Wayne Douglas Smith: April 14, 1933-Oct. 25, 2026

Wayne Douglas Smith passed away peacefully in Kerrville, Texas on Sunday October 25, 2026.

An extremely independent person, Wayne spent little if any time time idle. He was a man of big dreams about aerospace at the time of the evolution of the aerospace industry in the United States.

Wayne was born April 14, 1933 in Ingram Texas. Wayne grew up in his early years spending time hunting and fishing after school. Through first grade, he rode his own horse to class.

Eula Smith, Wayne’s mother, insisted that Wayne learn to play the piano. He took lessons for many years and acquired a love of country music.

Wayne became interested in aircraft at an early age. He began flying a single-engine plane when he was eleven, and soloed at 13. Wayne loved to fly, and amassed a tremendous amount of hours in his youth.

He also rode motorcycles, raced flat track and was sponsored for several years.

Wayne attended Tyvy High School and became an excellent photographer and technician in the darkroom.

He was a member of the Dance club, Wayne could dance so smooth that he was the preferred partner in the club!

He also played football and was a member of the Tyvy Class of 1951 team that won the regional championship and became a member of the Tyvy Football Hall of Fame.

The University of Texas saw Wayne spend his first two years studying engineering. After two years, he yearned for hands on action, and enlisted in the US Army.

Fate came Wayne’s way in the Army, as he was stationed at Fort Bliss, Texas. The Army started their first rocket battalion at nearby White Sands. Wayne was skilled in using a slide rule and was put to work setting the trajectory of rockets tested at White Sands.

His abilities got him good exposure to the brass at Fort Bliss. Fate came again when the Army announced that they would create a warrant officer commission for Helicopters. The Army opened the commission to enlisted men.

Wayne wanted the commission more than anything he had ever wanted. The tremendous number of flying hours he had logged qualified him, as well as his understanding of the gyroscope, making it easy for him to master the helicopter trainer. At the time, LBJ was in the Senate and had tremendous power. Eula Smith wrote to LBJ and pleaded for his support in Wayne getting the commission. There were only two commissions from Fort Bliss, and over 200 men, mostly with much more time in the Army than Wayne, applied for the commission. Well, Texas looks out for its own and Wayne was given the commission and did something rare, moved from the rank of enlisted to being an officer in the US Army.

Wayne then ran the Army Helicopter training school at Fort Rucker, near Dothan, Alabama. He spent four years doing training, and had also started a family. During this time he also was asked on special assignments with the Rocket Battalian. To do so, he was given one of the highest security clearances you could get.

Wayne was then offered at job at LTV, a Fort Worth, Texas based aircraft manufacture. Wayne moved his young family to Fort Worth, and began attending night classes at Texas Christian University, where he graduated.

LTV had received a contract from the US Army to develop a unique rotor wing aircraft that could take of like a helicopter, then by rotating the engines 45 degrees, fly as an airplane and get troops in and out of difficult situations.

Four of this craft were built, and testing began. On the fourth test flight, with Waynes close friend and counterpart in the co-pilot seat, the craft suffered a catastrophic failure, and disintegrated in flight. The Army then shelved the concept.

Opportunity again came Waynes from the Boeing company in Seattle, WA. Boeing had been awarded a huge contract to develop the Super Sonic Transport, the SST. Wayne joined a work force of 70,000 developing this plane, to be a competitor to the French Concorde.

In 1969 the US Government cancelled the SST. Boeing cut his workforce in half and struggled to re-invent itself.

Wayne had become known for his disciplined and rigorous testing of cockpit avionics, and was asked to join the team developing the cockpit for the Boeing 747. Wayne had a hand in the layout and design for the cockpit avionics in the “Queen of the Skies” and became a lead product test/concept developer in Boeings “Black Hole” test labs in South Seattle, WA.

As Wayne approached retirement, opportunity came his way from friends he had known when he was starting out. Boeing/Bell in Pennsylvania had received funding and approval to develop an aircraft like what Wayne had worked on at LTV. The Boeing V-22 Osprey was approved and Wayne was asked to move to Pennsylvania where he finsinshed his career getting the Osprey certified and deployed in to the US Army.

Wayne retired to Tempe, Arizona where he spent close to 30 years. Wayne lost his second wife, Beverly, in 1994. He then reconnected with his current wife, Millie Bell Smith. Millie is a lifelong resident of Kerrville, Texas and Wayne and Millie had know each other as far back as kindergarden.

Wayne is survived by his wife, Millie Bell Smith, his three children Michelle Smith, Matthew Smith, and Leisa Chaney, as well as his three stepchildren DR hendel, Drew Hendle, and Dana Morgan, and grandchildren Morgan and Hunter Warren Smith

They all loved Wayne and dearly enjoyed time with him.