Kerry Lynch stepped into the role of editor of the&nbsp;Aviation International News&nbsp;monthly magazine in May 2022 after serving with&nbsp;AIN&nbsp;for eight years. She joined&nbsp;AIN&nbsp;in December 2014 as a senior editor covering Washington and business aviation news. She has also served on Convention News teams, including as editor of&nbsp;HAI Convention News. Lynch previously spent 25 years with Aviation Week. During her time there, she reported for and later steered&nbsp;The Weekly of Business Aviation, oversaw business aviation content on the&nbsp;Aviation Week Intelligence Network, served on the&nbsp;Show News&nbsp;staff, and held roles as the Washington columnist for&nbsp;Business &amp; Commercial Aviation&nbsp;and&nbsp;Overhaul &amp; Maintenance&nbsp;monthly magazines. In 2021 she was honored with the National Business Aviation Association Platinum Wing Award for lifetime achievement in journalism and was the 2004 recipient of the National Air Transportation Association’s Aviation Journalism Excellence Award. She also has been a recipient of an Aerospace Media Award for business aviation (2022) and NBAA Gold Wing Award (2003, 2024). Lynch graduated from The Ohio State University with a bachelor of arts in journalism.

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Kerry Lynch

Duncan Aviation this week rolled out its most intricate aircraft paint job yet, transforming a white Cessna Citation CJ3+ with factory stripes into a kaleidoscope of 46 colors, with flies, flowers, and other hand-laid details that all accentuate the eyes that watch over the tarmac and pierce the skies.&nbsp;The artwork reflects the imagination of Duncan Aviation chairman emeritus Robert Duncan and his wife, Karen, along with the entire paint shop team, according to the MRO.
While the Duncan CJ3+,&nbsp;N1RD, was originally in standard livery, “Robert and Karen Duncan saw something else. They saw a blank canvas…They saw an opportunity to challenge the team, open the doors of Duncan Aviation’s new Lincoln paint hangar with a statement, and create an aircraft that could not be mistaken for anyone else’s,” Duncan Aviation explained.
Karen wanted to know, “How outrageous can we get?” and, according to the long-standing Lincoln, Nebraska-headquartered business, Robert embraced it. Once complete, Robert’s reaction was: “Wow…This is completely outrageous. It speaks to the creativity and the outstanding job that Duncan Aviation does day in and day out.”
The Duncans are known for collecting art, meeting artists, and folding art into aircraft. Friends painted “just married” on the side of Robert’s Beechcraft Travel Air when the Duncans married in 1965. Discussing the penchant for art on aircraft, Robert said, “We’re known for that now. This is a fifth or sixth airplane that’s had a special paint job.”
As for the newest creation, Duncan Aviation lead designer Hannah Mann said the process began two years ago. “We were all really excited to come up with something truly unique.” Robert and Karen began with inspiration artwork, and then artists from Duncan’s Paint and Design teams were invited to submit ideas. About 30 initial submissions were winnowed into 15 updated concepts. Karen stressed, “We want something crazy.”
The selected concept ultimately came from paint master specialist Troy Reinke. “I was trying to come up with something that was unique, something we’d never done, something that was eye-catching, and also something that Robert and Karen would appreciate,” Reinke said.
The work leans into Mexican art and culture, given the Duncans’ longtime ties with Puerto Vallarta. Among the details that caught Karen’s attention were the flies. While small in comparison to the overarching paint scheme, they highlight the tail, nose, and nacelles. When asked about the flies, she explained, “Because we’re flying.”
Karen also found the eyes “pretty amazing,” and Robert said they make the aircraft impossible to ignore. “The eyes are really distinctive. They jump right out at you.”
Mann detailed the process of translating Reinke’s original artwork into an aircraft paint job. “I took Troy’s drawing and split that out into individual shapes and pieces,” Mann said. “His original scheme had fades and highlights and shadows, and when we broke those out into individual shapes, we had to add those design elements back in. That’s where the 46 colors came from.”
Each section was planned, masked, painted, unmasked, and protected with precision. While the process was time-consuming, the team also needed to pay attention to a range of paint projects moving through the shop.
Importantly, though, Robert wanted the Citation CJ3+ to be the first aircraft painted in Duncan Aviation’s new Lincoln paint hangar, which opened in January.

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Duncan Aviation Puts Eyes in the Sky on CJ3+ with Colorful Paint Scheme

Robert and Karen Duncan steered a project that marked the company’ss most extensive paint work with 46 colors

Duncan Aviation celebrated the opening of its new paint hangar with an elaborate paint scheme on a CJ3+ that involves 46 colors, giant eyes, flowers, and flies.

Duncan Aviation Puts Eyes in the Sky with CJ3+ Paint Job

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