Segments (Narrative) (Details) $ in Thousands		3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Oct. 01, 2017	Sep. 29, 2018 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2018 USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2018 USD ($)	Dec. 30, 2017 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2017 USD ($)	Jul. 01, 2017 USD ($)	Apr. 01, 2017 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2016 USD ($)	Sep. 29, 2018 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2017 USD ($)	Oct. 01, 2016 USD ($)
Revenue, Major Customer and Product Lines
Number of reportable segments	3
Sales		$ 700,866	$ 692,018	$ 689,049	$ 627,535	$ 649,268	$ 626,183	$ 632,403	$ 589,670	$ 2,709,468	$ 2,497,524	$ 2,411,937
Aircraft Controls
Revenue, Major Customer and Product Lines
Sales										$ 1,193,505	$ 1,124,885	$ 1,063,718
Aircraft Controls | Aftermarket Sales | Net Sales, Segment
Revenue, Major Customer and Product Lines
Percentage of sales										29.00%	27.00%	29.00%
Boeing
Revenue, Major Customer and Product Lines
Sales										$ 382,184	$ 321,110	$ 346,596
Boeing | Customer Concentration Risk | Net Sales
Revenue, Major Customer and Product Lines
Percentage of sales										14.00%	13.00%	14.00%
Boeing Commercial Airplanes
Revenue, Major Customer and Product Lines
Sales										$ 238,118	$ 252,977	$ 251,288
Government Prime and Sub-Contract
Revenue, Major Customer and Product Lines
Sales										$ 897,882	$ 775,271	$ 726,562