History of McFarlane Aviation Products

In 1971, our founder, Dave McFarlane created McFarlane Aviation to provide aircraft repair and restoration part-time, while concentrating on agricultural aviation activities in Mississippi, Arkansas, and Iowa. In 1979, Dave bought the Vinland Valley Aerodrome (K64) and moved McFarlane Aviation to its current location today. The quaint little country airport is located in Eastern Kansas, ten miles southeast of Lawrence, Kansas, the home of The University of Kansas and Haskell Indian Nations University, and four miles north of Baldwin City, the home of Baker University. The runway was built in a beautiful valley on the old railroad right-of-way in Vinland, Kansas, a pioneer ghost town. A few old store buildings, two old churches, several Vinland, Kansas houses, and the oldest library in Kansas are all that remains of the once thriving frontier settlement. Fred McClenahan joined Dave and his wife Phylis in Kansas to provide aircraft repair, restoration, rental, flight instruction, and agricultural aviation services. Fred plays a key role today in developing and testing the McFarlane product lines.

In 1986, the company continued to prosper and grow, officially incorporating as McFarlane Aviation, Inc. As the years passed, it became apparent to Dave and Fred that there was room for improvement in many of the aircraft parts they were installing. In 1989, the company started in a new direction. New materials and improved designs were developed and tested for the Cessna seat rollers and washers. Aircraft owners accepted them as being far superior to the OEM parts, while costing much less. Sales of these first products grew rapidly and customers requested more products. New replacement parts were developed and approved by the FAA while manufacturing equipment, talented people, and quality control systems were added and improved.

Manufacturing grew rapidly, and by 1993, all other operations except for basic airport services were sadly phased out. Since then, McFarlane has focused only on the development, testing, manufacturing, and distribution of quality FAA-PMA products. 

McFarlane Aviation Products from the air. June 2023

In 1997, an additional 7,000 sq ft of office and manufacturing space was constructed with another 6,000 sq ft added in the early 2000s. In 2012, our facility was doubled in size by adding 24,000 sq ft of production and warehouse space. Again in 2020, we added another 24,000 sq ft, totaling our facility at four buildings with more than 100,000 sq ft. We currently have another 22,000 sq ft of space in the works, which will bring our facility to five buildings!

Today, McFarlane holds design approval and FAA-PMA for over 2,700 different replacement parts for several different makes of aircraft. McFarlane distributors are serving major aviation centers around the world. Past experience and constant input from knowledgeable customers have given McFarlane engineers vast knowledge of aircraft service demands that are the foundation of improved products. The pioneering spirit continues to live in Vinland, Kansas and we will continue to develop innovative solutions for aircraft service problems.

Fred McClenahan (left) and Dave McFarlane (right)

 Back in the Early 1980's!

Near the beginning of our history, Fred McClenahan and Dave McFarlane helped repair some old wind machines for ABC Motion Pictures filming a movie nearby. 

Because the wind machines were powered by aircraft engines, the production company thought Fred and Dave could repair some of the broken machines with their knowledge and tools, which they did, right here in Vinland, Kansas!

"The pipe you see hanging on the right side, that's a water hose to discharge water in front of the wind machine. This is one method Hollywood uses to make driving rain scenes in the movies." - Fred