Original Date: 10/18/1999
Revision Date: 01/18/2007

Orenda Turbines can trace its ancestral line back to a Canadian crown corporation called Victory Aircraft, which produced the highly successful English Avro Lancaster bomber during World War II. Impressed with the performance of the Canadian facility, the English firm decided to set up another operation at this Malton, Ontario plant after the war. A. V. Roe Canada, as it was renamed, soon established itself and its subsidiaries, Avro Aircraft and Orenda Engines, as world leaders in aviation technology. Among their accomplishments were the Chinook, the first Canadian jet engine; the C-102 Avro Jetliner, the first jet transport to fly in North America; the Orenda jet engine, one of the most successful turbojet engines ever built; and the CF-100 Canuck, a long-range, high-altitude, all-weather interceptor. However, the group’s most acclaimed project, the CF-105 Avro Arrow, is also famous for its mystery and legend.

Built on production tooling without a prototype, the Avro Arrow was a delta-winged, supersonic interceptor powered by Orenda’s 30,000-pound thrust Iroquois engine. At three-quarter throttle, this state-of-the-art aircraft flew at nearly twice the speed of sound. Then in 1959, the project was terminated by the Canadian Government and all traces (e.g., aircraft, components, tooling, drawings, documentation) were ordered to be destroyed. Although the Arrow legend was founded on fact, the circumstances surrounding its cancellation and destruction have a number of dark corners and possible villains. Speculation claims that one of the aircraft escaped the cutters’ torches, giving rise to the notion of a Phantom Arrow.

In 1996, Orenda Turbines became a part of Magellan Aerospace Corporation. As a diversified supplier of products and services to commercial/defense aircraft manufacturers worldwide, Magellan maintains facilities throughout the United States and Canada, and achieved $426.9 million in revenues for 1998. Since 1946, Orenda Turbines has operated as the leading manufacturing and overhaul center for the Canadian Forces’ high performance gas turbines. The company also built J79 and J85 engines under license to General Electric; designed and manufactured the OT-2 and OT-5 series of heavy duty industrial gas turbines; and industrialized its Orenda-series flight engine. Located in Mississauga, Ontario, Orenda Turbines employs 185 personnel and achieved $40 million in revenue for 1998. Among the best practices documented were Orenda Turbines’ activities relating to engine hardware utilization exemplified by Repair Scheme Development and Advanced Repairs; software engineering development and support exemplified by the F404 Best Build Process, Equipment Condition Monitoring System, Asset Management System, and Test Cell Data Acquisition; and contract management functions exemplified by the Firm Pricing Model for Engineering Support Services and Financial Supporting Tools.

For more than half a century, Orenda Turbines’ pioneering efforts have created a legacy of excellence and innovation. Even its name conveys this spirit as its translation from Iroquois is the source of power. Continuing in this tradition, Orenda Turbines is striving to strengthen its competitiveness; advance its high standard of performance and dependability, and enrich its vision for the next century. The BMP survey team considers the following practices to be among the best in industry and government.

TABLE OF ACRONYMS:
The following acronyms were used in this report:

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