Prolific Ultralight And SportPlane Designer Responsible For Hundreds Of Happy Flyers

One of the sport aviation world's most respected SportPlane designers has gone west. Known primarily for the mini-Max and related series of aircraft, Wayne Ison (pictured here in a screengrab from his EAA Timeless Voices Interview) passed away early Saturday, August 9th, 2014. Wayne was one of the good guys... an honest man... and a flyer who knew what a good solid basic aircraft could do for the SportPlane industry... and that's just what he built.

Our friend, Skip Little, related the news and some background, telling ANN that, "Early in the morning of Saturday, August 9, Mr. Arthur Wayne Ison departed on his final light plane flight into aviation history. His designs of the miniMAX, HiMAX and AirBike have been built, and brought much pleasure to pilots of 33 nations. Wayne assisted other designers and was involved with stock cars, go-carts, powered ice-boats, and various other ventures.

A veteran of World War II, he was a C47 crewman over Normandy on D-Day, and flew missions into combat zones until the war ended. His experiences led to an interest in the U.S. Civil War, which led him to research the battles in Tennessee. But Wayne maintained an on-going interest in light aircraft, leading to his formation of Tennessee Engineering and Manufacturing, Inc., better known as TEAM Aircraft.

With a team of local supporters, Wayne designed, built, tested and produced the miniMAX family of, initially, ultralight kits. And produce he did! Not only kits, but also plans and partial kits with over a dozen staff members. The planes were very good flying craft with such a broad acceptance that Wayne was inducted into the EAA Hall of Fame. But the very best accolade was all of the great number of TEAM aircraft builders and flyers for whom Wayne brought such continuing pleasure.

We have lost a great man who has flown off to be among pilots of the past with all of their great accomplishments. So long Wayne, it has been a great tour!"

E-I-C Note: We will relate funeral information as soon as it becomes available, but suffice it to say that we lost a really good man this week... a guy whose influence will be felt for decades to come... and one whose memory will not soon fade from the sport aviation world. I flew just about everything Wayne ever offered and found each aircraft to be a solid, enjoyable and safe flying machine. Plans for this designs are now freely available on the internet, the kits continue to be offered and I expect to see many more Ison-inspired aircraft take flight in the years to come... as they should. God Bless Wayne Ison... one of the best of us.

FMI: www.teammini-max.com/about-team-mini-max/, www.eaavideo.org/video.aspx?v=35407702001