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Flying Colours Corp., the North American maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) business, has begun work fulfilling a long-term paint contract with MHI Canada Aerospace Inc., (MHICA), which is anticipated to last five years.
Under the terms of the partnership, Flying Colours will paint over 40 centre fuselage sections of Bombardier Global 5000/6000 aircraft at the company’s Peterborough, Ont., facility each year.
MHICA, a group company of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, is a Tier 1 manufacturer of major aircraft structures and assemblies based in Mississauga, Ont.
To support the agreement, Flying Colours has invested over $1 million constructing a new, dedicated paint facility specifically designed for the project.
The separate unit adds over 4,000 square feet to the existing paint shop footprint, and features two separate paint bays designed to allow easy access and egress of the fuselage component.
It also incorporates a management and oversight office, as well as storage for the required primers, paint and coatings.
Each shrink-wrapped fuselage is delivered to Flying Colours from the MHI Canada Aerospace 270,000-square-foot production facility in Mississauga.
On arrival, the fuselage undergoes a pre-paint inspection before Flying Colours begins an eight-stage process that includes preparing the fuselage, priming for paint work, applying corrosion inhibitors and fuel barriers, before final paint spray application.
Upon completion, the inspected fuselage is shipped back to MHICA, where it becomes part of the fuselage assembly line.
Flying Colours Corp. was selected for the project owing to its extensive experience working across the Global family of business aircraft. It is also a Bombardier Authorized Service Facility and Bombardier preferred completion centre.
“We have worked with this aircraft for more than 10 years which has given MHI Canada Inc. the confidence in Flying Colour’s ability to fulfil the required mandate,” said John Gillespie, president, Flying Colours.
“This is an exciting and significant new business activity for us. We have invested significant time, money and planning into making this project a long-term success. It also demonstrates we have an expert team that can fulfil extensive long term paint projects of this nature, wherever they come from in the world.”
