flinder valves and controls inc.located in southern california, manufactured specialty valves and heat exchangers. FVC maintained many standard items, but nearly 40% of its volume and 50% of its profits were derived from special applications for the defense and aerospace industries such products required extensive engineering experience of a kind only a few firms were capable of providing FVC had areputation for engineering excellence in the most comeplex phases of the business and, as a result, often did prime contract work on highly technical devices for the government.