The
kitbuilt two seat lightplane was designed by Dean Wilson in 1983, the first prototype flying in 1983 and appearing at
Oshkosh that year. Kits were produced by
Light Aero with several names (Bandit, Lite, Magnum and Mk.IV) with many options including two wing designs, the choice of
tricycle,
tailwheel, ski or
float undercarriages, rescue parachutes and a variety of engines. Lite Aero production continued until the company went bankrupt in 1998. Avid Aircraft reappeared in 2003, but by 2010 the kits, including new variants, and components were produced by
Airdale Flyer. The Avid Flyer is a conventional layout, single engine, side by side two seat light aircraft, with a strut-braced high wing configuration. Aluminum tubes serve as leading edge/main spar and rear spar, each wing being supported by a pair of tubular lift struts. Sawn plywood wing ribs are bonded to the aluminum tube spars using a filled epoxy compound. The Avid Flyer features Junkers style one-piece flaperons supported by three offset hinge arms. The Junkers design moves the control surfaces well underneath the wing, where they remain in undisturbed smooth airflow at low speed and/or higher climb angles. The welded steel tube fuselage is flat sided, narrowing towards a braced cruciform tail group. The horizontal
tailplane is carried on the
fin just above the upper fuselage line. The aircraft's conventional rudder and elevator controls are cable operated. Wilson's original intent developing the Avid Flyer was to offer an economical home-built aircraft to bridge the gap between conventional aircraft of the "Piper Cub" / "Taylorcraft" / "Aeronca" category and the minimalist ultralight aircraft such as the "Quicksilver" that had not yet matured into acceptable levels of reliability and safety in the early 1980s. The ability to fly from short, unimproved, and back-country strips was also one of Wilson's design priorities. Due to its light weight, good
power-to-weight ratio, and design features such as the Junkers flaperons, the Avid Flyer excels in this type of environment and
STOL operations. Recent developments in small aircraft engine design and reliability have brought the Avid Flyer well into the realm of being seen as a highly capable and economically viable choice for light sport use. ==Operational history==