Carlson Aircraft · Since 1987
History · 1987 to Today
Carlson Aircraft began with one designer and one airplane. Ernie Carlson’s Sparrow made its debut in 1987 and earned Grand Champion recognition at Oshkosh that same year. Over the years that followed, the single-seat ultralight grew into a family of one- and two-seat aircraft flown by builders across the country.
This page records that history as accurately as we can. Where dates or details are still being confirmed from original Carlson records, we have left them out rather than guess.
1987
Designer Ernie Carlson introduces the Sparrow: a single-seat ultralight with a welded 4130 steel-tube fuselage, strut-braced high wing, and fully enclosed cockpit, designed around FAR Part 103.
1987
The Sparrow receives Grand Champion recognition at the EAA fly-in at Oshkosh, Wisconsin, in the year of its introduction.
Sparrow Era
Building on the original design, Carlson develops a family of Sparrows: a tailwheel single-seater, a two-seat side-by-side model with dual controls, and a higher-powered two-seater for four-stroke engines.
1990s
Ernie Carlson turns to two projects rooted in aviation history: a single-seat recreation of the post-war Piper PA-8 Skycycle, completed in the mid-1990s, and the Criquet, a three-quarter-scale interpretation of the Fieseler Fi 156 Storch, completed around 1999.
Later Years
In the years that followed, production of the Sparrow line slowed and the company changed hands more than once. Throughout that time, Sparrows built in earlier decades continued to fly, and owners and builders kept many of them in service.
2025
Carlson Aircraft is acquired by Av8r Capital Group Corp, the parent company of Mini-Max USA, bringing the Carlson Sparrow line and the Mini-Max family of aircraft under the same ownership.
Today
Carlson Aircraft is gathering the aircraft, documentation, history, and support network built up over nearly four decades, reconnecting with owners and builders, and evaluating future production and support opportunities.
Archive
Drawings, documents, and photographs from the company’s early years. Select any image to view it full size.
Original Carlson Aircraft, Inc. three-view drawing of the Sparrow.
Original Sparrow specification sheet (Rotax 277).
Welded steel-tube fuselage frames in the shop.
Loading a Sparrow fuselage into its trailer at a fly-in.
A Sparrow UL displayed in the company trailer.
An uncovered fuselage with engine installed, shown at an event.
A Sparrow on display at a fly-in.
Three visitors with a Sparrow at a fly-in.
A Sparrow and its pilot at an airshow.
The Sparrow trailer display, from an instant photograph.
A Sparrow in flight, from an early print.
A celebration cake inscribed “Congratulations Mary & Ernie.”
People
Ernie Carlson
Carlson archive photograph to be added
Founder and designer
Ernst W. “Ernie” Carlson designed the Sparrow and founded Carlson Aircraft to bring it to builders as a kit. His approach favored straightforward, proven construction — welded steel tube, aluminum, and fabric — in airplanes that behaved like real airplanes.
After the Sparrow family, he went on to design the Skycycle and the Criquet, two projects that reflected his interest in the history of light aviation.
Did you know Ernie Carlson, work at Carlson Aircraft, or build an early Sparrow? We would like to hear your story and see your photographs. Share Carlson history.
Many Sparrows built in the 1980s and 1990s are still flying. If you own one, are finishing one, or have one in storage, we want to hear from you.