Cavalier Aircraft

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Cavalier Aircraft Corporation was a Sarasota, Florida, aircraft manufacturing, sales, and maintenance company whose most famous products were refurbished P-51D Mustangs known as "Cavalier Mustangs."

1 Origins
2 Military Contracts
3 The Enforcer
4 Today
5 References

[edit] Origins

The company was originally formed in 1957 by Florida newspaper publisher David Lindsay and named Trans Florida Aviation. Trans Florida specialized in modifying surplus North American P-51 Mustangs into plush business aircraft called Executive Mustangs. Later, the aircraft were renamed Cavalier Mustangs and were produced in several different versions. Trans Florida marketed and sold these aircraft, as well as maintaining them for customers after purchase. Trans Florida also accumulated an immense stockpile of P-51 spare parts and sold these to Mustang owners worldwide.

In 1967 the company was renamed Cavalier Aircraft Corporation due to the strong product identity of the Cavalier Mustang.

[edit] Military Contracts

The company was contracted in 1967 by the Department of Defense to create military-capable Cavalier Mustangs that were to be supplied to Latin American countries as part of the U.S. Military Assistance Program. These aircraft were called the Cavalier F-51D Mustang, the Cavalier TF-51D Mustang, and the Cavalier Mustang II. Cavaliers of these three types were supplied between 1968 and 1969 directly to Bolivia, the Dominican Republic, and El Salvador, with spare parts and maintenance assistance also provided to Guatemala. Cavaliers were also constructed for Indonesia as part of a similar U.S. Military Assistance Program in 1971.

[edit] The Enforcer

Cavalier founder Lindsay developed a highly modified version of the Cavalier Mustang for use as a counterinsurgency aircraft called the Enforcer in 1970. Despite Cavalier's best efforts, they were unable to secure a government purchase of the aircraft. Due to the limited manufacturing capabilities of Cavalier Aircraft Corporation, Lindsay sold the Enforcer concept to Piper in late 1970. Cavalier closed up shop in 1971 so the founder/owner, David Lindsay, could help continue develop the Enforcer concept with Piper.

[edit] Today

Many of the civilian Cavalier conversions, as well as many of the exported military aircraft, are still flying today. Most have been restored back into P-51s.