Condensed Consolidating Statement of Operations and Comprehensive Income (Loss) (Detail) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended												12 Months Ended
	Oct. 31, 2014	Aug. 01, 2014	May 02, 2014	Jan. 31, 2014	Oct. 25, 2013		Jul. 26, 2013		Apr. 26, 2013		Jan. 25, 2013		Oct. 31, 2014		Oct. 25, 2013		Oct. 26, 2012
Guarantee Obligations [Line Items]
Net Sales	$ 548,059	$ 506,309	$ 510,861	$ 485,940	$ 513,667		$ 463,613		$ 475,870		$ 435,627		$ 2,051,169	[1]	$ 1,888,777	[1]	$ 1,877,821	[1]
Cost of Sales													1,330,545		1,184,068		1,199,933
Gross Profit	193,577	177,087	179,225	170,735	199,835		175,600		175,923		153,351		720,624		704,709		677,888
Expenses
Selling, general and administrative													364,259		366,641		350,222
Research, development & engineering													98,901		90,214		100,877
Restructuring charges													13,642		0		0
Gain on sale of product line													0		(2,264)		0
Gain on settlement of contingency													0		0		(11,891)
Goodwill impairment							3,500						0		3,454		52,169
Other (income) expense													0		0		(1,263)
Total Expenses													476,802		458,045		490,114
Operating Earnings from Continuing Operations													243,822		246,664		187,774
Interest Income													(555)		(535)		(463)
Interest Expense													33,010		39,638		46,227
Loss on Extinguishment of Debt													533		946		0
Earnings from Continuing Operations Before Income Taxes													210,834		206,615		142,010
Income Tax Expense													44,274		33,891		27,816
Earnings from Continuing Operations Including Noncontrolling Interests													166,560		172,724		114,194
Earnings Attributable to Noncontrolling Interests													(553)		(1,730)		(1,040)
Earnings from Continuing Operations Attributable to Esterline, Net of Tax	51,632	39,837	40,595	33,943	66,843	[2],[3],[4],[5]	41,419	[2],[3],[4],[5]	36,183	[2],[3],[4],[5]	26,549	[2],[3],[4],[5]	166,007		170,994		113,154
Loss from Discontinued Operations Attributable to Esterline, Net of Tax	(55,104)	(929)	(3,691)	(3,865)	(980)		(3,181)		(661)		(1,438)		(63,589)		(6,260)		(619)
Equity in Net Earnings of Consolidated Subsidiaries													0		0		0
Net Earnings Attributable to Esterline	(3,472)	38,908	36,904	30,078	65,863		38,238		35,522		25,111		102,418		164,734		112,535
Comprehensive Income (Loss)
Net earnings (loss)	(3,472)	38,908	36,904	30,078	65,863		38,238		35,522		25,111		102,418		164,734		112,535
Change in fair value of derivative financial instruments, net of tax													(8,793)		(3,119)		(2,399)
Change in pension and post-retirement obligations, net of tax													(3,968)		42,994		(23,708)
Foreign currency translation adjustment													(96,532)		23,125		(56,365)
Comprehensive Income (Loss)													(6,875)		227,734		30,063
Parent Company
Guarantee Obligations [Line Items]
Net Sales													0		0		0
Cost of Sales													0		0		0
Gross Profit													0		0		0
Expenses
Selling, general and administrative													0		0		0
Research, development & engineering													0		0		0
Restructuring charges													0		0		0
Gain on sale of product line													0		0		0
Gain on settlement of contingency													0		0		0
Goodwill impairment													0		0		0
Other (income) expense													0		0		0
Total Expenses													0		0		0
Operating Earnings from Continuing Operations													0		0		0
Interest Income													(15,486)		(15,639)		(14,178)
Interest Expense													24,190		30,050		34,948
Loss on Extinguishment of Debt													0		946		0
Earnings from Continuing Operations Before Income Taxes													(8,704)		(15,357)		(20,770)
Income Tax Expense													(1,894)		(3,320)		(5,591)
Earnings from Continuing Operations Including Noncontrolling Interests													(6,810)		(12,037)		(15,179)
Earnings Attributable to Noncontrolling Interests													0		0		0
Earnings from Continuing Operations Attributable to Esterline, Net of Tax													(6,810)		(12,037)		(15,179)
Loss from Discontinued Operations Attributable to Esterline, Net of Tax													(719)		(1,300)		0
Equity in Net Earnings of Consolidated Subsidiaries													109,947		178,071		127,714
Net Earnings Attributable to Esterline													102,418		164,734		112,535
Comprehensive Income (Loss)
Net earnings (loss)													102,418		164,734		112,535
Change in fair value of derivative financial instruments, net of tax													0		0		0
Change in pension and post-retirement obligations, net of tax													(4,915)		36,669		(15,727)
Foreign currency translation adjustment													(96,532)		23,125		(56,365)
Comprehensive Income (Loss)													971		224,528		40,443
Guarantor Subsidiaries
Guarantee Obligations [Line Items]
Net Sales													970,376		912,572		846,062
Cost of Sales													617,881		567,432		530,401
Gross Profit													352,495		345,140		315,661
Expenses
Selling, general and administrative													146,474		147,893		127,022
Research, development & engineering													45,965		46,999		45,506
Restructuring charges													9,637		0		0
Gain on sale of product line													0		(2,264)		0
Gain on settlement of contingency													0		0		0
Goodwill impairment													0		0		0
Other (income) expense													0		0		0
Total Expenses													202,076		192,628		172,528
Operating Earnings from Continuing Operations													150,419		152,512		143,133
Interest Income													(9,240)		(7,704)		(16,141)
Interest Expense													28,959		26,868		27,210
Loss on Extinguishment of Debt													0		0		0
Earnings from Continuing Operations Before Income Taxes													130,700		133,348		132,064
Income Tax Expense													27,922		27,312		28,711
Earnings from Continuing Operations Including Noncontrolling Interests													102,778		106,036		103,353
Earnings Attributable to Noncontrolling Interests													0		0		0
Earnings from Continuing Operations Attributable to Esterline, Net of Tax													102,778		106,036		103,353
Loss from Discontinued Operations Attributable to Esterline, Net of Tax													(34,636)		(2,685)		6,977
Equity in Net Earnings of Consolidated Subsidiaries													189		1,697		17,659
Net Earnings Attributable to Esterline													68,331		105,048		127,989
Comprehensive Income (Loss)
Net earnings (loss)													68,331		105,048		127,989
Change in fair value of derivative financial instruments, net of tax													0		0		0
Change in pension and post-retirement obligations, net of tax													0		0		0
Foreign currency translation adjustment													(1,504)		100		172
Comprehensive Income (Loss)													66,827		105,148		128,161
Non-Guarantor Subsidiaries
Guarantee Obligations [Line Items]
Net Sales													1,086,313		980,512		1,035,764
Cost of Sales													718,184		620,943		673,537
Gross Profit													368,129		359,569		362,227
Expenses
Selling, general and administrative													217,785		218,748		223,200
Research, development & engineering													52,936		43,215		55,371
Restructuring charges													4,005		0		0
Gain on sale of product line													0		0		0
Gain on settlement of contingency													0		0		(11,891)
Goodwill impairment													0		3,454		52,169
Other (income) expense													0		0		(1,263)
Total Expenses													274,726		265,417		317,586
Operating Earnings from Continuing Operations													93,403		94,152		44,641
Interest Income													(55,840)		(54,602)		(60,297)
Interest Expense													59,872		60,130		74,222
Loss on Extinguishment of Debt													533		0		0
Earnings from Continuing Operations Before Income Taxes													88,838		88,624		30,716
Income Tax Expense													18,246		9,899		4,696
Earnings from Continuing Operations Including Noncontrolling Interests													70,592		78,725		26,020
Earnings Attributable to Noncontrolling Interests													(553)		(1,730)		(1,040)
Earnings from Continuing Operations Attributable to Esterline, Net of Tax													70,039		76,995		24,980
Loss from Discontinued Operations Attributable to Esterline, Net of Tax													(28,234)		(2,275)		(7,596)
Equity in Net Earnings of Consolidated Subsidiaries													(301)		3,705		(145)
Net Earnings Attributable to Esterline													41,504		78,425		17,239
Comprehensive Income (Loss)
Net earnings (loss)													41,504		78,425		17,239
Change in fair value of derivative financial instruments, net of tax													(8,793)		(3,119)		(2,399)
Change in pension and post-retirement obligations, net of tax													947		6,325		(7,981)
Foreign currency translation adjustment													(77,029)		40,442		(58,746)
Comprehensive Income (Loss)													(43,371)		122,073		(51,887)
Eliminations
Guarantee Obligations [Line Items]
Net Sales													(5,520)		(4,307)		(4,005)
Cost of Sales													(5,520)		(4,307)		(4,005)
Gross Profit													0		0		0
Expenses
Selling, general and administrative													0		0		0
Research, development & engineering													0		0		0
Restructuring charges													0		0		0
Gain on sale of product line													0		0		0
Gain on settlement of contingency													0		0		0
Goodwill impairment													0		0		0
Other (income) expense													0		0		0
Total Expenses													0		0		0
Operating Earnings from Continuing Operations													0		0		0
Interest Income													80,011		77,410		90,153
Interest Expense													(80,011)		(77,410)		(90,153)
Loss on Extinguishment of Debt													0		0		0
Earnings from Continuing Operations Before Income Taxes													0		0		0
Income Tax Expense													0		0		0
Earnings from Continuing Operations Including Noncontrolling Interests													0		0		0
Earnings Attributable to Noncontrolling Interests													0		0		0
Earnings from Continuing Operations Attributable to Esterline, Net of Tax													0		0		0
Loss from Discontinued Operations Attributable to Esterline, Net of Tax													0		0		0
Equity in Net Earnings of Consolidated Subsidiaries													(109,835)		(183,473)		(145,228)
Net Earnings Attributable to Esterline													(109,835)		(183,473)		(145,228)
Comprehensive Income (Loss)
Net earnings (loss)													(109,835)		(183,473)		(145,228)
Change in fair value of derivative financial instruments, net of tax													0		0		0
Change in pension and post-retirement obligations, net of tax													0		0		0
Foreign currency translation adjustment													78,533		(40,542)		58,574
Comprehensive Income (Loss)													$ (31,302)		$ (224,015)		$ (86,654)

[1] Based on country from which the sale originated and the sale was recorded.

[2] Included $8.2 million of income tax benefits related to the favorable resolution of certain tax matters in the third quarter.

[3] Included a $3.5 million goodwill impairment charge related to Racal Acoustics in the third quarter.

[4] Included a $10.0 million charge related to our pending matter with the DDTC in the third quarter.

[5] Included $3.7 million of income tax benefits related to the favorable resolution of certain tax matters in the first quarter.