Working on Donald Trump's private plane was a 'point of excellence' for SkyTheater, a company that combines aircraft expertise with an entertainment industry background to create luxury in-flight entertainment for personal jets.
Much has been written about the home theater and entertainment system on President Donald Trump’s private plane, but how did this project come to be? CE Pro went behind the scenes with SkyTheater, a company that has become the home control and entertainment specialist for super-fancy jets like Trump's Boeing 757.
Now that Donald Trump is president, he's had to abandon his personal jet for Air Force One. But that doesn’t mean it’s an upgrade.
“A Hollywood industry magazine recently called me to ask if Air Force One is better than Trump’s plane,” says Gregg Launer, founder and CEO of SkyTheater. “I said 'No comment.'”
Launer and his business partner Andrew Guenther installed an entertainment system of home theater caliber in Trump’s personal jet back in 2011. They call the project a “point of excellence” for the company, which combines aircraft expertise with an entertainment industry background to create luxury in-flight entertainment.
“The whole experience of working on Trump’s plane changed our world completely,” says Launer.
Two Passions Come Together
Launer went to school for broadcast engineering, TV and radio. He got his first job working as an engineer maintaining transmitters at a radio station. Then he joined NBC Miami.
“I was assigned to interviews with celebrities,” says Launer. “The biggest moment for me was probably when I met Elizabeth Taylor. I think I was 20 at the time. It was there that I learned to be professional around celebrities.”
Launer also had a dream; he'd wanted to learn to fly since he was young.
“While I was working at the TV station, I had an opportunity to fly in the helicopter,” he says. “I eventually pursued my pilot’s license and my flight instructor’s license. Then I got a job in Florida working with a seafood company that had a Cessna 205, an older aircraft. On weekends I would fly this plane to go pick up lobster tails from the Bahamas. The plane had an old 8-track player, and I decided I would try to improve the sound.”
“These aircraft manufacturers were pretty much putting car stereos in these planes, and they still do. They were blown away by what we could do.”
— Gregg Launer, SkyTheater
That was the beginning for Launer. After improving the sound on 8-track players on a few different planes, he saw his first corporate jet and immediately thought of putting in a sound system or even a theater. The rest, as they say, is history.
As Launer began ramping up his business, he met Guenther at a trade show. Guenther had started his own company, then called Advanced Security Systems, installing security systems in high-end homes when he was 17.
“In the late 70s, only the very wealthy had security systems,” says Guenther. “Then around 1980, a customer asked me if I could wire some speakers for him. Back then there were no in-wall speakers. Then I started installing projectors, and Runco came along and we started buying Runco projectors, and it just went on from there.”
Advanced Security Systems became Advanced Audio Design as Guenther’s business grew to about 80 employees and $20 million a year in revenue. Advanced Audio Design became a premier home electronic installation company in Southwest Florida. Guenther and his team designed and engineered the installation of many home theaters, lighting systems, control systems, multiroom AV, HVAC and automated blinds.
Photos: Inside Donald Trump's Private Plane
“Then the economy took a crap on us,” Guenther laughs. “It was around this time that I met Gregg. He started talking about SkyTheater and asked if I wanted to get involved.”
Today, both Launer and Guenther have been trained at George Lucas’s Skywalker Ranch, home to Lucasfilm’s sound design, mixing and audio post-production facility. Guenther still runs his custom installation company, now named Advanced ESI, and the two are both managing members and part owners of SkyTheater.
A Business Idea Takes Off
The year was 1994. Launer met Wayne Huizenga, the founder of Blockbuster, and talked him into the idea of building a little movie theater on Blockbuster’s BAC 1-11 corporate jet.
This was, to put it lightly, a revolutionary idea. Before Launer started his business, there were no movie theaters or studios in corporate jets. He started to get the attention of Hollywood, as well as immersive sound system companies Dolby and DTS.
“When I found out that [Blockbuster] was trying to buy Showtime, it dawned on me that the system worked so well, why don’t I try to get a movie studio [as a client]?” says Launer. “I talked Universal Studios into letting me do their jet. Once I got a studio, it really started to take off.”
"You can’t just put a regular Vizio TV [on a plane] because of all of the internal workings. You have to make sure that everything is electrically and physically able to pass a certification program before any avionics professional can accept this as legally installable in an aircraft."
— Andrew Guenther, SkyTheater
SkyTheater was officially created in 1996, and has since become the company of choice for the most demanding private and corporate jet owners, which include A-list celebrities, athletes, Fortune 500 CEOs and entertainment industry executives.
“These aircraft manufacturers were pretty much putting car stereos in these planes, and they still do,” says Launer. “They were blown away by what we could do.”
Now, a combination of avionics and audio/visual expertise forms the core of the SkyTheater team including AV specialists, pilots, avionics integrators, system designers and computer wizards. SkyTheater does audio, video and control including lighting and shading.
Because most standard products made by custom electronics manufacturers aren’t certified for aircraft use, SkyTheater makes many of its own electronics and technology for the planes.
“You can’t just put in a regular Vizio TV because of all of the internal workings,” explains Guenther. “You have to make sure that everything is electrically and physically able to pass a certification program before any avionics professional can accept this as legally installable in an aircraft.”
This goes beyond TVs and speakers. Each step in the installation process has to pass rigorous inspection.
“The mounting hardware wouldn’t meet the requirements [for aircraft use],” says Guenther. “The framework wouldn’t, the wiring wouldn’t and the internal electrical circuitry wouldn’t.”
SkyTheater orders panels and parts specifically made for aircraft installation, and uses them to build its own products. The company makes screens, speakers, subwoofers, amplifiers, preamplifiers and video distribution. It also installs movie studio licensed audio and video processors.
The whole interior was taken out of the Boeing 757 and made available for SkyTheater to modify. See more photos.
“Everything is FAA certified,” says Launer. “Every piece of equipment that we put in these planes is completely custom made and certified. We are looking for a certain sound result and each cabin is so different, every one has to be measured carefully.”
