McFarlane Aviation has acquired Airglas, the Anchorage-based maker of backcountry and military aircraft equipment, while keeping manufacturing and the existing team in Alaska. The deal brings Airglas’s skis, nose forks and cargo and fuel pods into McFarlane’s aftermarket platform and expands access for operators of aircraft including Cessna, Piper, Maule, Husky and GippsAero Airvan models.
Airglas products are already available through McFarlane Alaska and will be distributed more broadly through McFarlane Aviation’s network. The company is integrating the brand into Victor Sierra, the aftermarket components group that houses McFarlane, as it works to widen ordering and distribution for pilots and mechanics.
Airglas owner Shane Langland said the transaction preserves the Alaska-based workforce and extends the company’s reach to customers worldwide. The arrangement keeps production in Anchorage, where Airglas has long built equipment for operations on snow, soft terrain and remote strips.
McFarlane already supplies a wider range of bush-plane equipment, including Alaskan Bushwheels, tailwheel suspension systems and main landing gear. The Airglas acquisition adds another specialist line to that portfolio without changing the company’s manufacturing base in Alaska.