We Don't Make Maps.
We Make Them Possible.
Talos Aviation Group exists to do one thing exceptionally well: put sensors over targets and bring the data home cleanly. We are the flying half of the survey equation — and we never compete with our clients for their downstream work.
The Acquisition Specialists
Talos was founded by two partners who came to aerial survey from opposite ends of aviation. One — a military veteran with a lifelong obsession with airplanes — served as an air traffic controller, spent years in the unmanned systems industry, and then moved into the cockpit. The other built businesses in financial services before crossing into aviation as the owner of an unmanned systems services business and an airport FBO; a pilot and A&P mechanic, he runs the administrative side of the company. The split is deliberate: one partner lives in flight operations, the other keeps the business airworthy — and the result is a platform operator with operational depth on one side and business discipline on the other.
Today we operate five purpose-modified aircraft from two coast-anchoring bases — Tucson, Arizona and Blackstone, Virginia — flying photogrammetry, LiDAR, sensor test campaigns, and special missions across the United States and Canada. Our clients are mapping and geospatial firms, engineering primes, sensor manufacturers, and government agencies.
We deliberately do not own a mapping division. When you subcontract your flying to Talos, your client relationships, project intelligence, and downstream margins stay exactly where they belong — with you.
Mission-First Planning
Every program gets a named primary aircraft, a designated backup, and a weather-window plan before the first flight line is drawn. Schedule certainty is engineered, not hoped for.
Maintenance Beyond the Minimum
Part 91 sets the legal floor — our program is built above it. A three-person internal maintenance team includes A&P mechanics, two holding Inspection Authorization, and every aircraft is tracked in AirworthyHQ, the fleet and maintenance module of AirworthyBase — our own Flight Resource Planning software. Flight crews are trained in preventative maintenance, keeping uptime continuous and downtime — scheduled or unscheduled — minimal. A fleet of common-type Aztecs means shared parts, shared pilot currency, and a true backup for every mission profile.
Crews Who Speak Sensor
Our pilots and operators fly exact patterns — constant altitude, fixed ground speed, calibrated turns — and understand what the data side needs from the flying side. Acquisition QA happens on site, with reflight assurance before demobilization.
| Business Status | Veteran-founded small business (no socioeconomic set-aside designations) |
| SAM.gov | Registered |
| CAGE Code | 8SQK8 |
| NAICS | 541370 · 541990 · 541922 |
| Operations | 14 CFR Part 91 aerial survey operations |
| Insurance | $1M CSL aviation liability standard — higher limits available per program when required |
| Bases | Tucson, AZ (KTUS) · Blackstone, VA (KBKT) |
Aerial acquisition fails in predictable ways: thin fleets with no backup aircraft, operators who quietly compete with their clients, and black-box scheduling where you learn about a slip after it happens.
Talos was structured against all three — dedicated backup airframes, a no-compete acquisition-only model, and program-level visibility from planning through data handoff.