- DASH Aero
- About
About
About DASH Aero
An Orlando company, founded in 2018 by two people from the ramp side of aviation, that does one job: cleans the APU plenum and compartment on the Airbus A320 family, properly and without a mess.
Why DASH exists
A task being done the hard way.
The way the APU compartment on the A320 family is usually cleaned has two problems. It tends to happen after something has gone wrong, when an odor has been written up, and it tends to take the aircraft out of service to do it, because rinsing a compartment full of oil and hydraulic residue is not something you do on an open ramp.
David Allen and Sandy Showalter had spent their working lives around aircraft care and ramp operations. In 2018 they set out to fix both problems at once. The answer was a cleaning station that builds its own containment under the tail: with the APU access doors open, a water impervious curtain, including a collection basin on the platform, is erected under the compartment, so the work can be done with steam and hot water wherever the aircraft happens to be, and every drop can be captured.
They filed for the patent in April 2018. It was granted in July 2020 as US 10,703,510. In 2024 the company's quality management system was certified to ISO 9001:2015. In 2026, working with RH Aero, DASH took a dedicated steam cleaning unit to its first on-wing trial with Austrian Airlines.
Milestones
2018
DASH Aero founded in Orlando. Patent application filed on April 11.
2020
US Patent 10,703,510 granted on July 7 for the APU cleaning system and method.
2024
ISO 9001:2015 certification from DEKRA, effective March 25.
2026
First on-wing trial of the RH Aero steam cleaning unit, with Austrian Airlines in Vienna.
Founders
The people behind the patent.
David Allen
Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer
David started washing cars at fifteen, on the edge of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and followed the IndyCar circuit through his summers cleaning team transporters. A client asked him to detail a single engine airplane. Then a twin. He earned his pilot certificate and moved into corporate aviation.
He went on to found The Allen Groupe, which cares for business aircraft across the United States, Canada and Europe. DASH Aero came out of that work: years spent close enough to aircraft maintenance to see which tasks were being done the hard way. He is co-inventor on the DASH patent.
Sandy Showalter
Co-founder and Chief Operating Officer
Joseph S. "Sandy" Showalter grew up on the ramp at Showalter Flying Service, the Orlando FBO his family ran for more than seventy years before selling it to Atlantic Aviation in 2015. By high school he was sweeping hangars and washing airplanes, and he later ran marketing and aircraft sales for the family business.
He holds an Airline Transport Pilot certificate with three jet type ratings, has more than 200 aircraft sales and acquisitions to his name, and served four years as president of the Florida Aviation Business Association. He is co-inventor on the DASH patent.
Quality
Certified to ISO 9001:2015.
DASH Aero's quality management system is certified by DEKRA Certification, an ANAB accredited body, for the provision of APU compartment steam cleaning services for operators of Airbus airliners.
| Standard | ISO 9001:2015 |
|---|---|
| Certificate | 112711.00 |
| Issued by | DEKRA Certification, Inc. |
| Certified since | March 25, 2024 |
| Valid until | March 24, 2027 |
Our quality policy is short: customer satisfaction through continuous improvement, compliance with regulations and standards, and services focused on preserving cabin air quality.
Company facts
For the record.
| Name | DASH Aero |
|---|---|
| Legal name | Delta and Sierra Holdings, LLC, doing business as DASH-Aero |
| Founded | 2018 |
| Headquarters | Orlando, Florida, United States |
| Founders | David Allen, CEO. Sandy Showalter, COO. |
| Service | APU inlet plenum and compartment cleaning |
| Aircraft | Airbus A320 family |
| Patent | US 10,703,510 B2, APU cleaning system and method |
| Certification | ISO 9001:2015, DEKRA certificate 112711.00 |
| Contact | info@dash-aero.com, (317) 439-5000 |
| Online |
DASH Aero at dash-aero.com is not affiliated with dashaero.com or dash.aero.
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