en.Wedoany.com Reported - Duncan Aviation is investing approximately $89 million to build a new Pratt & Whitney Canada engine overhaul center at its headquarters in Lincoln, Nebraska, nearly doubling its engine business footprint. The new facility, which opened in June, spans 36,000 square feet and includes 12 engine overhaul stations covering the full process of disassembly, inspection, repair, and reassembly, complementing the existing 40,000-square-foot engine facility.

Pratt & Whitney Canada designated Duncan Aviation as an authorized overhaul facility for PW300 and PW500 engines in October 2023, based on Duncan's years of providing line maintenance, hot section inspections, LRU replacements, and other routine repair services. Although P&WC's new designation did not mandate a new facility, Duncan sought to expand space for overhaul work. Approximately 15,000 square feet of the 36,000-square-foot facility is dedicated specifically to overhauls. Additionally, Duncan doubled its warehouse space to 10,000 square feet to support engine operations and invested about $9 million in inventory for the two P&WC engine types. Scott Stoki, Vice President of Engine Operations, stated that the company also added vertical warehousing to maximize space utilization, along with a 9,000-square-foot receiving and shipping area. The new facility also includes offices, storage rooms, a clean room, and a paint area.

The $89 million investment also covers tooling and new equipment, such as a new balancing machine, two coordinate measuring machines, a rotor stacker, a vertical grinder, a surface grinder, a turbine blade grinder, a sandblaster, dye penetrant inspection equipment, a magnetic particle inspection bench, a flame spray booth, and a new clean room. Stoki noted that the flame spray booth "will allow us to perform a significant number of (approved) repairs in-house that might otherwise require outsourcing for exchange, helping to better control turnaround times and inventory." The company's existing 20,000-pound thrust test cell (used for Honeywell TFE731 engines, commissioned in 2017) "has been running continuously," so plans are underway to build a new Atec test facility of the same thrust class to support PW300 and PW500 engines. Stoki expects the new test cell "will be equipped with more testing equipment than the existing one" and must meet Pratt & Whitney requirements, with certification expected this year.

Duncan employees working on PW300 and PW500 engines have completed factory training at Pratt & Whitney and FlightSafety International. In addition to forming a new workshop team, the company plans to expand its internal repair development capabilities, known as Duncan Manufacturing Solutions. Duncan Aviation is an authorized engine overhaul supplier for the TFE731 and a secondary maintenance provider for Honeywell's HTF7000 series turbofan engines. Earlier this year, Honeywell authorized it to overhaul the RE100 APU, and Duncan expects this capability to come online in 2027. Stoki stated that the company aims to continue expanding its APU and engine overhaul capabilities and is ready to invest in new facilities for more authorizations.