TORONTO - McDonnell Douglas Canada in Toronto extended a contract with Canadian aerospace supplier Avcorp Industries Inc. to make composite wing components for MD-80 and MD-90 commercial aircraft and composite panels for the MD-11. The three-year extension is valued at more than C$1 million (US$730,000) according to Michael Artus, vice president and general manager of Avcorp's Composites Division in Granby, Quebec. The contract was awarded initially in 1986.
The division is establishing a hard-coating laboratory to apply a silicone-based product on polycarbonate parts, bringing the surface up to the same abrasive resistance of acrylic and countering rain and salt erosion on aircraft landing lenses and wing tips.
Avcorp and aircraft window supplier Sierracin Corp. in Sylmar, Calif., worked with the Long Beach, Calif., operation of McDonnell Douglas to develop a hard coat for the MD-90 wing tip lens. The parent, McDonnell Douglas Corp., is in St. Louis.
Avcorp was formed in 1986 when it acquired the composites operation, then known as Plastal Inc. The division accounted for 14 percent, or C$3.1 million (US$2.26 million), of Avcorp sales of C$22.1 million (US$16.1 million) for the year ending Sept. 30. Division sales for fiscal 1993 were C$2.7 million (US$1.97 million).
Artus projects fiscal 1995 sales of more than C$3.4 million (US$2.48 million). The division makes cockpit glare shields and wing transparencies for Canadair, flight simulator bodies for CAE Electronics and flap and aileron shrouds for de Havilland.
Avcorp has experienced an operational turnaround since a 1993 management change. It employs about 355, including 45 in Granby; 250 in Richmond, British Columbia, at executive offices and aerospace and engineering divisions; and another 60 in Laval, Quebec, at the Metal Products Division. Operations occupy more than 200,000 square feet of factory space.
