The story
The company was originally formed in 1957 by Florida newspaperman David Lindsay (1922–2009) 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: Cavalier 750, 1500, and 2000 (the numbers indicating the approximate range of the aircraft in statute miles). Trans Florida marketed and sold these aircraft, trained the new owners to fly them, and maintained them for customers after purchase. Lindsay also accumulated an immense stockpile of P-51 spare parts and sold these to Mustang owners worldwide. Many of the spares and entire aircraft were purchased from scrap dealers intending to melt them down. Lindsay also developed and received FAA approval for several improvements to the P-51D including: avionics, autopilot, baggage door, fresh air system, rear passenger seat, additional wing bladder tanks, high pressure oxygen system, and wingtip tanks of 110 US gallons (420 L; 92 imp gal).
The original builder of the Mustang, North American Aviation, purchased two Cavaliers for famed test pilot R.A. "Bob" Hoover, one in 1962 and the other in 1971 to use to promote the NAA name at airshows.
In 1967 the company was renamed Cavalier Aircraft Corporation due to the strong product identity of the Cavalier Mustang.
From Wikipedia’s article on Cavalier Aircraft, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.3