Although it was one of the newest members of the Twin Commander Factory Authorized Service Center network, Scottsdale, Arizona-based Gemini Aviation had a strong history of maintenance, charter, and hangar management. TAC, the aviation services company based in Utah, saw the potential in Gemini, and purchased the business earlier this year. Now known as Keystone Aviation, the facility continues its expansion, and its Twin Commander expertise.
“Not a lot has changed,” said Director of Maintenance Greg Laabs. “We’re still working heavily on the Commander platform.” Laabs has been with the company since 2018, and his experience with major turbine maintenance facilities has served Keystone customers well.
Keystone has five technicians, and is looking to hire three more. Although they will do avionics repairs, their focus is almost entirely on airframe and powerplant work. In addition to routine inspections, Laabs said they are particularly adept at major landing gear inspections and overhauls. They do the work in-house and collaborate closely with vendors to stock the necessary parts. They also keep full kits in stock, and can turn the job around in about two weeks. If tied to a 150-hour inspection, the process can be smooth and painless, and save an owner on shipping and downtime.
They also work with a well-known engine shop down the street for repairs and overhauls, and can do the necessary removal and re-hang. “I literally put the engine in a truck and drive it five minutes down the road,” he said. Keystone has a prop balancer as well, making the entire process seamless for the owner, and negating shipping costs and transit time.
Keystone also has expertise in aircraft transactions, pre-purchase inspections, and importing aircraft. They recently worked with a buyer to bring a Twin Commander in from South America. They spent considerable time going through the logbooks, completing a 150-hour inspection as a pre-buy check, and working with the FAA to ease the registration process. That job was for a new customer, who came based on the recommendation of an existing customer. “Because of the history we have with our existing customers, and the faith they have in us, they know we’re not going to spend their money needlessly,” Laabs said.
Making life better for their customers is a key aspect in many of Keystone’s objectives. For example, since 1997 Laabs has worked with a window polishing company based in Colorado to get crazing and minute scratches out of windshields in the name of preventative maintenance. “If you polish them out and follow the OEM specs, you can save the windows from being replaced for a longer period of time,” he said. “There will come a time when they need to be replaced, but good preventative maintenance can address the problem before it gets severe.”
Offering this type of service can save owners money on replacement parts, and by bringing the service provider to Keystone during an inspection, an owner can save time as well.
Being aligned with a larger parent company has also enabled Keystone to better weather the supply chain issues facing all of aviation right now. As common replacement items such as tires, boots, and batteries become harder to find, Keystone uses its corporate-level relationships to better source items. They are stocking items as quickly as possible, but Laabs still recommends planning ahead. If your tires are getting close to replacement, for example, let them know so they can order in advance and have the parts ready to go when the time comes.
That sort of strategic thinking is what a good Twin Commander Factory Authorized Service Center brings to owners. Stocking the common replacement items on inspections, reducing downtime, and bringing experienced technicians to the job means a higher overall quality of work.
