Aero Union Corporation

747 Fortress Street
Chico, California 95973-9012

FOUNDED: 1961 by Dale Newton

GENERAL:

Aero Union is a leading provider of airborne firefighting services in the United States and the only commercial operator of the Lockheed Martin P-3 Orion in the world. The Company operates a fleet of eight Orion aircraft converted for the airborne firefighting mission. The aircraft utilize the Aero Union designed and manufactured 3,000 gallon Retardant Aerial Delivery System, also know as RADS II. The RADS IIutilizes the Aero Union patented constant flow design. Aero Union is the Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) holder of the P-3 Orion Airtanker conversion. Aero Union is located in Chico, California in the Northern Sacramento Valley.

COMPANY OPERATION:

The aircraft are operated under contract with the US Forest Service and operated and maintained under Aero Union’s FAA Approved P-3 Maintenance and Inspection Program. The basis of the program is the US Navy P-3 Inspection and Maintenance Programs, supported by Lockheed Martin through a Special Engineering Services Agreement. The Company is also developing a Continued Airworthiness Program (CAP) which is expected to be implemented by December 2009.

As the result of Aero Union’s reputation in the industry and expertise with the P-3 Orion, Lockheed Martin designated Aero Union an Orion Service Center in October of 2007. The Company is one of four Orion Service Centers in the world and the only Orion Service Center in the United States. Aero Union performs P-3 heavy maintenance for domestic and foreign operators. The Company is ISO9001:2000 and AS9100 registered.

The P-3 Orion continues to be operated by the US Navy and foreign governments. With the OEM life extension programs, including the availability of new outer wings, the P-3 Orion will continue to operate globally for at least the next 25 years.

INNOVATIONS:

In additional to manufacturing the RADS II series of tanks, Aero Union has designed and manufactured other innovative airborne firefighting products.

This year Aero Union delivered the new generation roll-on/roll-off firefighting tank system known as MAFFS II. The new system is designed for the C-130H and J and has several improvements over the original MAFFS I:

o A redesigned dispersant nozzle through the modified paratroop door allowing the aircraft to operate with the aft cargo ramp closed and pressurized during the mission. This new design virtually eliminates retardant entering the aircraft and “tail painting”.

o On-board compressors which allow for re-charging the tanks in flight, thus improving turnaround times between retardant drops and eliminating the need for ground based compressors.

Also this year, we delivered a new retractable snorkel system for Eurocopter’s EC225 Super Puma firefighting aircraft. The new Super Puma system is based on the very reliable S-70 FireHawk retractable snorkel system also designed and manufactured by Aero Union. Key benefits of the retractable system include:

o improving the speed and performance of the helicopter going to and from the fires; and

o eliminating the safety concern with an extended snorkel making contact with power lines, trees and other snag hazards when going to and from fires.