In late August 2017, Flying Colours Corp delivered the second of two matching Bombardier Challenger 850s reconfigured at its facility in St Louis, Missouri, for corporate shuttle use by a Fortune 500 company.
The project began with Flying Colours Corp supporting the sourcing and purchase negotiations for the aircraft. The company also created a cabin design used for both aircraft – from a brief calling for comfort and the durability to withstand a typical schedule of five or six legs a day. The aircraft arrived in St Louis early in 2017, where maintenance, avionics and the interior work was performed. The first aircraft was delivered in July 2017.
The cabins were reconfigured from a 15-seat layout to accommodate 19. At the front, there is a club-four configuration with built-in side counter tables. This is followed by three rows of 2-1 seating, then an aft club-four and club-two setup. There are lavatories at both the front and back, and the galley was also modified to extend storage space.
The aircraft features business seats with USB ports, and monitors at the front and back that display Rockwell Collins’s Airshow 500. The project involved Flying Colours’ first installation of infrastructure to support the GoGo 4G air-to-ground communications system, and the new Alto Cadence Switch System CMS.
To avoid the need for scheduled maintenance in the first two years of service, Flying Colours undertook 12/24/48/96-month airframe inspections, landing gear overhauls and other inspection tasks. A custom livery was applied at the company’s facility in Peterborough, Canada.
“We helped the client find the right aircraft, ensured no hidden surprises would come up after purchase, and created a customized interior to match the client’s mission,” said Sean Gillespie, executive vice president at Flying Colours Corp. “We maximized the downtime by conducting maintenance and interior work under one roof. Finally, we finished the paint specification in Peterborough.”
The customer is using the aircraft as replacements for two older turboprops. “We believe the client chose to renew existing aircraft, as opposed to buying new, as they recognized the benefits and value of upgrading an existing airframe to deliver a customized aircraft to fulfill their corporate travel needs,” Gillespie said.
September 13, 2017
