger hangars and team members with the knowledge and tools to be a designated service center. Of course, the company can’t control everything. Some of Aaron’s concerns are the same as with any business: Government debt, Baby Boomer retirements, health insurance, the stock market, interest rates and the direction of the economy. “I always tell people that we’re a reflection of the Wall Street Journal,” Aaron said. “If you see companies that are successful, they’re adding new aircraft, they’re selling their old ones. If the oil industry was impacted negatively during the recession, we saw people selling aircraft, and that had a huge impact on our segment. “We’re not going to be successful if the economy is in bad shape, so we watch closely what is happening at the macro level.” Harrison, Todd and P.K. in 2017.

The Senior Team is better equipped to handle a downturn because of the lessons learned in 2009 and because of the detailed succession plan, Steve Gade said. For their part, Duncan family members are optimistic about the company’s future, partly because Todd’s sons, Harrison and P.K., have joined the company. “With Harrison and P.K., it will be interesting to see,” said Dianne Duncan Thomas, one of Robert’s sisters. “We’ve had great people. Aaron’s been fantastic, and Jeff is really good. They’ve got really wonderful people running the day-to-day.” She said she never thought Duncan Aviation would be as big as it is.

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GREAT MEMORIES “You know something, we’ve had a lot of fun along the way with this business,” Robert said. “We’ve had some crises, some really tough times when we thought we were gonna lose the business. But by and large, it’s been a lot of fun, and we’ve met fascinating people from all over the world. Many of them become friends, and some of them we stay in contact with. “So, it’s been a great trip, a great ride.”

“You always worry about change. After Dad died, I thought, ‘Oh, what’s going to happen?’ But everything went along fine. It’s a long way from a little farm boy to what it has become,” Dianne said. “But isn’t that what the American dream is all about?” Paige Duncan said brother Todd has grown into the role of chairman. “I’m super proud of him. I’m amazed that he just keeps getting to be a better and better leader all the time.” Family ownership and participation in the company may change as the years pass, she said. “I would love to have the family continue to be involved, but more than that, I want the company to continue to succeed,” Paige said. “And if that takes outside members, that’s totally fine.” Robert said one of the keys to future success is continuing some of the basics taught by founder Donald Duncan.

DUNCAN AVIATION’S FUTURE “Things will change, but we will just deal with it as we can,” Paige said. “As long as I can remember, my dad has never shied away from talking about what will happen down the road.” She’s familiar with Robert saying, “We need to talk about this again” and “We need to go over this again.” “So there are no surprises,” she said. “He’s been super helpful in that way.”

“One of the things he said was, ‘Don’t burn any bridges, particularly your bank. Always be truthful with the banker and be truthful with vendors that we’ve dealt with in this industry.’ “You keep building relationships, keep talking to people even though it’s tough sometimes.” He remains optimistic about what’s over the horizon. “If you want to make a huge fortune, this isn’t the business to be in. But if we sold the business and invested in something, what’s the likelihood that it would be better than what we have? “We love our business. We have fun. We get to fly.” 

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1967

DUNCAN AVIATION MILESTONES

• John Ellis moves to Kalamazoo, Michigan, late in the year and opens a fixed-base operation known as Kal-Aero Inc. (later Duncan AviationBattle Creek) with four full-time and three part-time employees.

1956 Donald Duncan becomes a partner in a Beechcraft distributorship in Omaha.

1950s

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1962

1965

Duncan Aviation forms Panhandle Aviation and partners with Boeing to support construction of Minuteman Missile sites throughout the Midwest.

Duncan Aviation takes delivery of its first Learjet 23, Serial #13. In his lifetime, Donald sells Lucky Learjet #13 five different times.

• Duncan Aviation begins air freight operations in Alaska through a contract with Alaska’s Bureau of Land Management. This work continues through 1990. • Duncan Aviation’s Omaha facility is sold and all Duncan Aviation operations are consolidated at the Lincoln facility. Duncan Aviation becomes a Factory Authorized Learjet Service Center.

1960s 1958

1963

1966

1968

Donald Duncan’s son, Robert Duncan, begins taking flying lessons. He solos at age 16 and sells his first aircraft for Duncan Aviation while still in high school.

• Duncan Aviation opens a second operation at the then-new Municipal Airport in Lincoln, Nebraska. It keeps its Omaha, Nebraska, facility — for a few years, anyway.

Duncan Aviation opens avionics and install shop.

Robert Duncan is elected President of Duncan Aviation at age 26.

• Duncan Aviation is named a Learjet distributor after a closed-door meeting between Donald Duncan, Bill Lear and five other financial backers.

1971

1980

1985

Duncan Aviation recognizes a growing resale market for Learjets and begins to make the company a major player in the jet aftermarket. Donald Duncan takes risks, selling one aircraft and buying two more. At its high point in the 1970s, Duncan Aviation accumulates more than $40 million in leased and inventoried aircraft.

Duncan Aviation’s Accessory Shop begins overhauling its first Learjet landing gear and purchases its first Lear stab actuator test stand.

Duncan Aviation’s first avionics satellite location, Duncan Avionics-Houston, is opened at Hobby Airport.

1978

1984

Duncan Aviation’s Accessory Shop opens to repair Learjet accessory units.

• Duncan Aviation takes its first parts consignment, starting AvPac, now Duncan Aviation Parts and Rotables Sales.

1986 For the first time, Duncan Aviation’s service sales exceed its aircraft sales.

• Board of Advisors is created.

1970s

1988 Duncan Aviation starts its avionics/instrument exchange pool.

1980s 1974

1979

1981

1989

FedEx’s overnight service allows Duncan Aviation to expand its avionics and instrument send-in business and improve its customers service.

• Duncan Aviation continues to see aircraft sales increase until 1979, when they peaked with the sale of 71 aircraft and the leasing of 27 at a total value of $35 million. After 1979, service sales begin increasing as aircraft sales diminish.

• Donald Duncan dies unexpectedly at the age of 58.

Duncan Aviation begins its in-house Calibration Lab, for tools and test sets.

• Duncan Aviation begins to paint aircraft exteriors with a full-service Paint Shop.

• Duncan Aviation hits hard times. The economy slows and interest rates increase to a high of 21 percent. Overall profits between 1981 and 1985 are flat. Aircraft sales had accounted for 80% of revenue, but that would soon change. Robert Duncan and the other team members form strong strategies exemplifying Duncan Aviation’s unique entrepreneurial nature. • Duncan Aviation receives Garrett AiResearch TPE331 and then AlliedSignal TFE731 Major engine authorizations. • Duncan Aviation starts its Interior Shop.

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1990

2000

• Duncan Aviation partners with Sotheby’s and hosts the first auction of high-end used business aircraft at its Lincoln location. The auction sells five of 20 aircraft.

• Duncan Aviation’s Engine Rapid Response Teams are started. • The new 123,000-square-foot Donald Duncan Completions & Modifications hangar addition is completed at Duncan Aviation’s Lincoln facility.

• Duncan Aviation opens a 20,000-square-foot paint facility that triples the company’s paint capacity.

1992 • Kal-Aero (later Duncan AviationBattle Creek) moves into a new hangar at the Battle Creek Airport. • Duncan Aviation begins its aircraft acquisition service aimed at helping those who want to buy business aircraft find the right fit for their needs at a cost not tied to the purchase price of the aircraft.

1996

2005

Aaron Hilkemann hired as Chief Operating Officer.

Duncan AviationBattle Creek receives Authorized Challenger Service Center status.

1990s

Duncan Aviation has to lay off team members in March as the economic downturn that would be known as the Great Recession hits business aviation hard.

2000s 1991

1995

1998

2001-2004

2007

Duncan Aviation introduces the Project Manager concept, giving customers a main point of contact for all work being done to their aircraft.

• Duncan Aviation becomes a Factory Authorized Service Center for Falcons.

Duncan Aviation purchases competitor Kal-Aero, giving the company two full-service locations: Lincoln and Battle Creek as well as an FBO facility at Kalamazoo, Michigan.

Duncan Aviation is recognized in Fortune Magazine’s list of the “Top 100 Companies to Work For.” The company debuted in 2001 at #62, placed #30 in 2002, #25 in 2003, and #77 in 2004.

• Duncan AviationBattle Creek completes a new 125,000-square-foot facility addition.

• Duncan Aviation begins performing avionics installations in many of its satellite avionics shops.

DUNCAN AVIATION LOGO Robert Duncan was at a consumer electronics show in Las Vegas about 30 years ago when he saw a beautiful display booth. “I thought, ‘This is fabulous. I’ve got to find out who designed this.’ ” Robert contacted the designer, Mitchell Mauk, to design Duncan Aviation’s logo and typeface. “It’s a very recognizable symbol of who we are.”

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2009

• Robert Duncan becomes Chairman Emeritus and Todd Duncan steps into the role of Chairman of Duncan Aviation.

2010

2017

2020

Duncan Aviation opens a maintenance facility in Provo, Utah, with plans for a ground-up maintenance, repair and overhaul facility in the future.

Duncan Aviation signs agreement with Honeywell Aerospace to extend its engine service authorizations in Lincoln to include TFE731 Heavy Maintenance.

• Duncan Aviation completes work on a new, multi-hangar maintenance, modification and paint complex in Provo, Utah. This is the company’s third full-service business aircraft support facility.

2012

2015

2018

• COVID-19 pandemic causes global shutdown and drastically reduced flight hours. Duncan Aviation initiates its contingency plan to weather the uncertainty.

Duncan Aviation, in agreement with Honeywell Aerospace, extends its engine service authorizations designating the Lincoln location as a Honeywell AS907 (HTF 7000) Series Minor Maintenance facility.

Duncan Aviation’s turbofan engine test cell passes all requirements and becomes fully operational.

• Aaron Hilkemann steps back and assumes role of CEO and Chairman of Board of Advisors. Jeff Lake is named President and Mike Minchow backfills him as Chief Operating Officer for Lincoln.

Duncan Aviation opens a new 45,000square-foot paint facility in Lincoln.

2010s

2020 2014

2016

2019

2021

Duncan Aviation adds an additional 175,000-square-foot facility in Lincoln.

Duncan Aviation becomes the exclusive AOG service partner for Gogo Business Aviation, supporting Gogo customers with LRU serviceable units and spare parts strategically placed at its network of facilities and avionics satellite locations.

• Duncan Aviation begins offering its Nondestructive Testing (NDT) services on-the-road.

Duncan Aviation announces hangar expansion for Lincoln in 2021-2022 and Battle Creek in 2022-2023.

LOGO REDESIGN As the iconic Duncan Aviation logo approached 20 years old, it underwent a slight redesign. A more futuristic typeface was selected and the engines, tail, nose and wings were thickened slightly.

• The Line Services teams in Battle Creek and Kalamazoo, Michigan, join those in Lincoln and Provo as IS-BAH accredited. IS-BAH stands for International Standard for Business Aircraft Handling.

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DUNCAN AVIATION LOCATIONS AND SERVICES Duncan Aviation has team members located throughout the world who support 39 United States locations found in 22 states.

BFI

PDX

BED

STP

HPN OXC MMU ISP

ENW OAK

MHR

BTL-AZO

PVU BJC

HWD

MKC

HEF

SUS

LGB CRQ

SDL FTY ADS FTW

Full-service Locations • Battle Creek, Michigan

AUS

• Lincoln, Nebraska • Provo, Utah

SAT

DAL

IAH HOU

TPA

Engine Rapid Response Team Avionics Satellites Avionics Work-Aways Locations as of February 2021

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TEB ILG

LNK

APA

LAS

VNY

MDT

FXE

Duncan Aviation’s Provo, Utah, facility has one thing missing in Nebraska and Michigan: mountains.

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DUNCAN AVIATION BUSINESS AND AIRCRAFT SERVICES Aircraft Acquisitions and Sales Duncan Aviation was founded as an aircraft sales organization, and the company continues to provide aircraft sales services for business aircraft operators. Through acquisition services, the company helps those looking to purchase or upgrade aircraft identify the right make and model to best meet their flying mission, obtain that aircraft at the best purchase price and ensure it is equipped to maintain the highest long-term market value. With aircraft sales consignment services, Duncan Aviation reduces the stress of selling a used aircraft by managing the entire sales process, from pricing and advertising to negotiating purchase agreements and closing. Over the years, Duncan Aviation has sold more than 3,500 business aircraft. Airframe Maintenance Duncan Aviation is an FAA Part 145 Certified Repair Station with an Airframe Class 1, 3 & 4 rating. In addition to being factoryauthorized to provide service and support for most airframe maintenance events, the company has decades of experience in completing all the heavy maintenance checks on business aircraft. Each full-service location supports heavy maintenance, dropin services, AOG emergencies and structural repairs, with road teams supporting AOG emergencies in the field. Duncan Aviation specializes in the following airframes: • Bombardier Learjet, Challenger and Global • Textron — Cessna Citation and Hawker • Embraer • Dassault Falcon • Gulfstream Team members such as technician Jacob Sears, above, provide one-stop service, including maintenance, inspections, repairs, upgrades, engineering, charters, and aircraft management.

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Avionics Installations Duncan Aviation is an authorized dealer for most major cockpit and cabin avionics

equipment. Its in-house engineering team regularly collaborates with original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) for new supplemental type certificates (STCs). That avionics and engineering expertise, combined with strong relationships with manufacturers, has established Duncan Aviation as the premier provider of avionics solutions for business aircraft. Operators often come to Duncan Aviation for the installation, repair or upgrade of the following avionics systems: • FANS installations • TCAS 7.1 • WAAS LPV Upgrades • Wi-Fi & High-Speed Data/Connectivity • Flight Deck Communications • Flight Deck Upgrades • Cabin & Entertainment Upgrades • Safety Systems • Weather Systems Avionics Satellites Duncan Aviation’s satellite shops are strategically based at business aviation airports across the United States. Each location is interdependent, sharing staff and resources to support customers anywhere they land, live or hangar their aircraft. Operators located at airports with a Duncan Aviation avionics satellite facility nearby use these shops for their front-line avionics service needs. In addition to avionics line services, the company provides avionics service and support to aircraft operators during times of critical, causal or remote location need and has the skilled personnel and equipment to provide popular avionics installations. The satellite shops also will handle any repair overhaul, exchange, loaner or part needed for any jet, turbine, pistonpowered aircraft or helicopter.

Aircraft Management Operating a business aircraft can be time-consuming and complex. Duncan Aviation offers aircraft management options that allow customers to enjoy the value of aircraft ownership while leaving the details to professionals. Customers value Duncan Aviation’s management services most for the high standards of safety and maintenance as well as the familiar and professional crews who greet them each trip. The management services include the following: • Pilot and Staff Management • Pilot Training • Aircraft Maintenance • Aircraft Fueling • Hangar Operations • FAA Compliance • Insurance • Charter Income • Cost Control • Trip Scheduling: Car Rentals, Lodging and Catering Aircraft Charter Duncan Aviation’s aircraft charter services can get customers anywhere in the contiguous United States within four-and-a-half hours of booking. The company also offers transportation to Canada, Mexico, Alaska and Caribbean destinations. Charter customers value Duncan Aviation for its discreet and responsive scheduling and familiar and professional crews who greet them each trip. Charter services include the following: • Trip Scheduling: Car Rentals, Lodging and Catering • Highest Standards of Safety and Maintenance • All Pilots are FlightSafety International Trained • Current Charter Aircraft: • N1KD - Citation 560XLS • N1RD - Citation CE525/ M2 • N44DA - Beech Bonanza - A36 • N77DA - Beech Bonanza - F33 • N500HD - Beech Bonanza - G36

Components Repairs (Avionics, Instruments and Accessories) Duncan Aviation is well-known for its bench repairs and overhauls of various aircraft components. These include categories of accessories as well as avionics and instruments. Duncan Aviation’s Accessories Shops provide the fastest turntimes in the industry, with the highest quality of repairs as well as overhauls. The shops are authorized for sales, service and support for multiple component and equipment manufacturers. All accessory test equipment is calibrated using NIST certificate traceability. Duncan Aviation services batteries, electronics, eletromechanical, hydraulic fluids/fuel, landing gear, nondestructive testing (NDT) and pneumatics. The avionics/instrument shops inspect, troubleshoot, repair and overhaul virtually every type of equipment a business aircraft might have, or needs to have, aboard. Duncan Aviation is an authorized sales and factory service center for all the industry’s topline brands including Collins, AlliedSignal/Honeywell, Avidyne Garmin, Chelton/Wulfsberg and JET/BFG/ L3. The company is the only authorized Universal Avionics Service Center in the United States. Avionics & Instruments Repair and Overhaul Services include ADF, radar, autopilot, NAV/COM, DME, indicators, calibration, pitot static, gyros and XPDR. Engine & APU Maintenance Duncan Aviation is authorized by Honeywell, Pratt & Whitney, GE, Williams International, Rolls Royce and Hamilton Sundstrand to perform a broad spectrum of engine services, including Core Zone Inspections (CZI), Hot Section Inspections (HSI) and other major maintenance. Duncan Aviation has a modern 20,000-square-foot turbine engine facility in Lincoln complete with an engine test cell. The company also has an on-site Pratt & Whitney Canada HSI/ repair facility in Battle Creek. Both are supported by a wide range of back shop capabilities, including nondestructive testing and machining. Steve Moger, left, and team leader Mark Grant.

The company utilizes the latest in paint products, paint equipment and technology, down draft and cross draft paint and prep booths, and automatic heat and humidity control to produce the highest quality paint. Duncan Aviation has extensive experience in corrosion repair and control, and provides industry-leading downtimes with a three-year warranty.

Engine Rapid Response Duncan Aviation’s Engine Rapid Response Teams are on-call and ready for dispatch anywhere in the world. The 35 engine technicians on these teams are strategically located across the United States. All teams are capable of supporting all in-house engine line services on the road. Engineering & Certification Services Engineering & Certification Services Teams include aircraft systems, interiors and structures engineers who provide design data and all the documentation required to certify any type of alteration. Through close collaboration with Duncan Aviation’s ODA (Organization Designation Authorization), the Engineering & Certification Services Teams provide guidance and documentation for modifications including interior alterations, avionics installations and upgrades, and government and special missions projects. Duncan Aviation has produced hundreds of STCs (Supplemental Type Certificates), MRAs (Major Repairs, Major Alterations and Airworthiness) and PMAs (Parts Manufacturer Approvals). FBO/Line Services Duncan Aviation provides FBO/Line Service at four locations: Battle Creek, Michigan; Kalamazoo, Michigan; Lincoln, Nebraska; and Provo, Utah. Line crews are known for quick and convenient line service, and front desk personnel are known for hospitality. Repeat customers are greeted by name, and new visitors are welcomed and shown the services they can expect: office space, conference rooms, pilot lounge, advanced weather planning and café service, to name a few. All of Duncan Aviation’s FBO facilities are International Standard for Business Aircraft Handling (IS-BAH) accredited. IS-BAH, developed by the International Business Aviation Council (IBAC) and the National Air Transportation Association (NATA), is a set of global industry best practices for business aviation ground handlers that features at its core a safety management system (SMS).

Avionics install technician Evelyn VanEeckhoutte in Battle Creek, Michigan.

Interior Refurbishment The company’s professional design team, in collaboration with skilled and experienced technicians, ensures every aircraft interior completed at Duncan Aviation not only meets customer expectations but also has the fit and finish to last for years. Innovative interior solutions enhance the overall cabin aesthetics and on-board experience, comfort, convenience and enjoyment for customers. Team members hand-craft nearly every aspect of an interior and strive to bring innovative interior solutions to the market. Paint Duncan Aviation can paint more than 250 aircraft per year at state-of-the-art facilities in Battle Creek, Michigan; Lincoln, Nebraska; and Provo, Utah. All paint locations are environmentally conscious and capable of accommodating a variety of sizes of business jets including Gulfstream, Global Express, Legacy and Falcon 7X down to Lear 45, Challenger 300, Falcon 2000 and Citation 680 aircraft.

Parts & Rotables As the largest aircraft parts and components service organization in the business aviation industry, Duncan Aviation offers overhauls, repairs, rotables, loaners, exchanges, outright units, avionics, instruments and technical support to aircraft operators around the world, all available 24/7/365. The company also has authorized in-house repair capabilities with more than 45,000 different repair manuals and an inventory with more than 485,000 line items valued at more than $45 million. If team members don’t have a part in stock, they provide location services. Innovative programs include the Avionics Buy Back and Managed Rotable Inventory initiatives. Specialized Services Duncan Aviation is uniquely positioned to offer a vast number of support services in-house and in conjunction with any aircraft maintenance event. Comprehensive back-shop capabilities make this possible. The company has invested millions of dollars in tools, equipment and resources to enable specialized teams to quickly and efficiently provide required aviation maintenance service, with greater control over quality, pricing and downtime. Developed to help Duncan Aviation provide aviation services, these specialized services can extend beyond the aviation industry and include areas like the following: • Calibration Services • Nondestructive Testing (NDT) • PMA Parts Fabrication • Welding & Machining

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TODD SAID HE EMPHASIZES SAFETY WHEN HE FLIES AND DOESN’T HAVE ANY “CLOSE CALLS” TO REPORT.

“My worst incident was to run over a taxiway when I wasn’t supposed to. Got my hand slapped, and everything was fine. But I’m real proud that I don’t have incidents to tell stories about.”

BRUSH WITH DEATH Harry Barr was flying helicopters for a Bureau of Land Management power line project when he agreed to help another pilot salvage engines from a crashed Grumman Goose. As he hovered overhead, a worker attached a line to an engine and signaled for Harry to start lifting. But part of the line was frayed, and the engine hadn’t been fully disconnected from the airplane. “I started pulling and pulling and pulling,” Harry said. “Pretty soon the line broke and shot up at me like a rubber band.” The main rotor slapped it, wrapping it around the tail boom, which broke off. “I was sitting up there spinning like a top and, of course, with no control,” Harry said. The helicopter crashed into a mountainside. “I broke my leg and my head and a few other things,” Harry said. “Then it caught fire, and I finally came to and realized that the engine was still running.” Luckily the door was off. “So I fell out and kind of rolled on my hands and knees and got away from the fire. Anyway, I survived.”

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WAITING FOR A BREAK

QUEASY LANDING One of Todd Duncan’s worst times was flying with his father in a Bonanza to Arizona. “We get nearly all the way down there, and it starts getting really rough, really bad,” he recalled. “Dad’s sitting right next to me and I’m like, ‘Dad, I’m going to get sick.’ ” He followed through on his warning. “Then my sister started throwing up. The whole airplane is going to hell in a handbasket.” Todd told Robert he was feeling better as they neared their destination. “OK, you can land,” his father said. Todd turned down the offer, and Robert landed the plane. “He opened up the door and I crawled out. I remember just crawling on my hands and knees on the tarmac because my stomach was like being on the ocean. That’s the last time I’ve ever thrown up as a pilot, but that was pretty embarrassing.”

Paige Duncan recalled the difficulty of flying out of Aspen with her grandfather, Donald. “You have to be able to see, so he would literally sit on the end of the runway and wait until there was a hole in the clouds and then take off,” she said. “He was a little bit more of a risk taker than anybody knew.” One time she was piloting a plane, preparing to land at Duncan Aviation’s facility, when she “embarrassed myself totally.” “We have two parallel runways and I picked the first runway, and it wasn’t the right one. The tower saw what was happening and they told me to go around. Of course, all of this is being heard throughout Duncan Aviation.” Word eventually reached her father. “It was no big deal, but I had to do it right in front of Duncan Aviation. I couldn’t have done it at some other airport? I was mortified.”

INDEX A Abrahamsen, Jon, 192 Ackerman, Gary, 131 Acklie, Duane, 68 Ager, Bunny, 83 Ager, Jack, 83 Aircraft Electronics Association, 48, 92 AirKaman, 32 Alaska, 83-84, 87, 198, 205 Albion, Nebraska, 212 Alkaersig, Per, 35, 58-59, 219 Alleman, Doug, 112, 117, 159, 223 Allen, Tim, 210 AlliedSignal, 199, 206 Allman, Kelly, 162 American Institute of Business, 17 American Learjet, 34, 49 Anderson, Mollie, 166 Arnold, Larry, 219 Arrow Airlines, 48 Aspen, Colorado, 42, 59, 85 Atlas Missile, 49 Aviation Parts and Communications Network, 96 Avionics satellites, 9, 202, 204 AvPac, 96, 199, 217 B B-2, 144 Bacchus, Judy, 36 Bajo, George, 126, 223 Bank Iowa, 85, 88, 174-175 Bankhead, Britten, 163, 204 Barr, Harry buying a bank, 19 working for Donald Duncan, 27 selling to pilots, 44-45 international sales, 58 Donald Duncan’s death, 61 airplane bug, 82 business ventures, 84-87 daughter Chandy, 88 Concorde, space travel, 89 loaner program, 95 early days with Aaron, 105 hamburgers, 176 maintenance praise, 192 helicopter crash, 208 Richard Nixon, 210 flying a pylon, 214 motorcycles and airplanes, 216 trusting his cape, Silver Wings, 218- 222 Barr, J.B., 88 Barr, Tom, 83 Barry, Bob, 65, 160 Bartlett, Larry, 221 Bartosh, Gene, 36, 166

Bartunek, Denny, 65, 165, 221 Battle Creek, Michigan, 115, 120, 161, 180181, 202, 207 Beale, Bob, 64, 100-101, 103, 114, 134, 172, 193-194, 219 Beckett Aviation, 93 Beebe, Greg, 36, 52, 165 Beech Aircraft Corporation, 27, 34, 36, 66, 164, 204 Beech, Olive Ann, 34 Befort, Art, 160 Bell J2, 84 Bill, Mary Stephens, 80 Board of Advisors recommends fire sale, 68 giving Robert advice, 73 meeting in Battle Creek, 146 ideas, support, 180-183 2021 members, 209 Boatwright, Lance, 107, 223 Boeing, 84, 198 Bohaboj, Tracy, 165 Bohling, Monica, 219 Bombardier Challenger, 164 Bonanza, 42, 82, 84, 205, 208, 212, 214 Bonelli, Dyan, 65 Bovard, Jarrod, 95 Bowes, Lee, 165 Brantley B-2, 84 Buck, Marcia, 65, 165 Buffalo, Wyoming, 212 Bureau of Land Management, 84, 208 Burt, Tom Michigan chief, 50 airframe mechanic, 55 cleaning and painting, 73 Sotheby’s auction, 99 Colorado expedition, 109 leadership team, 112 retreat doubts, 113 creating a data base, 115 Kal-Aero, 122-123 spreading culture, 126 RIF fair, not easy, 136 touching lives, 166 family ownership, 173 watching Todd, 177 flying a Learjet, 218 Silver Wings, 220-221 C California Lutheran University, 178, 188 Callaway, E.A., 84 Campbell, Curt, 57, 221 Carefree, Arizona, 61 Cessna, 53-54, 58-59, 61, 66, 73-74, 86, 106, 148, 160, 164, 183-184, 204 Cherry Point, 109

Cheyenne, Wyoming, 84 Christensen, Darlene buying a car from Donald, 26 hired by Donald, 27 moving to Omaha, 28 Lear tape deck, 36 moving to Lincoln, 37 “mother hen,” 42 influencing careers, 52 scheduling flights, 53 not hiring Harry, 83 selling Learjets, 86 with Robert and Harry, 89 world-class expert, 101 call from the mountains, 109 job assured, 118 working with Carol Hunt, 217 Silver Wings, 221 Citation, 148, 150, 164, 204-205, 207 Citizens State Bank, 19 Civil Air Patrol, 47 Clanton, Chandy Barr, 88 Clarinda, Iowa, 15, 19, 23, 28 Clifford, James, 123 Cloud, Al, 36 Colacurci, Barry, 52 Collier, Larry, 36, 101, 221 Conner, Rick, 95, 223 Conway, Gene, 160 Coobtee, Muna, 21 Coobtee, Rami, 21 Cooper, Monte, 55 Concorde, 89 Conquest, 61, 73, 160 Cote, Mark, 112, 117, 222 Couvelaire, Alec, 58 Cox, Mike, 112, 117 Craft, Henry, 28, 39-40, 160 Cranor, Heather, 161 Crouch, Shirley, 96, 97, 223 Culver City, California, 85 D Dassault Falcon, 66, 101, 184, 204 Demeis, Jack, 98 Denmark, 33, 35, 58 Department of the Interior, 84 Diamond, Neil, 210 Disney, Walt, 40 Doehring, Chad fixing an airplane, 53 leadership group, 112 western base, 143-147 Senior Team, 183-184 Provo can expansion, 195 Silver Wings, 223 Drake, Ken, 78, 80

Duncan Aviation Parts & Rotables Sales, 96 Duncan Beechcraft, 17, 28, 29, 35 Duncan, Annie R. Berry: 15, 16 Duncan, Betty: 16, 17, 18, 19, 21, 22, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 31, 34, 39, 40, 42, 44, 62, 69, 70, 72, 77, 85, 86, 96, 100, 102, 107, 122, 135, 160, 171, 175 Duncan, Brooke 171, 179 Duncan, Charles: 14, 15, 18, 21, 23, 25 Duncan, Clara: 14, 15, 25 Duncan, Connie: 18, 21, 173, 177-79, 186, 188 Duncan, Donald “jumping” off, 5 growing up, 14-16 marriage, 17 four generations, 18 aviation entrepreneur, 19 four generations, 21 airplane landing, 23 unlikely calling, 24 positive person, 26 Duncan Motors, 27 partner with Harry, 27 Bill Lear, 31 service for his customers, 33 trusting employees, 36 salesman, salesman, salesman, 37 recognizing Robert, 44 Gates Learjet, 42-45 Carl Renstrom, 54 needing paint, 56 teamwork, 57 international, 58-59 death, 60-63 legacy, 64 relying on employees, 65 risk-taker, 66 missing Donald, 69 has Learjets, 70-71 hiring Jeannine Falter, 79 bought on credit, 83 Donald would be proud, 77 Harry Barr, 83-86 with Chandy Barr, 88 Roger Penske, 160 flying with Todd, 168-169 hamburgers, 176 just like P.K., 189 continuing the basics, 197 milestones, 198-199 flying to Aspen with Paige, 208 Neil Diamond, Dionne Warwick, 210 emergency landing, 212 trading for Rolls Royces, ski resort, 214 working with Carol Hunt, 217 Hall of Fame, 218

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TRUSTING YOUR CAPE A PRESIDENTIAL PASSENGER Harry remembered taking Richard Nixon on a presidential campaign trip. “I thought I’d be a nice guy, so I invited him to come up and sit up front in the Learjet, because I thought it would be good if he understood the airplane. “He didn’t pay attention to what I was doing. He had his notebook out there and all he was doing was writing notes. He could have cared less about what was going on with the Learjet. He was just happy to get there.”

BRUSH WITH FAME

CATTLE ON BOARD

Dianne once received a call from her father when she was in college. “I flew this singer guy, Neil Diamond, last night to Chicago,” he told her.

The U.S. government gave the Shah of Iran a gift of dairy cattle in the early 1970s, Bob McCammon said, and Duncan Aviation was tasked with servicing the aircraft for the 6,000plus mile trips with the unusual cargo.

“That’s cool, Dad,” she replied, knowing he wasn’t in tune with the current music of the day. He called another time with a similar report. “I flew a singer last night, some singer with a name like yours, Dianne, Deanne something,” he said. “Dionne Warwick?” she said. “That’s it!” Dianne said her father usually was “oblivious to people and what they did. He just loved to fly.”

The company set up pens inside airplanes for cattle supplied by Rolfsmeier Dairy in Seward, Nebraska, and activated a fuel station on a part of the airport formerly used by the Air Force, pumping fuel directly from a 50,000-gallon tank to the aircraft. In all, Bob said, Duncan Aviation serviced airplanes that flew about 30 Holsteins-to-the-Shah missions.

THE SHOW MUST GO ON

A DANGEROUS DELIVERY

One wintry day, pianist Roger Williams called from the Omaha airport, because bad weather prevented him from getting to Kansas City for a concert.

Betty Duncan and Alice Lang, the wife of business partner Carl Lang, drove to Arizona to deliver a car. “That’s when someone tried to kill me,” Betty said. “We checked into a motel, went to bed. We hadn’t been asleep too long, when all of a sudden I realized somebody had their hands around my toes.

“The airlines weren’t traveling, and the roads were too bad,” Betty Duncan said. “He wondered if someone could take him. “Harry (Barr) said, sure, he would take him. We said to Harry, ‘When you get there, just stay put.’ He didn’t. He let him out, turned around and came back.” Williams made it to his concert, and Harry made it back home.

210

Ryan Oestmann, left, and Danny Langford with a customer — actor Tim Allen.

“I probably wouldn’t have survived if Mrs. Lang hadn’t been there. She woke, and she yelled until she could hardly talk. Because she was so loud, she scared him right out the bathroom window that he had come in.”

INDEX Duncan, Harrison 5, 18, 21, 135, 163, 17073, 177-79, 181, 186-88, 196 Duncan, John Wiley, 16, 18 Duncan, Karen, 14, 18, 19, 21, 34, 37, 43, 62-63, 69, 91, 98, 101, 133, 173, 175178, 212, 214 Duncan, Kathryn Dawn thrifty Duncans, 15-19, 21, 22, 24, 25, 39, 42, 62, 63, 88, 132, 134, 175, 214, 218 Duncan, Katie (Graf): 18, 19, 24, 25, 61, 62 Duncan, Katie (Lupori): 171, 179, 188 Duncan, Mary Ann Alexander, 15 Duncan Motors, 17, 25-28, 83 Duncan, P.K.: 5, 18, 21, 135, 170-73, 177-79, 181, 186-89, 196 Duncan, Robert trusting your cape, 5 four generations, 18 bright, studious, 19 family photos, 21 why Donald flew, 24 parents’ work, 26 father’s vision, 32 Learjet growth opportunity, 33 Donald having fun, 34 marrying Karen, 35 expansion, 37 working in Lincoln, 39 challenging Gates, 41 ending Learjet dealership, 42 selling, 43 business degree, 44-45 BMW speedometer, 48 advanced technology, 49 the best people, 50 Carl Renstrom, 54 customers grow up, 56 warranties, 57 international, 58-59 talking with father, 60 Donald’s death, 63 converting the company, 64 beyond sales, 65 taking risks, 66 fire sale strategy, 69 desperate situation, 72 overcoming toughest time, 70-77 hiring Jeannine Falter, 79 “Tailwinds, Harry,” 83 Panhandle Aviation, 85 buying out Harry, 86 shoe shopping, 91 Avionics satellites, 92-93 loaner program, 95 spare parts, 96-97 Sotheby’s auction, 98-99 changing management, 100-101

hiring Aaron, 103-107 personal care, 110-112 praising Aaron, 114 succession plan, 116 optimism, 118 Kal-Aero, 122-127 downturn, 132-135 building, 139 helping customers, 159 chairman emeritus, 160 supporting team members, 161 networking, 163 maintaining the brand, 165, ethics, 166 50th anniversary gift, 167 Todd takes over, 169 family and business together, 170 family responsibility, 171-172 Board of Advisors, 181-82 future growth, 191 family roles, 197 milestones, 198-200 trusting your cape, 208, 214 bringing a handgun, 212 working with Carol Hunt, 217 Hall of Fame, 218 Silver Wings, 220-221 “We get to fly,” 224 Duncan, Robert M., 15 Duncan, Ronald A., 215 Duncan, Todd Duncan boys, 5 David Todd, 18 four generations, 21 crawling down the hallways, 49 trade show, 58 Piper Cub, 89 leaders group, 92 satellite shops, 94 “we’re the underdogs,” 104 leadership group, 112 carrying a pillow, 113 remaining chairman, 117 Kal-Aero, 125 coping with downturn, 131-134 family wealth, 135 financially conservative, 137 time to build, 139 awesome Provo, 147 building careers, 161 everybody has an impact, 162 advisors meeting, 163 knowing the industry, 166 flying with grandpa, 168-169 working with Robert, 170 home time, 171 non-family executives, 172 energetic, emotional, 173

gaining experience, Garden Cafe, 175-179 running a meeting, 181-184 sons, 186-189 Piper Cub, 190 growth plans, 191-194 the very best companies, 195 with sons, 196 growing into the role, 197 milestones, 200 queasy landing, 208 Silver Wings, 223 Dunn, Gary, 125, 219, 221 E Earnest, Mark, 107, 223 Edwards, Ernie, 183 Ellis, John, 121-123, 125-128, 198, 219, 221 Embraer, 164, 183, 204 Emergenetics, 115-116 Eppley Airfield, 19, 39 Evans, Lois, 65 Executive Jet Aviation, 32 F Falter, Jeannine unsuccessful moves, 76 toxic material, 79 starting design shop, 80-81 Aaron’s influence, 107 leadership group, 112 it’s all about people, 114 trusting teammates, 137 dedicated employees, 159 family orientation, 174 Board of Advisors, 184, 215 Silver Wings, 221 Fiedler, Don Donald and Bill Lear, 33 Milford, 46 “Wow, avionics technician,” 49-50 technical support shop, 57 avionics shops, 92 loaners, 95 spare parts 96 Sotheby’s auction, 98 world-class experts, 101 quiet lunch, 212 motorcycle and airplane, 216 Silver Wings, 220-221 Fire sale, 68, 71, 86 First Bank of Minneapolis, 103 FirsTier Bank, 103 Fischer, Tom, 112, 182 Flying Magazine, 156 Flynn, Larry, 183, 215 Ford, Gerald, 40

G Gade, Steve lots of dads, 52 shift to service, 65 early struggles, 69 Robert’s character, 110 leadership group, 112 method to madness, 113 Emergenetics, 116-117 listening, 126 economic response, 132 layoffs, cutbacks, 134 maturing leaders, 137 not hunkering down, 139 career-building, 140 take care of team members, 163 non-family executives, 172 family zest, 173 the long haul, 175 market share, 194 succession plan, 196 Silver Wings, 223 Gander, Newfoundland, 214 Ganser, Dennis, 78, 80 Garity, Tim 57, 221 Garrett, Doyle, 57, 167, 219, 221, 223 Gates Learjet, 41-42, 69, 78 Gates Rubber Company, 41 General Electric, 121, 128, 164 General Tobacco, 41 Geneva, Switzerland, 59 Gill, Ray, 57 Gilmore, Ed, 56, 75, 221 Ginocchio, Pete, 123, 127 Global, 145, 152, 204, 207 Godfrey, Arthur, 40 Goguen, Gerry, 123, 127 Gordon, Clark, 165 Graf, Bob 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 32, 34, 85 Graham, Larry, 160 Grant, Mark, 206, 223 Granucci, Matt, 2, 219 Great Recession, 131, 137, 139-140, 189, 200 Greenland, 35 Grimsley, Travis, 112 Grose, Ron, 57, 75, 219, 221 Grumman Goose, 208 Guess, Bob, 55 Gulfstream, 32, 56, 148, 152, 183, 204, 207 H Hall, Ron American Learjet, 34 recruited from Lear, 36 loaner pool, 44

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SAVED BY A PICKUP

TESTING HIS WINGS

Donald and Betty Duncan were headed for Buffalo, Wyoming, to visit a customer when bad weather forced an emergency landing on a country road.

“I’m not a pilot,” Aaron Hilkemann said, but it’s not that he didn’t give it a try.

“We drove the airplane along the road and there was a driveway into somebody’s field, so we pulled off there so we were off the highway,” she recalled. “I said to him, ‘We’re going to be here all night, because nobody’s going to come along this road.’ But within a half an hour, here came a man and his boy in a pickup and stopped and took us into town.”

JUST A LITTLE SQUABBLE Early on, Robert would go along on trips to repossess airplanes belonging to customers who didn’t pay their bills. One night he got a call that one of the unpaid planes, a Queen Air, was parked in Denver, so he hurriedly prepared to leave.

AN AWKWARD SILENCE Don Fiedler was having lunch at a hotel restaurant one day with some customers. “One of them said, ‘Do you guys remember the dumb son of a bitch who landed the Learjet in Lake Michigan?’ ” One person in the group remembered the incident well, because he was the pilot. He had run out of fuel just short of the airport and ended up in the water, but fortunately no one was hurt. “Tell you what, the luncheon never got so quiet as it did then,” Don said.

212

“I didn’t even know he had a handgun, but I saw him put it in the back of his pants, like he’s some detective or something,” Karen said. “I said to him, ‘You’ll shoot your butt off, or else they will take it away from you and shoot you. You cannot take that gun.’ ” After “a little squabble,” Robert left without the gun. But Karen didn’t necessarily eliminate the danger. “They flew a Bonanza to Denver and another person brought the gun,” she said. “They repossessed the plane.”

“I did get a couple of books and tried to think about it right before we bought Battle Creek,” he said. “And then I was going up every month to Battle Creek for three or four days. “I had probably learned enough that I would have a fighting chance to get the airplane down if something would have happened, but I recognized that if that’s not your full-time job and you’re not doing that every day, you shouldn’t be flying.” He had small children at the time, plus other interests, such as hunting, fishing, gardening and beekeeping, to keep him busy. “I don’t have enough time to have another hobby and do it justice.”

GOLF COURSE LANDING Dianne Duncan Thomas remembers a trip to visit relatives in Albion, Nebraska, when her father was forced to land the plane on a golf course. “It was a Queen Air, too, a big airplane, so we landed on the fairway,” she said. “It was winter, and I thought, ‘Oh, my God, they are going to throw us in jail.’ I didn’t think the groundskeeper would be too happy about it, but the ground was frozen.”

INDEX Air Force, 47 electronics, 48 geography, 56 Donald’s death, 62 trade shows, 64 bonafide service, 65 selling, steaks, 70 Learjet speculation, 71 man of the year, 72 developing shops, 74 adding jobs, 100 world-class experts, 101 the American dream, 119 paying for education, 166 Silver Wings, 220-221 Hansen, Shannon, 174 Hanson, Mike, 92 Harder, Jamie, 112, 181, 184 Harpster, Gary, 47, 221 Harr, Rolland 39 Harris, Mike, 78 Hartwick, Phil, 36, 49, 166 Harvard University, 73 Harwick, Kasey, 112 Hawker, 40, 204 Hay, Gary, 184 Heaton, Ralph, 31 Hedrick Beechcraft, 50 Heinlein, Don, 65, 165, 220-221 Helms, Keith, 160 Henning, Jonathan 21 Henning, Paige add 18, 19, 21, 62, 65, 174-176, 197, 208, 219 Hermsen, Lori, 91 Hilkemann, Aaron unique group of people, 37 early secret, 42 Harry has a place, 88 former banker hired, 102-104 creating an environment, 105 mountains, bicycles, 109 assembling teams, 112 Kal-Aero purchase, 120-124 due diligence, 131 challenge = opportunity, 137 deciding to expand, 139-141 quality of life, 143 millions for Provo, 146 the most important job, 147 special place for careers, 162 non-family executives, 172 Robert’s flair, 173 family members, 177-178 Board of Advisors, 181 Mount Kilimanjaro, 184 economic impacts, 196 milestones, 200 outside help, 183 retiring, 193

not a pilot, 212 Hill, Michael, 163 Hiller, Marty, 183, 215 Hobby Airport, 50, 199 Hoffman, Joanne, 65 Holzapfel, Al, 53 Honeywell, 164, 201, 206 Hope, Bob, 40 Hoskins, John, 122-123 House of Bauer, 41 Houston, Texas, 50 Hovious, Maurice, 127 Hovland-Swanson, 91 Huffman Sr., Joe expensive replacement, 36 major repairs, 39 running in cycles, 41 BMW speedometer, 48 slimming a power unit, 56 influencing careers, 160 part of the aviation industry, 166 Silver Wings, 221 Hughes 269, 85 Hull, Joshua, 95 Hunt, Carol, 1-2, 111, 217, 220-221, 222 J Jackson Hole, Wyoming, 48 James, Dennis, 57 Jeffries, Betty, 61 Jeffries, Jeff, 61 Johnson, Jan, 34, 40 Johnson, Lori, 112, 219, 223 Joy, Mark, 164 Juniper, Wayne, 58 Jurgens, Randy, 220-221 K Kal-Aero, 120-128, 141, 144, 195, 198, 200 Kalamazoo, Michigan, 121-122, 198, 201, 207 Kaltenberger, Joni, 65 Kellogg Field, 122 Kent, Dorothy 62 Kiewit Corporation, 103 King Air, 34, 42, 55, 61, 214 Kissinger, Henry, 40 Klenke, Nate, 112 KLMS Radio, 51 Kussatz, Kent, 52, 64-65, 160, 221 Kussatz, Michael, 52 Kvassay, Alex, 58-59, 219 Kvassay, Doug, 223 L Lacy, Clay, 32 Lake, Jeff Duncan Aviation culture, 107

leadership group, 112 becoming president, 117-118 Kal-Aero culture change, 125 coping with a downturn, 133-134 layoff decisions, 136 transfers to Provo, 145 team member dedication, 162 non-family executives, 172 days before Duncan Aviation, 193 milestones, 200 Silver Wings, 223 Lang, Carl, 27-28 Lang, Katie, 210 Langford, Danny, 210 Lassiter, Olbert “F.” Dick, 32 Lauer, Lyle, 40 Lear, Bill 31-33, 35-36, 40-41, 58, 85, 198 Lear, Moya, 40 Lear, Rob, 160 Learjet, 27, 30-36, 40-42, 47-49, 52-53, 55, 58, 61, 66, 69, 74, 78-79, 85-86, 95, 164, 169, 183, 198-199, 204, 210, 212, 214, 216, 218 Lee, Milt, 35 Lewis, Dave, 101 Lincoln Air Force Base, 36 Lincoln Air Park, 41 Linkugel, Lorna, 65 Long, W.F., 32 M Madsen, Harold “Skip,’’ 115, 125, 126 Magnus, Dan, 92, 221 Management Jets International, 58-59 Marion, John, 99 Markovich, Terry, 50 Marr, Lori, 220 Mataya, Ed, 36, 166 Mathe, Jim, 36, 166 Matthes, Wayne, 160 Mauk, Mitchell, 200 McCammon, Bob handshake deals, 30 early days, 34-35 days on the line, 38 Bob Hope, etc., 40-41 $1.30 per hour, 51 wrong white paint, 55 Donald’s death, 66 cautious buying planes, 68 hiring Jeannine Falter, 79 Sotheby’s auction, 98 world-class experts, 101 hiring Aaron, 107 marketing team, 165 the Shah’s cattle, 210 five-gallon can of gas, 218 Silver Wings, 220-221

McGinn, Kevin, 64-65, 165, 221 Melis, Bonnie, 65 Merlin, Wendy, 65 Metroliner, 54 Miesbach, Kevin, 221 Miller, Ronnie, 51 Miller, Russ, 32 Minchow, Mike, 112, 117, 200, 223 Minuteman Missile, 84, 198 Moger, Steve, 206 Montano, Robert, 194 Montenegro, 59 Morgan, Annie, 101 Morgan, P.J., 100, 101, 166 Moritz, Joe, 94, 222 Morris, Cindy, 112 Mount Columbia, 109 Mount Harvard, 108-109 Mullsberry, Dave, 94 N Neil, Justin, 95 Nelson, John, 31, 33, 65-66, 73, 196, 219 Nelson, Ricky, 79 Nickel, Gil, 101 Nissen, Kathy Jo, 31 Nitzel, Howard, 2, 219, 222 Nixon, Richard, 210 Norbeck, Joe, 36, 166 Norfolk, Nebraska, 103 Norris, Jenna, 219 Northwestern University, 19, 35, 44 Noska, Les, 48 Noxon, John, 57, 94, 221 O Oestmann, Ryan, 210, 223 Orr, Pam hot pants and halter tops, 40 computer pioneers, 52 Donald’s death, 63 listening to Robert, 65 Harry walks on his hands, 84 taking a chance on auction, 99 layoffs, 134 frontline with customers, 165 Todd and Donald, 168 Silver Wings, 221 Ortiz, Chelsea, 192 Oshkosh, Wisconsin, 188 Ozark Airlines, 126 P Pacer, 83 Pagel, Anne, 219 Pagel, Bud, 219 Palmdale, California, 144 Palmer, Arnold, 34

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OUTSTANDING REPAIR Longtime customer Bill Wagner recalled landing in Gander, Newfoundland, while crossing the Atlantic in 1984. “Our brakes were hot and we found ourselves at the end of the runway with four blown tires,” Wagner said. “I called Learjet in Wichita, the people we bought the airplane from. And they said, ‘Well, we’re closing up for the holiday, give us a call next week.’ ”

ENGINE FAILURE Robert was 16 and had his pilot’s license when he was taking his sisters, Kathryn and Dianne, to Clarinda to spend the weekend with their grandparents. A man from Montana wanted to go to Clarinda for a cattle sale, so he also climbed into the plane. “We took off in this Bonanza that I hadn’t flown before,” Robert recalled. About 10 minutes out of Omaha, the plane’s engine quit because of a fuel problem.

Wrong answer. Wagner got on the phone with Robert Duncan and explained the problem. “We’re on our way,” Robert told him.

Harry Barr flying a pylon.

“He would pump it and pump it to try to get it started,” Kathryn said. “It would turn over once and then quit, and catch again and quit. As we were sailing down and were going to have to land, the engine caught again, just enough to get us over a fence.

AN UNUSUAL OFFER

“By God, he landed that plane in a plowed field, which is not easy to do without flipping over.”

“There was a customer up in Wyoming that wanted a King Air, but the only way they could or would do it was to trade in a ski slope,” Robert recalled. He and Karen were sent to Gillette to check out the place after the deal had been made.

Dianne said the incident terrified her. “I never wanted to go on a glider after that because I didn’t like that no-noise sound of you floating down.” Later, Harry Barr flew the plane out of the field. “Very traumatic experience,” Robert said. “But you did a great job,” Karen Duncan said.

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“They put together a kit with wheels and brakes, tires and stuff, and put us back together, and we got that plane flying again,” Wagner said. “Only Duncan Aviation could have done that.”

Donald’s wheeling and dealing had few limits. “He traded cars in on airplanes on occasion, at least two Rolls-Royces that I can remember,” Robert said. There was one even more unusual offer.

“We found this little bitty ski slope,” he said. They enjoyed a good laugh about the Wyoming deal for years. “But we were able to turn that ski slope and sell it to somebody,” Robert said.

AN AMAZING RECOVERY Dianne recalled her father, Donald, telling a story about demonstrating a jet to the head of a large cosmetics company during a thunderstorm. “The vacuum of the thunderstorm sucked power out of both engines. Dad got it re-started. They landed, the guy got out of the plane and kissed the ground and said, ‘I’m buying this plane.’ That the plane could actually recover from that was amazing to him.”

INDEX Panhandle Aviation, 84-85, 88-89, 198 Parish, Barbara, 124 Parish, Preston “Pete,” 121-124, 127, 223 Parish, Suzanne, 121-124, 127 Paseka, Kaela, 219 Paulson, Al, 32 Peacock, Charlie, 36 Penske, Roger, 160 Peters, Tessa, 219 Peters, Tonia, 97 Peterson, Richard, 101 Petr, Jared, 219 Petro, The Rev. Sue, 128 Phenom, 164 Pickens, T. Boone, 81 Piper Cub, 17, 83, 89, 104, 170, 190 Pleskac, Dave, 36, 221 Powers, Betty “Granny,” 52, 133 Pratt & Whitney, 164, 206 Presley Elvis, 34, 40 Prochazka, Bill great times, 34 world-class experts, 101 changes, 107 Kal-Aero, 124 difficult RIF, 134 going to Battle Creek, 138 Provo starting from scratch, 144 project managers, 145 new blood, 147 Silver Wings, 223 Provo, Utah, 34, 139, 161, 183, 201-203, 207 Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, 161 Purcell, Teresa, 65

Riemann, Marge, 52, 65, 221 Rockwell Collins, 164 Rosanvallon, Jean, 123, 127, 215 Roth, Doug, 221 Roth, Susan, 219

Q Queen Air, 48, 212

T Tarkio, Missouri, 24, 88 Tavis, Denise, 65 Taylor, Charles, 160 Teel, Rich, 56, 221 Thomas, Blake 19, 21 Thomas, Brian, 18, 21, 62 Thomas, Carol Dianne Duncan Betty’s tutelage, 1 family photo, 18, 22 mother’s flying lessons, 17 tender memories, 19| sleeping in a dresser drawer, 25 Harry a “strapping young man,” 28 father loses job, 42 working in Lincoln, 43 efficient trio of Donald, Robert and Harry, 44 Donald’s death, 62-63 Harry’s up-and-up dealings, 84 buying a painting, 89 brilliant idea, 97 job cuts, 135

R Radisson Hotel, 123 Reagan, Ronald, 52 Reed, John, 182-183, 215 Reeves, Don, 56, 221 Renner, Tim, 105 Renstrom, Carl, 54, 84 Rhynalds, Susan, 216 Rice, David, 163 Richards, Andy leadership group, 112 Leadership Dynamics, 115 sharing information, 118 acquisition rumors, 123 differences in executives, 126 helping the French, 129 evaluating people for RIF, 136 interviewing for a promotion, 163 passionate about jobs, the Duncan Aviation experience, 166

S Sanchez, Nancy Friedemann, 150 Sartore, Cole, 219 Sawatzki, Leo, 55 Scandinavian Airlines, 58 Schroeder, Bill, 53, 57 Schultze, Gerry, 36 Schuster, Harry, 27 Senior Team, 106, 108, 111-119, 132-134, 137, 139-140, 147, 159, 177, 183-184, 194, 196 Seward, Nebraska, 210 Shoemaker, Marc, 160, 221 Simms, John, 223 Sinatra, Frank, 34 Slieter, John, 47-48, 221 Smith, Linda, 52, 221 Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, 33 Southeast Community College, 57 Spain, Mike, 78 Spartan School of Aeronautics, 52 Stokes, Amelia, 21 Stokes, Summer, 21 Stricker, Wes, 126 Suarez, Robert “Coco,’’ 189 Super Cub, 83 Superior, Nebraska, 51 Swearingen Merlin, 54

selling shares to Robert, 175 Harrison and P.K. join, 196 American dream, 197 Neal Diamond, Dionne Warwick, 210 golf course landing, 212 terrified of gliding, 214 helicopter waterskiing, 218 Thomas, Drew 21 Thomas, Sean, 19, 62 Thompson, Ian, 21, 62 Thompson, Eric, 21, 62 Thompson, Michael 18, 62 Tooker, Bob, 52, 54, 160, 165, 220-221, 221 Tour de Nebraska, 113 Townsend, Ray, 37, 167 Travelair, 84 Troyer, Larry, 57, 221 Twin Bonanza, 84 U University of Nebraska, 21, 44, 77-78 V Vannoy, Steven, 115 VanEeckhoutte, Evelyn, 207 VanStrien, Dennis, 127-128, 135-136, 195, 221, 219 Velivis, Ron, 71, 123, 127 Vlasic, Bob, 73 Volcker, Paul, 69 W Wagner, Bill, 37, 159, 162, 167, 214, 219 Wahoo, Nebraska, 49 Walnut Grove Products, 84 Warner, Rob, 52, 66, 70, 100 Warner, Willis, 18, 21, 100 Warwick, Dionne, 210 Wayne State College, 103 Wessel, Dave, 36, 44 Western Michigan University, 188 Whale-watching, 61 Whitesell, Rick, 36, 52, 92, 101, 165, 221 Whittington, John, 53, 160 Whyte, Roger, 183, 215 Wichita, Kansas, 31 Wilksen, Jennifer, 137 Williams International, 164, 206 Williams, Roger, 210 Winant, John, 35 Winters, Mike, 78 World War II, 16-17, 24, 122 Woudenberg, Marla, 65 Wright, Todd, 126, 223

2021 BOARD OF ADVISORS Robert Duncan Chairman Emeritus of Duncan Aviation Ronald A. Duncan (no relation) CEO and co-founder of General Communication Inc., past chairman and board member of the National Business Aviation Association Todd Duncan Chairman of Duncan Aviation Jeannine Falter Retired Vice President of Duncan Aviation Larry R. Flynn Retired President of Gulfstream Aerospace Aaron Hilkemann CEO of Duncan Aviation and Board of Advisors Chairman John T. Reed Managing Member of Reed Capital Partners and Managing Director of NorthMarq Jean Rosanvallon Retired President of Dassault Falcon Jet Roger Whyte Retired Senior Vice President of Cessna Aircraft and Chairman of the Central European Private Aviation Association

Y Young Presidents Organization, 73

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A WING AND A PRAYER “The highlight of my life,” avionics manager Don Fiedler calls it. Harry Barr performed airshows during company parties in the late 1980s and early 1990s. He mentioned to Don that one of the stunts was to have somebody climb a rope ladder from a moving motorcycle to an airplane. “He knew that in my days, I’d done a lot of waterskiing and my hands were pretty strong, and he wanted to know if I wanted to try that,” Don recalled. “I told him, ‘Yeah, that would be a lot of fun.’ I knew that this was not something I wanted to tell my wife, because I knew she wouldn’t let me do it.”

A NEAR MISS Harry Barr recalled once picking up Betty Duncan in a helicopter from 78th and Dodge Streets in Omaha, and she almost walked into the tail rotor. “You yelled at me,” Betty told Harry in recounting the story. “It’s funny how you can remember those crazy things when you have a near miss.”

IMPROVEMENTS IN AVIATION Harry Barr has seen every change imaginable in aviation over the years. “While navigation has changed tremendously, it’s gotten a whole bunch easier for those folks who understand it and understand the equipment,” he said. He used to deliver Learjets to Europe using only an automatic direction finder (ADF), a fairly primitive device.

Darlene Christensen, left, with Susan Rhynalds and Harry Barr, who billed himself as Duncan Aviation’s “oldest pilot and oldest employee.”

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A few weeks before the show, Harry asked Don if he wanted to practice. He thought about it and replied, “I don’t think so. You know, if I crash there and kill myself, nobody’s going to see it. I’d rather go out in a big splash.” The stunt had some humor associated with it. Beforehand, a man came running out in front of the crowd and said, “Hey, somebody stole my uniform and helmet. That’s not me up there on that ladder.”

“Now they wouldn’t let you cross the ocean if you didn’t have FMS (flight management system) and GPS (global positioning system) and all that good stuff,” he said.

The crowd began to speculate on who was performing. “I think the announcer said, ‘I heard somewhere that’s probably a vice president from Duncan Aviation,’ ” Don related.

“We used to just kind of point it and listen to the ADF signal and hope the needle’s gonna point in the right direction. You kept going until you got there, and hoped you don’t run out of gas.”

His wife was, indeed, upset when she found out the daredevil’s identity. However, he did the stunt several more times before she permanently grounded him.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS STEVE JORDON was nearing the end of a 51-year career as an Omaha World-Herald reporter and editor when Duncan Aviation called. Bud Pagel, a former WH staffer and journalism professor, and his wife, Anne, knew the Duncan family well and recommended Steve to write this book. Steve had written a World-Herald book titled, “The Oracle & Omaha: How Warren Buffett And His Hometown Shaped Each Other.”

From left: Ingrid Jordon-Thaden, Jin Jordon, Leland Jordon, Helen Jordon, Steve Jordon, Brandon Jordon-Thaden, Mabel Thaden.

Steve has never piloted an airplane, but he has been a passenger since the DC-3 days, including a trip across the Pacific Ocean in military transports with the seats facing backwards. His father was a B-24 co-pilot in the European Theater of World War II and later flew B-47s, KC135s and other aircraft for the Strategic Air Command.

Steve landed in Nebraska with his Air Force family in 1962 and stayed, graduating in journalism from the University of Nebraska and working for the Omaha newspaper from 1967 on. Most of that time he covered business, including a decade as business editor, before retiring in 2018. Steve (percussion) and his wife, Helen (french horn), are members of the Nebraska Wind Symphony and a variety of smaller music groups, including an eclectic band called Monkey Funk. After retiring, Steve joined a poetry group, began piano lessons, signed up for watercolor classes and increased the frequency, but not necessarily quality, of his golf game. The Jordons have two children, Leland E. Jordon (SSgt., USMC, ret.) and Dr. Ingrid Jordon-Thaden, with spouses Jin and Brandon, respectively, and granddaughter Mabel E. Thaden.

CAROL HUNT retired from Duncan Aviation in 2017, but Robert Duncan had an idea: He wanted to write a book that would explain how it all happened and asked Carol if she wanted to help. Carol began pulling out information from the material she had saved during her 20 years as Robert’s personal assistant. When the book project began, she was ready. A native of Tecumseh, Nebraska, Carol moved after high school to Lincoln, Nebraska, and then to Waverly, Nebraska, raising children Jennifer, Monica and Martin. She worked as an administrative assistant and secretary for the Nebraska State Department of Education, the Attorney General’s Office and Hy-Gain, the antenna and electronics company. She joined Duncan Aviation on January 11, 1979, as Flight Department secretary, and then began working with Donald Duncan and the aircraft sales team. In late 1984, she helped start the AvPac division, doing everything from pricing of parts, invoicing and consignor contracts and payments. She got a call in 1991 asking her to work with Robert Duncan and Darlene Christensen, a 20-year position that ended when Robert retired. Carol moved to parts Front, from left: Dean Bohling, Carol Hunt, and rotable sales, selling William Bohling. Back, from left: Morgan mostly in the international Caspersen, Hazel Bohling, Austin Caspersen, market until she retired. Marissa Kline. Besides this book, she has focused on traveling, on her grandchildren — Austin, Morgan, William, Dean, Hazel — and on organizing craft shows and sewing baby blankets and other crafts. She enjoys making and personalizing memory T-shirt quilts. Her invaluable work on this book included lining up and conducting interviews, searching for historical details, processing video interviews, locating vintage photographs, verifying names and other information and teaming with Duncan Aviation team members to see the process through.

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TRUSTING YOUR CAPE The Nebraska Aviation Hall of Fame inducted Harry Barr, right, in 2000 and Robert and Donald Duncan in 2001.

RUNNING ON EMPTY No one — least of all Bob McCammon — is talking about the time a five-gallon can of aviation fuel had to be driven to Arrow Airport, on North 48th Street in Lincoln, so Harry could fly a plane back to Duncan Aviation, just a few miles away.

HARRY BARR ONCE LET TOM BURT TAKE THE CONTROLS WHILE FLYING BACK FROM A JOB:

“That was kind of a Harry thing, giving me the opportunity to do that. I had taxied the airplanes and certainly I was a pilot and was comfortable in the Learjets. But a Lear 24 without much fuel and just three people in it, it was kind of like riding a space shuttle as far as the performance goes.”

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A CLOSE CALL Harry Barr was flying a Learjet, towing targets for foreign navy gunners in training, and another Learjet was flying nearby photographing the operation. (What could go wrong?) The two jets bumped; Harry’s had minimal damage, but the other one lost horizontal control. “Thankfully, by regulating the power, he was able to make a controlled water landing. All I had to do was put a new radome on, and I was back in business.”

“Kathryn and I would go down to the airport in the summer with Mother every day and go over to Carter Lake to water-ski. Harry and Dad would get the boat out. Once I think somebody water-skied behind the helicopter. Shhhh, we are not supposed to talk about that, but I think that was true.” — DIANNE DUNCAN THOMAS

CREDITS INTERVIEWS AND ASSISTANCE Per Alkaersig Larry Arnold Harry Barr Larry Bartlett Robert Beale Monica Bohling Tom Burt Chad Doehring David Todd Duncan John Robert Duncan Karen K. Kent Duncan Kathryn Dawn Duncan Paul Kent “P.K.” Duncan Robert Harrison Duncan Gary Dunn John Ellis Jeannine Falter Don Fiedler Steve Gade Doyle Garrett Ron Grose Ron Hall Kathryn Paige Duncan Henning Aaron Hilkemann Joe Huffman Sr. Lori Johnson Alex Kvassay Jeff Lake Dan Magnus Bob McCammon Kevin Miesbach John Nelson Howard Nitzel Jenna Norris Pam Orr Anne Pagel Bud Pagel Barbara & Pete Parish Kaela Paseka Tessa Peters Jared Petr Bill Prochazka Andy Richards Marge Riemann Susan Roth Cole Sartore John Simms Carol Dianne Duncan Thomas Bob Tooker Dennis VanStrien Bill Wagner

AUTHORS Steve Jordon Carol Hunt EDITORS Mike Holmes Dan Sullivan Pam Thomas DESIGNER Christine Zueck-Watkins PHOTOGRAPHY Duncan Aviation Duncan family archives Matt Granucci Steve Jordon Ted Kirk Courtesy John P. Nelson, 73 Howard Nitzel Omaha World-Herald archives, 45, 54 John W. Simms Michael C. Snell RESOURCES Clarinda Carnegie Art Museum OH-K Fast Print in Omaha The Omaha World-Herald

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SILVER WINGS MEMBERS Duncan Aviation employees with 25 or more years of service.

At a fiesta, clockwise from above: Carol Hunt, Lori Marr, Robert Duncan, Harry Barr, Randy Jurgens, Don Heinlein, Bob Tooker, Ron Hall, Tom Burt, Don Fiedler and Bob McCammon.

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SILVER WINGS MEMBERS LNK = Lincoln BTL = Battle Creek PVU = Provo 1958 Harry Barr-Deceased (LNK) Darlene Christensen-Deceased (LNK) J. Robert Duncan (LNK) 1966 Don Fiedler-Retired (LNK) Ron Hall-Deceased (LNK) 1967 Larry Collier-Deceased (LNK) John Ellis-Retired (BTL) Joe Huffman Sr.-Deceased (LNK) Kent Kussatz-Deceased (LNK) Howard Schroeder-Deceased (BTL) 1968 Bob McCammon-Retired (LNK) Jane Wilkins-Deceased (BTL) 1971 Bob Stickler-Deceased (BTL) 1972 Ken Kuchenreuther-Retired (BTL) Larry Stewart-Retired (LNK) 1973 Art Bishop-Retired (BTL) Joan Boogholt-Deceased (BTL) Jim Gifford-Retired (LNK) Tom Hohl (LNK) Randy Hovious-Retired (BTL) Joe Malocha-Retired (BTL) Pete Phillips-Retired (BTL) Dave Pleskac-Retired (LNK) Gerry Schultz-Retired (LNK) Rick Whitesell-Deceased (LNK) 1974 Dave Balling-Retired (BTL) Bob Tooker-Retired (LNK) 1975 Curt Campbell (LNK) Duane Knight-Retired (LNK) Dave Lewis-Retired (LNK) Kevin McGinn-Retired (LNK) Paul Oneth (LNK) Marge Riemann-Retired (LNK) Dick Veik (LNK)

1976 Denny Bartunek-Deceased (LNK) Chuck Eighmy (LNK) Ron Grose (LNK) Ed Johnson-Retired (LNK) Woody Johnson-Retired (LNK) Randy Jurgens (LNK) Roger Matthew-Retired (LNK) Ed McCranie-Retired (LNK) John Noxon (LNK) Pam Orr (LNK) Jim Smith-Retired (BTL) Dale VanDeLaare (BTL) 1977 Tim Garity (LNK) Steve Green-Retired (LNK) Don Heinlein-Retired (LNK) Bill Prier-Retired (LNK) Don Reeves (LNK) Tom Seidl-Retired (LNK) Dennis VanStrien-Retired (BTL) Mike Zimbelman-Retired (LNK) 1978 Eileen Caskey-Retired (LNK) Tom Findley-Retired (LNK) Doyle Garrett (LNK) Mark Goertzen (LNK) Rick Kennell (LNK) Fred Kost (LNK) Mike McCullough (LNK) Dave Mills (BTL) Pete Mills (BTL) Nancy McKinney Moll (LNK) Phil Porter (LNK) Marc Shoemaker (LNK) Linda Smith (LNK) Mary Smith-Retired (BTL) 1979 Stu Anderson (BTL) Steve Ballard-Retired (LNK) Phil Bohaty (LNK) Jerry Bremer (LNK) Tom Burt-Retired (BTL) Craig Caskey-Retired (LNK) Sue Craft-Retired (LNK) Jim Ferguson (LNK) Darwin Godemann (LNK) Carol Hunt-Retired (LNK) Mike Jardine-Deceased (LNK) Danny Keller-Retired (LNK)

Dee Koepke-Deceased (LNK) Jim Kuhl-Retired (LNK) Lori Hermsen (LNK) Mike Mertens (LNK) Dan Phillips-Retired (LNK) Stan Schwarzkopf-Retired (LNK) Ron Shields (LNK) Scott Shottenkirk-Deceased (LNK) 1980 Andy Bajc (LNK) Bill Derr-Deceased (LNK) Gary Dunn (BTL) Gary McClure-Retired (BTL) Darrell Miller (LNK) Zane Parks (LNK) 1981 Bryan Batenhorst-Retired (LNK) Bill Bonkiewicz (LNK) Bob Eckert (BTL) Jeannine Falter (LNK) Scott Fletcher (LNK) Ed Gilmore-Retired (LNK) Terry Goldsmith-Deceased (LNK) Craig Kingery-Retired (LNK) Gary Kruger-Retired (LNK) Gordie Larsen-Retired (BTL) Michael Schumacher-Deceased (LNK) Matt Spain (LNK) 1982 Larry Bartlett (LNK) Steve Becker-Retired (LNK) Gus Blohn (LNK) David Brinkman (LNK) Dale Hawkins (BTL) Alex Jozsa (LNK) John Kelly (BTL) Kevin Miesbach (LNK) Howard Nitzel (LNK) Larry Troyer (LNK) 1983 Greg Becker (LNK) Kelly Becker (LNK) Jeff Harmon (LNK) Gerry Hilde-Retired (LNK) Gary Kipper-Retired (LNK) Steve Krings (LNK) Doug Roth (LNK) Leo Sawatzki-Retired (LNK) Matt Stephens (LNK)

Tom Ward (LNK) Glenn Weber-Deceased (LNK) 1984 Joe Austin (BTL) Kevin Bornhorst (BTL) Cliff Brugman (LNK) Rod Christensen (BTL) Tom Dirkschneider (LNK) Chris Gress (LNK) Jim Lee-Retired (LNK) Terry Link (LNK) Warren Myer (BTL) John Slieter-Retired (LNK) Frank Zavodsky (BTL) 1985 Tom Bennett (LNK) John Biever (BTL) Russ Brettmann-Retired (LNK) Dennis Brewer-Retired (LNK) Gary Harpster-Retired (LNK) Steve Joe (LNK) Russ Kromberg (LNK) Craig Lemka (LNK) Marty Lincoln (LNK) Cary Prange (LNK) Mike Ross-Retired (BTL) Jacquie Rowan-Retired (LNK) Scott Samuelson (LNK) James Sayers-Retired-Retired (LNK) Steve Smith-Retired (LNK) Darrell Stephens-Deceased (BTL) Larry Sterling-Retired (LNK) Rich Teel (LNK) Jerry Tollas (BTL) Scott Walsh (LNK) 1986 Jim Abart (LNK) Dan Arrick (BTL) Caroline Forstrom (LNK) Alan Goodman (LNK) Bill Harris (BTL) Larry Hickman (BTL) Dave Loudenback-Retired (LNK) Dan Magnus (LNK) Tim McClellan (LNK) Mike Noel (LNK) Doug Schmitt (LNK) Dan Soderstrom (BTL) Karen Rueschhoff (LNK) Kay Zvolanek-Retired (LNK)

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HARRY BARR’S LAST FLIGHT

HARRY BARR, about a month before he passed away, was having Sunday lunch with Doug Roth, a pilot and sales rep for Duncan Aviation. “I think it’s a good day to fly the Mustang,” Harry told Doug. Soon they were back at the Duncan Aviation hangar with Harry’s P-51D, named Barbara Jean after his late wife. Harry’s single-engine 1944 Mustang — the type of fighter aircraft credited with winning the European air war during World War II — was his home in flight, appearing in air shows, giving rides to WW II veterans, circling cemeteries to honor veterans as they were lowered into their graves. “I climbed in with him and off we went,” Doug said. The Mustang was airborne at 1:40 p.m. From the front seat, Harry climbed past 5,000 feet and began practicing “slow flight,” reducing speed almost to a stall and then recovering. “The Mustang is real sensitive with that sort of thing, but it gives you a small amount of notice that you’re going too slow,” Doug said. Harry had Doug practice a bit and then began some standard maneuvers — roll to the right, roll to the left, make a loop. “Your turn,” he told Doug. “We were really having a good time,” Doug said. The flight took them southwest from Lincoln, and then Harry flew north for a bird’s-eye check of his hangar at the Seward airport. He made a 270-degree turn and headed back to Lincoln. Traffic controllers, recognizing the vintage airplane and the pilots’ voices, asked Harry if he wanted “the option,” of either landing right away or making a go-around — flying the Mustang by the tower before landing. “Absolutely, you bet,” Harry replied.

Howard Nitzel photographed Harry Barr’s P-51D Mustang, named Barbara Jean, taking off from the Lincoln Airport on May 24, 2020, the last flight recorded in Harry’s pilot’s log. Below, FlightAware’s record of Harry Barr’s last flight.

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“He hadn’t even asked for the option, but they knew he likes to do it,” Doug said. Harry guided the Mustang along Runway 35 about 200 feet above the pavement and then made “a nice, tight turn,” setting up for the downwind landing pattern. “The touchdown wasn’t as smooth as he liked to make it, but he was on his game,” Doug said. “He did a great job of flying it. It was a lot of fun, very memorable.” After Harry died on July 1, 2020, Doug and Carol Hunt noticed that the flight was the last entry in Harry’s pilot’s log book. He was diligent about entering flights in the book, Doug said. Howard Nitzel, a project manager, took photos of the Mustang’s takeoff and the fly-by, but nobody at the time realized the 26-minute flight would be Harry’s last, nearly 70 years after his first ride in an airplane over the cornfields of southwestern Iowa. 

SILVER WINGS MEMBERS 1987 Thad Aude (LNK) Cliff Barker (BTL) Mary Bill (LNK) Doug Bohac (LNK) Chip Day (LNK) John Dilly (BTL) Danny Dodd-Retired (BTL) Keith Elder (BTL) Jeff King (LNK) Kerry Klein (BTL) Joe Moritz (LNK) Matt Nelson (LNK) Doug Perry (LNK) Bill Prochazka-Retired (PVU) Jeff Schipper (LNK) Lyle Schueth (LNK) Kent Suhr (LNK) Jim Susemihl (BTL) 1988 Doug Alleman (LNK) Randy Bauer (LNK) Janet Beazley (LNK) Rene Cardona (LNK) Rick Conner (LNK) Mark Cote (LNK) Jim Davis (SSD) Rick Drapal (LNK) Todd Duncan (LNK) Walt Ewert (LNK) John Fuchser (LNK) Roger Gadeken (LNK) Mick Goldsmith (LNK) Mark Grant (LNK) Jim Kitchen (LNK) Doug Kvassay (LNK) Kenny Leymaster (LNK) Barb Myer-Retired (BTL) Dave Niehus (LNK) Greg Palensky (LNK) Chris Peet (BTL) Doug Perry (LNK) Ron Phillips (LNK) Kent Rezac (LNK) Wendell Rogers (SSD) Jeff Schwebke (LNK) Don Shaffer (BTL) Loren Smith (LNK) Jim Svoboda (LNK) Curt Wilhelm (LNK) Jeff Witt (LNK) Chris VanderWeide (LNK) 1989 George Bajo (BTL) Lynn Bartels (LNK)

Jim Bauer-Deceased (LNK) Kent Beal-Retired (DAL) Lance Boatwright (LNK) Tracey Boesch (LNK) Kurt Bohac (LNK) Vince Cruickshank (LNK) Ray Debaets (LNK) Curt Eliker (LNK) Steve Elofson (LNK) Tim Elzey (LNK) Todd Fauver (LNK) Steve Frank (LNK) Rich Justus (LNK) Scott Lau (LNK) Tony Leitschuck (LNK) Randy Lienemann (LNK) Pat Lorenze (LNK) Kevin McGowan (BTL) Rick Milligan (LNK) Mike Morrow (LNK) Rick Novacek (LNK) Ryan Oestmann (LNK) Mark Osborn (LNK) Doug Patocka (LNK) Troy Pedersen (LNK) Stan Prochaska (LNK) Todd Reckling (LNK) Steve Reznick (LNK) Don Rouse (LNK) Mark Schoen (LNK) Jared Stauffer (LNK) Don Stephens-Retired (BTL) Ray Taylor (LNK) Jeff Truckey (BTL) Jim Wheaton (BTL) 1990 Ross Adams (LNK) Steve Ayotte (LNK) John Edson (LNK) Randy Edwards (LNK) Jon Fredrick (LNK) Scott Hamilton (LNK) Charles Hanner (LNK) Brian Homes (LNK) Tim Klenke (LNK) Mark Leppky (LNK) Tom Massey (LNK) Teri Nekuda (LNK) Dale Nitzel (LNK) Jim Overheul (BTL) Greg Pribyl (LNK) Troy Richter (LNK) Larry Ridley (HOU) Darrell Russell (LNK) Penny Smith (LNK) Tim Smith (LNK)

John Spevak (LNK) Joe Stokey (LNK) Al Sward (LNK) Brian Zitek (LNK) 1991 John Bates (BTL) Curt Beckenhauer (LNK) Mike Bernholtz (LNK) Darren Blaser (LNK) Mike Brouwer (BTL) David Epley (LNK) Greg Fenster (LNK) Terry Fransen (LNK) Terry Gieselman (LNK) Rob Gray (LNK) Dennis Gulley (LNK) Ted Hinkle (LNK) Tim Horner-Deceased (LNK) Bob Masek (LNK) Monte Reeves (LNK) Bryan Rothchild (LNK) Lon Sayers (LNK) Scott Shefke (LNK) Gordon Smith (LNK) Matt Stolz (LNK) Rick Wilen (LNK) Paul Wiles (LNK) 1992 Barry Burkey (LNK) Cliff Casburn (LNK) Mark Earnest (LNK) Steve Gade (LNK) Russ Haugen (PVU) Pete Hubbard-Retired (LNK) Troy Hyberger (LNK) Brad Lennemann (LNK) Jeff Morgan (LNK) Kevin Olson (LNK) Mark Pawlowski (LNK) Lanny Renshaw (LNK) Aaron Spulak (LNK) Kristi Steward (LNK) Dennis Sweeney (LNK) Bong Tran (LNK) Russ Walker (LNK) Rod Whitehead (LNK) Louis Williams (LNK) 1993 Annette Brady (LNK) Cheri Burger (LNK) Bill Elliott (BTL) Larry Gray (BFI) Tracy Hein (LNK)

David Hill (BFI) Lori Johnson (LNK) Kirk Keller (LNK) Eric Knisley (LNK) Jeff Lake (LNK) Jeff McCormick (BTL) Leisa Miller (LNK) Mike Minchow (LNK) Todd Mylander (LNK) Jay Pennington (BTL) Carla Philipps (LNK) Rod Porter (LNK) Troy Reinke (LNK) Dale Rose (LNK) Brad Sievers (LNK) John Simms (LNK) 1994 Courtney Buller (LNK) Tammie Burns (LNK) Shawn Busby (PVU) Shirley Crouch (LNK) Chad Doehring (PVU) Casey Dunegan (LNK) Mike Essink (LNK) Todd Hoffman (LNK) Connie Janak (LNK) Gus Miller (LNK) John Moffett (BTL) Stephen Narciso-Retired (LNK) Scott Pengra (BTL) Mark Rezac (LNK) Sean Robinson (LNK) Mal Sidebottom (BTL) Joe Strauss (LNK) Rob Tate (BTL) Dave Thompson (PVU) Todd Wright (BTL) 1995 Shawn Andrews (BTL) Trevor Bartlett (LNK) Julie Bissell (LNK) Eric Bordovsky (LNK) Darrell Cermak (LNK) Jewell Chambers-Retired-(LNK) Corey Christiansen (LNK) Herb Chupp (BTL) Scott Farmer (LNK) Bill Gatewood (BTL) John Gress (LNK) Scott Griess (LNK) Chris Hogg (LNK) Paul Holt (LNK) Marvin Kadavy (LNK) Sandy Kahn (LNK)

John Kemp (BTL) Brad Kenyon (BTL) Matt Koehn (LNK) Brian Koski (BTL) Mary Lehman (BTL) Nhat Nguyen (LNK) Nate Pulver (LNK) Mike Sulka (BTL) Tim Thurman (BTL) Mike Urlacher (LNK) Rod Walther (LNK) Sarah White (LNK) 1996 Andy Addison (LNK) Todd Bartholomew (BTL) Jason Behrens (BTL) Jamie Blackman (LNK) Don Blight (BTL) Norm Chesney (LNK) Erick Corbridge (LNK) Jeff Crawford (LNK) Calvin Drenth (BTL) Cory Ebbers (LNK) Harry Frye (LNK) Craig Gebers (LNK) Roger Green (BTL) Suzanne Hawes (BTL) Tom Henry (LNK) Brad Hewitt (BTL) Aaron Hilkemann (LNK) John Jacobs (BTL) John Kauppila (BTL) Rich Kempston (LNK) Steve Kirtley (BTL) Nate Klenke (LNK) Skip Laney (LNK) Jim Laughner (LNK) Tera Lopp (BTL) Cary Loubert (BTL) Mark Lyon (LNK) Susan Masek (LNK) Mike McGuire (BTL) Mike Morgan (BTL) Jeff Nelson (BTL) Craig Olsen (PVU) Ed Ourada (LNK) Kim Owen (LNK) James Peterson (LNK) Mark Pope (BTL) Wayne Sand (LNK) John Scully (LNK) Terry Stehlik (LNK) Terry Stovall (LNK) Mike Upah (PVU) Cha Vue (BTL) Kyle Wiegers (LNK)

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“We love our business. We have fun. We get to fly.” — ROBERT DUNCAN

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