Eric Clutton

THE FULL-SIZE miniMAX is a true ultralight-a pilot's certificate is not required. It was designed by an enthusiastic group of people in central Tennessee, who appropriately call themselves TEAM (Tennessee Engineering and Manufacturing). The group is led by Wayne Ison, who has designed several successful ultralights, including most of the geodetic wooden aircraft marketed by Fisher Products of Ohio. His goal for miniMAX was to produce a true little airplane in kit form that would be cheap to build, but would perform with the best. The airframe is wood-mainly clear white pine and commercial ply. Geodetic construction was forsaken for what seemed to be stronger and simpler ways to do things. The power unit chosen was the well-proven 28 hp Rotax two-cycle, which comes complete with built-on reduction gearbox. This has proven to be an excellent choice-the engines used in the prototypes have performed flawlessly.