Aviation Consultants

ACI Aviation Consulting specializes in Aircraft Appraisals, Litigation Assistance, and Aircraft Sales. With billions of dollars in aviation assets appraised annually, ACI brings significant experience to the ever-changing corporate and commercial aviation landscapes. 

Services Include:

Aircraft Valuation Flight Simulator, Engine, GSE Appraisals Technical Consulting

Aircraft Remarketing Pre-Purchase Inspections Lease Return Analysis

Chairman and CEO, Quentin Brasie, has over 33 years of experience in the Aviation Industry. A Federally licensed Airframe and Powerplant (A&P) mechanic, he is familiar with a wide variety of aviation assets including aircrafts, engines, spare parts, and flight simulators. Mr. Brasie has conducted valuations on a wide variety of aviation assets including assignments for many domestic and international banks, financial institutions, and airlines. He routinely conducts valuations for aviation assets, valued in excess of 3 billion dollars annually. 

Background - Mr. Brasie began his career with the United States Air Force. Following his honorable discharge from the armed forces, Mr. Brasie served as a line mechanic for New York Air and American Airlines. His expertise in the industry led to management positions with Discovery Airways, and Avitas, Inc. He was a founding partner of Aviation Solutions, Inc., based in Manassas, Virginia, and held numerous executive positions, including vice president.

In July of 2000, Mr. Brasie founded ACI Aviation Consulting where he is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the corporation. Mr. Brasie is the Editor-In-Chief and owner of The Airliner Price Guide publication. Established in 1985, the publication provides current market values for commercial aircraft and engines for a wide industry subscriber base. He has also conducted industry presentations, published articles in numerous trade publications, and completed numerous manufacturer and airline courses.

View Quentin Brasie's Expert Witness Profile.

Aviation Safety Consultants, LLC is a company designed to assist the aviation community with precise and specific Aviation Safety Consulting. Their clients include insurance companies, aviation flight schools, aircraft production companies, law firms, and fixed and rotary wing operators.

Consulting Services - Aviation Safety Consultants, LLC offers safety evaluations (audits) for aviation companies in accordance with Federal Aviation Regulations and IS-BAO and HAI Standards. They teach and promote proven Risk Management practices. They specialize in Human Factors and Material Failure in Accident Investigations.

Aviation Safety Consultants, LLC also provides consulting services for industrial, construction, and motor vehicle accidents. Their experts include Flight Instructors, Airline Pilots, Air Traffic Control Specialist, A&P Mechanics, Metallurgy Engineers and Safety Personnel both from the military and civilian organizations.

Founder and Owner, Keith M. Cianfrani, MAS, CRSP, a retired U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel, has over 30 years of aviation experience. He is a master army aviator, aviation safety officer, commercial pilot, instructor pilot, and was an accident investigator for the U.S. Army Safety Center.

Mr. Cianfrani is rated in both rotary wing and fixed wing aircraft. As a safety officer, he has managed safety programs in organizations with over 100 aircraft stationed throughout 5 states. He is currently an instructor for Embry Riddle Aeronautical University and Kansas State University. Mr. Cianfrani is also presently attending Florida Institute of Technology (FIT) as a PhD Student in Aviation Science. He writes the Safety and Training Column for Rotor and Wing Magazine.

Mr. Cianfrani is a certified Flight Instructor (CFI) and has also worked in the civilian, commercial aviation industry. He has been flying for companies such as Petroleum Helicopters, Damin Aviation, Keystone Helicopters, Island Helicopters, and Chopper 6 and Chopper 3 in Philadelphia. He also has experience in the flight for life, aero medical evacuation industry.

View Keith Cianfrani's Expert Witness Profile.

JB Aviation, LLC is an Aviation Management consultant company specializing in professionally guiding and accommodating Domestic and International Cessna Citation owners and operators. They have over 44+ years of experience in worldwide corporate aviation including destinations with a number of North Atlantic and Pacific ferry crossings. JB Aviation has maintained a full-service training agreement with FlightSafety International since 1998, and hold themselves and their employees to the highest standards with a subscription to 30 West IP. Client Services:

Professional Pilot Services - International, Domestic Cessna Citation Crew Mentoring - IOE and SOE Cessna Citation Crew Support Flight Department Development Aircraft Evaluations and Deliveries

Avionics Systems and Crew Training Aircraft Cost Analysis Owner Trustee Aircraft Acceptance Flights and Deliveries General Aviation Expert Witness

Principal, John R. Bell, II, is an Aviation Management Consultant who offers Professional Pilot Services. His background includes 35 years of experience in corporate aviation development, implementing and managing the needs of various companies and individuals. Mr. Bell’s background experience since 2000 has included a number of international ferry flights with North Atlantic and Pacific crossings. He has supported a number of operators in Indonesia, Malaysia, and South Korea. The support he has provided includes qualifying their crewmembers (IOE/SOE) to meet their Air Taxi requirements as per Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and qualifying their Flight Attendants. 

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Kit Darby was the president of AIR, Inc., the largest Career Information Resource company for pilots for 25 years. Mr. Darby Provides Answers and Statistical Data, but also Guidance through the Constantly Changing Aviation Industry. He works with Military, General Aviation, Corporate, and Commuter Pilots transitioning to the larger airlines. Mr. Darby provides complete, timely, and accurate career information to help pilots make informed decisions throughout their job search and to assist them in their career development as an airline pilot. Retired United Airlines captain, airline and military instructor pilot.

AIR-Experts Services Provided:

• Pilot Career Earnings and Employability Models
• Depositions and Trials
• Expert Witness and Litigation Support
• Case Preparation and Analysis

Pilot Forecasting:

• Pilot Hiring and Equipment forecast
• Economic Forecast
• Pilot Supply and Demand
• Pilot Hiring Trends
• Pilot hiring requirements

www.KitDarby.com

Mechanical Solutions, Inc. (MSI) provides new equipment design, computer-aided analysis, installed equipment field testing and problem solutions. MSI staff performs these tasks for all types of Pumps, Compressors, Fans, Turbines, and Motors. For pumps and compressors, expertise includes both centrifugal and positive displacement (e.g. reciprocating or screw) configurations.  Turbine knowledge and experience include hydraulic turbine generators (“hydroturbines”) as well as aircraft gas turbine engines and land-based gas or steam turbine power generation systems. Applications include green energy, power, process, petrochemical, paper, and water resource industries.

MSI uses advanced finite element analysis (FEA), rotordynamics, and torsional analysis tools, and uses computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to analyze 3-D steady or unsteady fluid flows and heat transfer, enabled by its 230 high speed processor supercomputer. MSI also uses top-of-the-line testing equipment, including multichannel FFT analyzers (up to 200 simultaneous channels) to accurately read the outputs of various vibration, stress/strain, and pressure sensors, as a function of both time and frequency. As a unique additional test capability, MSI uses motion magnification video cameras to amplify and display scene vibration by 1000x. MSI uses calibrated exciters while equipment remains running, to locate structural, rotor, and acoustic natural frequency resonances as they exist at any particular operating point, without interfering with machinery operation.  In addition, MSI performs stress, acoustic, dynamic pressure pulsation, electric current spectrum, and aero/hydraulic performance testing. 

MSI also has been project team leader in the development of advanced rocket turbopumps, as well as turbopump diagnostics, for the U.S. Air Force and NASA Marshall Space Flight Center. MSI is funded for several large projects with the U.S. Navy and Air Force involving vision-based systems that automatically evaluate and display/amplify machinery or system dynamic events.  As a result of these projects, MSI has developed its VibVue® vibration motion magnification system, which can magnify vibration 1000x in the full field-of-view of the equipment.  This system is available as a service, or for purchase.

Mechanical Solutions has a staff of approximately 30 technical professionals, many of whom are well known internationally in the area of pumps, compressors, and turbines.  For example, MSI’s Dr. Edward Bennett won the ASME Gopalakrishnan award for best pump fluids technologist, and was later awarded another ASME medal for CFD.    MSI’s Paul Boyadjis has won the Hydraulic Institute 2021 Standards Partner of the Year award. Since its founding in 1996, MSI has strived to provide best-in-class service throughout the world.

William D. Marscher has over 50 years of experience in the field of Fluid Systems and their rotating and reciprocating machinery, particularly large turbines, generators, compressors, and pumps.  His typical work responsibilities include design, analysis, and testing of all types of plant machinery, as well as other types of fluid and mechanical systems.   

Mr. Marscher received a B.S.M.E. from Cornell University in 1970, and a Master Eng. (Mech. Des.) in 1972, when he was a NASA Fellow and the lead graduate student for the original Mars Rover Design project.  In 1976, he received an M.Sc. in Engineering Physics from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He is a registered and licensed Professional Engineer, State of New Jersey Lic. No. 40626.

For 25 years, Mr. Marscher has been one of the U.S. voting representatives on the ISO (International Standards Organization) TC108 committee, and has been the US Coordinator concerning, among other issues, machinery dynamics of centrifugal pumps and hydraulic turbine generators. He is past president of the Society of Tribologists & Lubrication Engineers (STLE), the primary technical society worldwide for the study and design of bearings, seals, wear, and erosion issues in machinery.  For the past 45 years he has been a voting member of the ASTM Fatigue Standards Committee E9, as well as the ASTM Wear & Erosion Standards Committee G2.  He is also the past Board of Directors Chairman for the Machinery Failure Prevention Technology Society (MFPT), and has been active in the Vibration Institute.   Mr. Marscher is a 23-year member of the Texas A&M Turbine-Pump Users Symposium Advisory Committee (essentially the Board of Directors for the Symposium).   For ASME, Mr. Marscher was Chair of the Predictive Maintenance committee, and was Organizing and Presiding Chair of the 1993 RoCon Rotating Machinery Conference and the 1995 Tribology Conference.

Mr. Marscher has written thirteen handbook chapters for various major engineering handbooks, which have focused on turbomachinery mechanical issues, including dynamics, and bearing and seal design   In previous employ, he was a senior engineer Pratt & Whitney Aircraft Engines, and Director of Mechanical Engineering for Worthington HQ (pumps, compressors, and turbines), and for Dresser Worthington Division after their acquisition of Worthington.   Later, he was VP of Concepts NREC, from which 30 years ago he spun off Mechanical Solutions, Inc. as an independent turbomachinery technology company.  He has since become a charter Standards Partner for the Hydraulic Institute (HI), the trade association for the pump industry, became Vice Chair of the vibration technical committee for HI, and was HI Standards Partner of the Year for 2018.   He also won the 2019 Vibration Institute MFPT Frarey Award for Diagnostics Excellence.

View MSI's Expert Witness Profile.

Mechanical Engineer - Turbomachinery Expert. Gas turbine engines, steam turbines, jet engines, compressors, pumps, expanders, generators, cogeneration, combustion equipment, diesel engines, and reciprocating compressors. 

Failure analysis, stress analysis, mechanical design, design analysis, troubleshooting, performance analysis, durability assessment. Access to metallurgical laboratory. Experienced Expert witness. 

Please see our Service List at https://sbkushnick.com/servicelist.pdf for a concise description.