About Us

Jarlin Aviation was the precursor of Sharman Enterprises, Inc.   Jarlin Aviation was a company started in South Africa in 1965 as a fixed base operation operated by Harry Sharman at one of the oldest airfields in Africa, Baragwanath. He had applied for the registration of the company as Javlin Aviation but the clerk at the Company Registry misread it and issued the certificate as Jarlin Aviation.   Harry simply shrugged and said “Oh well!”.   Over time the business moved to the modern Lanseria Airport where Jarlin was operated by Harry’s son, Jeff.

In 1986 Jeff moved to California and started a business rebuilding aircraft and again named it Jarlin Aviation.   He soon started exporting hard-to-find aircraft parts to his South African contacts and this slowly grew into shipping aircraft too. Jarlin Aviation finally matured and became Sharman Enterprises, Inc.

Jeff has years of experience in flying, aircraft maintenance, purchasing aircraft and packing containers.   Jeff’s passion for all things aviation have led him from an apprenticeship with South African Airways to owning a general aviation business in Africa, to flying for a living as a bush pilot in Alaska, to building aircraft and finally to being a major exporter and shipper of used and new aircraft from the United States.

Sheila Sharman

Sheila takes care of all the office work including the export documentation, insurance, invoicing.  She has been involved with aviation since she was a teenager and has a commercial pilot’s license.