Business Segment Information (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended
Aug. 31, 2011 segment	Aug. 31, 2010
Business Segment Information
Number of business segments (in segments)	4
Business Segment Information
Sales	$ 479,290	$ 404,393
Gross profit	74,840	70,001
Aviation Supply Chain
Business Segment Information
Sales	154,874	100,266
Gross profit	25,299	19,240
Government and Defense Services
Business Segment Information
Sales	149,999	129,330
Gross profit	27,409	23,022
Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul
Business Segment Information
Sales	93,177	76,819
Gross profit	10,261	10,107
Structures and Systems
Business Segment Information
Sales	81,240	97,978
Gross profit	$ 11,871	$ 17,632

The number of reportable segments of the entity.

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- Definition

Aggregate revenue less cost of goods and services sold or operating expenses directly attributable to the revenue generation activity.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 225
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 2
-Subparagraph (SX 210.5-03.1,2)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6880815&loc=d3e20235-122688

+ Details

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- Definition

Total revenue from sale of goods and services rendered during the reporting period, in the normal course of business, reduced by sales returns and allowances, and sales discounts.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher SEC
-Name Regulation S-X (SX)
-Number 210
-Article 5
-Section 03
-Paragraph 1

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 225
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 2
-Subparagraph (SX 210.5-03.1)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6880815&loc=d3e20235-122688

+ Details

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- Details

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- Definition

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

+ Details

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