Longtime general-aviation wheel and brake provider Matco Manufacturing has been purchased by NMG Aerospace, a large aerospace design and manufacturing conglomerate that builds parts for everything from Airbus A380s to Apache tailwheels. For the immediate future, Matco will remain in Woods Cross, Utah, a suburb of Salt Lake City. George Happ, who had owned Matco until the NMG purchase, will remain in place for a period of time while the company transitions to new management. It’s expected that manufacturing will continue in Utah for the foreseeable future.
According to NMG’s Vice President of Business Development and Engineering Jeremy Earley, “The acquisition of Matco reinforces NMG’s commitment to supporting all areas of the aerospace marketplace, particularly in the areas of wheels, brakes, and actuation. It is exciting to take a core part of our offering at NMG and serve a new, growing market in experimental, light sport, and advanced air mobility sectors.”
Earley told us that Matco is a good fit for the company’s other holdings and that its ability to purchase raw materials in great quantity could help Matco in return. For its part, Matco has managed to work around supply-chain issues by keeping its collection of local suppliers in business and by refining its manufacturing processes to ensure product availability. NMG also expects to bolster Matco’s engineering capabilities.
“NMG’s enthusiasm and knowledge for what we have built at Matco made it the perfect partnership to compliment our team,” Happ said. “Their understanding of the products we produce will bring a level of comfort and expertise to both existing and new customers.”
Matco is a key supplier in the certified and Experimental markets. KITPLANES had a factory tour in 2009 resulting in this video. George Happ contributed to this brake-tech article from the same period.
