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Acquisitions & partnerships

Some airplanes are more than products.

They represent somebody's life's work: thousands of hours in a workshop, first flights, friendships, families, and the communities that formed around them.

Av8r Capital Group exists because we love aviation. This is a labor of love as much as it is a business. We believe good aircraft, good designs and good aviation companies deserve the chance to keep flying long after their founders are ready to step away.

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01 — Why we do this

Because we love airplanes.

We are not collecting aviation brands. We are trying to keep aviation alive — one design, one company and one community at a time.

When responsibility for a company or a design passes to this family, the goal is not simply to own an asset. The goal is that the airplane keeps flying: that the person who built one in 1996 can still get a part, that the drawings are safe, that the builders can find each other again, and that — where it makes sense — the design gets built again and developed further.

  • Preserve the knowledge — drawings, plans, tooling records and the things that were never written down
  • Support the aircraft already flying
  • Make parts available again
  • Reconnect the builders, owners and community
  • Maintain and modernize the documentation
  • Restart or continue production where it is practical
  • Develop a future for a good design, carefully
  • Keep the memory too — drawings, websites, archives, photographs, technical documentation and the builder community

We do not make guarantees about any particular design. We do promise to be straight with you about what we can and cannot do.

Sometimes preserving an aviation company means preserving its memory and community too. The drawings, the website, the archive, the photographs, the documentation and the people who know the airplane are part of what we take responsibility for.

Explore aviation heritage
The wood-faced instrument panel of a Carlson Sparrow II with round gauges, switches and the control stick
FIG. 01Sparrow II instrument panelCarlson Aircraft archive
02 — Who we want to hear from

If this sounds like you, let's talk.

Many of these conversations involve someone's life's work or family history. We treat them that way.
  • 01Founders and designers thinking about what happens to their work next
  • 02Owners ready to retire who want the airplane to keep going
  • 03Heirs and aviation families holding the drawings, tooling, molds or rights to an aircraft
  • 04Manufacturers without a transition plan, or without the capacity to keep supporting their fleet
  • 05Owners of dormant designs — aircraft that stopped being produced but never stopped being loved
  • 06Companies that lost momentum but still have a community of builders behind them
  • 07Anyone holding documentation or rights to an aircraft design and wondering who could carry it forward
03 — What we bring

What keeping a design alive takes.

None of this is theoretical. It is the work this family of companies does today for Mini-Max, Carlson, SD Planes, ACE and ThrustCraft.
  1. 01

    Documentation & knowledge

    We gather and preserve drawings, plans, manuals and tooling records, and keep the name attached to the design.

  2. 02

    Parts & support

    Restoring parts supply for the existing fleet is usually the first job. A design is only alive if its owners can get what they need.

  3. 03

    Manufacturing

    Kit production, assembly and builder assist at our facility in Niles, Michigan — the same shop that produces Mini-Max kits today.

  4. 04

    Distribution & inventory

    For manufacturers abroad: U.S. inventory, USD pricing, domestic shipping and support, as we do for Spacek and Ace Aviation.

  5. 05

    Community

    Reconnecting owners and builders, and giving them a company that answers. Communities survive quiet years; they need somewhere to come back to.

  6. 06

    Development

    Improving manufacturing and, carefully, developing the product line — without changing what made the design worth keeping.

04 — How a transition works

The shape of it, not a script.

Every situation is different — an active business with staff and inventory is not the same as a set of drawings in a garage. This is the shape a transition usually takes.
  1. 01

    A conversation

    Tell us about the design, the business and what you want to happen to it. Early conversations are handled discreetly and without obligation.

  2. 02

    A look at what exists

    Drawings, documentation, tooling, inventory, the fleet, the community and the open commitments to customers. We would rather know everything up front.

  3. 03

    A plan you can read

    What we would keep, what we would restore first, where the work would happen and how the people who depend on the design would be looked after.

  4. 04

    A transition that respects the design

    The name stays. The documentation is preserved. Customers are told what is happening and who to call.

  5. 05

    Stewardship

    Parts, support, community and development, run day to day. This is the part that lasts.

05 — The Mini-Max case

From preservation to growth.

The Mini-Max family passed through several companies over four decades. When it reached the group in 2025 it needed parts, paperwork and a company that answered.
A blue and white AeroMax low-wing aircraft in flight over farmland
FIG. 02AeroMax in flightMini-Max USA
  • Plans and full kits shipping again from Niles, Michigan
  • Replacement parts and sub-kits restored for the fleet
  • Builder documentation being modernized
  • A builder-assist program at the facility
  • The builder community reconnected through events and outreach
  • Continued development across the Mini-Max, Hi-Max, V-Max and AeroMax lines
Visit Mini-Max USA(opens in a new tab)
Still flying — Carlson Sparrow
Black-and-white photograph of a Carlson Sparrow in flight over water
FIG. 03Sparrow over waterCarlson Aircraft archive
06 — Start here

Tell us what you have, what it means to you, and what you would like to happen to it.

Start a conversation

There is no form to fill in and nothing is stored on this site — it is a conversation. Early conversations are handled discreetly and without obligation.

Start a conversation

Or email info@av8rcapital.com