New Onex Progress Update at the Hornets' Nest!
04-29-11

 
The Hornets' Nest R&D team has been continuing to work extremely hard on development of the Onex single-place, folding-wing, aerobatic sport pilot aircraft. Much work has been done on both #1 (tail wheel) and #2 (tri-gear) prototypes, and many hours of flight testing have been accumulated on the #1 prototype to-date.

Today's progress update covers numerous topics including updated Onex specifications, airspeed calibration flight testing, new provisions allowing larger pilots to comply with Sport Pilot rules in the Onex, new modifications allowing more cockpit headroom, information about Onex kit contents, a new paint job on the #1 Onex prototype, and more!

Read the entire update including numerous new pictures and a new video at the Hornets' Nest!

New Sonex Video Building Tips Posted!
04-22-11

EAA has released two new additions to the Hints for Homebuilders video series featuring tips from Sonex Aircraft, LLC: The video "Simple Small Fairings" demonstrates how to make fairings out of plumber's putty; "Homemade Dimpling Tool" shows a simple idea for how to make a homemade, simple dimpling tool that works great in tight places.

You can see a complete index of Sonex-relevant EAA Hints for Homebuilders videos on our Sonex Video Tips page.

E-Flight Update: Electric Waiex Flights Continue
04-20-11

Envelope expansion flights of the E-Flight Electric Powered Waiex prototype continue, and the E-Flight development team continues to progress on the design and construction of E-Flight motor v3.0 and controller v12.0.

Read more and watch new flight videos at the Hornets' Nest R&D web site!

Join the E-Flight Mailing List to receive updates!

Sonex First Flight: Merle Reppert
04-18-11

Congratulations to Merle Reppert of Paradise, California whose AeroVee powered Sonex (S/N 577) flew for the first time on April 10th! "I enjoyed building my first Sonex (295) a lot so I built another one," writes Merle. I painted 295 by myself but our Son and I painted 577 (I being the helper). Many thanks to ALL at Sonex who has the best designs and service around." Gold Wings are on the way to Merle!

View the Latest Sonex Aircraft Completions

Sonex First Flight: Alan Supan
04-13-11

Congratulations to Alan Supan of San Jose, California whose Jabiru 3300 powered Sonex (S/N 1123) flew for the first time on April 4th! "On a beautiful cool and calm early morning, my Sonex eagerly took to the air. I think we were both glad to be finally out of the workshop," writes Alan. "It climbed as if I hit the "up" button on a fast elevator.  Once leveled off, safely above the airport, it was evident that it flew straight and true and no further adjustments were needed. To top off a great flight, I was elated as to how easy the landing was. Thank you John and Jeremy for a great product and your great staff of people especially Kerry whose tech support was terrific." Gold Wings are on the way to Alan!

View the Latest Sonex Aircraft Completions

Australian Builders Gather at Yarrawonga
04-12-11

Lynn Jarvis shows-off his well deserved plaque of appreciation from Australian Sonex builders.

The weekend of March 19-20 saw 10 of Australia’s 17 flying Sonex, Waiex and Xenos aircraft gather at Yarrawonga, Victoria, Australia for a weekend fly-in, held in conjunction with the Light-weight Aircraft Association. Over 60 people attended the event during the day, with 50 staying for the evening dinner. "This was a fantastic turnout given the huge distances between our major population centres," reported event organizer Stuart Trist. "We were able to make a presentation to Lynn Jarvis, one of the very early scratch builders (Sonex SN#143) and first of type in Australia." The citation to Lynn expressed appreciation for the encouragement, inspiration and support he gave to the Australian builders who followed. "Lynn has made himself available on the end of the phone at all sorts of inconvenient times and has made many builder visits over the last few years," writes Stuart. "Some caps and shirts donated by Sonex and raffled over the weekend will enable us to further enhance our website at www.sonexaus.wikispaces.com Thanks to all who made the effort to come, some driving for over 14hrs, and for all who helped with the weekend."

An impressive panoramic shot showing a portion of the Sonex flight line at the Yarrawonga, Australia fly-in.

Stuart Trist gives a presentation about his Sonex SN#181.

Find more builders' events, or submit your own
event, at our Builders' Events Calendar web page!

Space Still Availaible for the April 30-May 1, 2011 Sonex Builders' Workshop: You're Invited!
04-08-11

Space is still available for our next Sonex Builder's Workshop scheduled for April 30-May 1, 2011 here at the Sonex factory in Oshkosh. The $200 registration fee is available for credit toward your plans or kit purchase. A number of kit discounts are also available only for workshop attendees. Don't miss your chance to save a tremendous amount of money and time with these workshop discount opportunities.

Beat the Rush: Buy Now!
Note that there is no penalty for purchasing plans and/or kits in advance of the workshop. You receive the same discounts at the end of the workshop and you'll be first in line ahead of what we expect will be a strong list of kit and engine orders for Spring and Summer, 2011.

Interested in the Onex?
Sonex Workshop Attendees interested in building the new Onex single-place, folding wing, aerobatic, sport aircraft will still have an opportunity to receive Workshop Discount Incentives on their kit purchases once Onex kits become available.

Sign-Up for the Workshop Today!

See a Report from our most-recent Workshop!

Sun 'n Fun Forums a Success for Sonex Aircraft LLC, Despite Disastrous Weather
04-05-11

Despite Mother Nature’s attempts at disrupting the entire Sun 'n Fun International Fly-In & Expo in Lakeland, FL, we are pleased to report that John and Jeremy Monnett considered their two days spent at Sun 'n Fun to be very successful. Sonex Aircraft, LLC did not have an official exhibitor presence at Sun 'n Fun again this year, and no Sonex Aircraft were harmed during Thursday's storms that caused a saddening amount of aircraft damage, but thankfully no major injuries.

All 3 of the Forums given by John and Jeremy were standing room only. We were very pleasantly surprised to see the Thursday, 9am Forum "The Sonex, Waiex, Xenos, and Onex: Sport Pilot Designs" packed with a whole new group of prospective builders. This crowd braved the ominous weather forecasts to learn more about our products and that is simply great to see. Note that the new forum classrooms at Sun 'n Fun were first class. All were air conditioned and very comfortable... we just needed some larger classrooms! The school ended up being the ideal shelter for many hundreds, including John and Jeremy Monnett, during the worst of the storms on Thursday.

The Monnetts were stopped by a few individuals while they walked around the SNF grounds asking if the Onex was on display. John and Jeremy explained that the prototype had just come out of paint (pictures to be posted soon) and didn’t quite have the phase 1 flight test time flown off, and therefore could not fly outside of the Oshkosh, WI test radius. We cordially invite everyone to Oshkosh for our next Sonex Builder Workshop or the EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2011 Fly-In where all of our aircraft will be proudly on display.

Several current and prospective Sonex customers, including a few of the many Onex deposit customers, joined the Monnetts at a Sonex-sponsored happy hour on Wednesday afternoon at Sun 'n Fun's Sunset Grill. John and Jeremy enjoyed spending time with everyone and answered as many questions as they could.

John and Jeremy were pleased to be able to spend some time with the Lindbergh LEAP students from Ocala, Florida. They interviewed the Monnetts for a future posting to the Lindbergh LEAP web site. The LEAP students have a tremendous amount of energy and enthusiasm, and truly represent a bright future for aviation. We congratulate LEAP for all the great work they're doing in youth aviation education and in cultivating electric flight!

Obviously the only negative of the week was the horrendous weather that caused extensive damage to aircraft and show grounds while cutting power to the entire area on Thursday. This forced the cancellation of all forums Thursday afternoon, including the Electric Aircraft Round Table Discussion. We were sorry to disappoint a good sized group who were ready to hear the latest about the E-Flight Project, and promise a new E-Flight web update will be posted soon!

SNF classrooms were filled to capacity in the three forums Sonex was able to present before the storm hit.	John Monnett socializes with current and prospective Sonex customers at Wednesday afternoon's happy hour.
Wednesday's Sonex gathering was held at the SNF's Sunset Grill.	Lindbergh LEAP students interview John and Jeremy Monnett about the E-Flight electric flight project.
The #1 prototype Onex single-place, folding-wing aircraft has been painted and is now ready to resume fight testing after a short interruption for the paint work. You can see the Onex at all upcoming Sonex Workshop events and at AirVenture, and more web updates will be coming soon!

See the Sonex Aircraft, LLC Events Calendar!

Xenos First Flight: Michael Jackson
03-28-11

Congratulations to Michael Jackson of Jersey City, New Jersey whose AeroVee powered Xenos (S/N X0042) flew for the first time on March 27th! Michael was recently featured on our web site for having constructed his Xenos inside his New Jersey townhouse instead of a traditional workshop or hangar. "Xenos N42XE "Silver Hawk" took off for the first time on March 27, 2011 at 9:30am from the Blairstown, NJ airport (1N7) and flew for 35 minutes," Reports Michael, who conducted the first flight. "The glider flew straight and true with no apparent problems. The landing was a non event. I only wish my landings in a Schweizer 126 on grass were that smooth! Thanks to everyone at Sonex for creating the design for such a fantastic, easy to build aircraft. Special thanks to Kerry for his help and support, and to Stephanie and Jason for shipping out parts quicker than I could reasonably expect." Gold Wings are on the way to Michael!

View the Latest Sonex Aircraft Completions

Attend Sonex Forums and Join John and Jeremy Monnett for Happy Hour at Sun 'n Fun!
03-21-11

Sonex Aircraft, LLC will once again be conducting informational forums at the 2011 Sun 'n Fun International Fly-In & Expo in Lakeland, FL. Although Sonex Aircraft will not have an official exhibitor presence at Sun 'n Fun, John and Jeremy Monnett will be conducting forums on Wednesday and Thursday during the show, and will be hosting a Happy Hour for Sonex builders and enthusiasts at the Sunset Grill on Sun 'n Fun grounds: Wednesday, March 30th from 4-6pm. For a full schedule of Sonex events at the show, check out the Sonex Events Calendar!

Make Your Onex Kit Reservation Today!
03-17-11

The Onex single-place, folding-wing, aerobatic aircraft has been a highly anticipated Sport Pilot-eligible airplane kit, as evidenced by Onex mailing list membership growing to over 1,200 subscribers!

Many prospective Onex builders have submitted requests to make a deposit to reserve their place in-line for Onex kits. The Onex flight testing schedule continues to make rapid progress, and Sonex Aircraft, LLC is pleased to announce that refundable $500 deposits* are now being accepted, with Onex Airframe Kit deliveries expected to begin by mid-year, 2011, and Tail Kit deliveries beginning much sooner.

On March 15, Onex mailing list subscribers received an advance invitation to make their deposits, and this invitation is now being extended to the general public via today's official press release, an advertisement in the April issue of EAA Sport Aviation magazine, and this SonexAircraft.com home page announcement. Be the first on your block to put a Onex in your garage. Reserve your Onex today!

*Learn more about the Onex, see estimated kit pricing, make your reservation and see full details and deposit Terms & Conditions at the new Onex home page: www.SonexAircraft.com/onex

Join the Onex Mailing List

Attend a Concert and Help School Kids Build a Sonex Aircraft!
03-16-11

The Antelope Valley chapter of the Southern California Aviation Mentoring Program is hoping to build a Sonex Aircraft via the Sonex Education Initiative with its students, and you can help! If you are located in the Southern California area, there will be a benefit concert on Sunday, April 10 at the Lancaster Performing Arts Center with proceeds contributing toward the mentoring program's Sonex Aircraft. "The Folk Collection" will be performing with general seating admission of $25 and $50 VIP seating.

Local Sonex Aircraft builders are also invited to volunteer their time and building experience once the mentoring program's Sonex Aircraft project begins. For more information, contact Tony Unger at the Southern California Aviation Mentoring Program: www.avscamp.org

Learn More About the Sonex Education Initiative!

You're Invited: Sonex Builders' Workshop, April 30-May 1, 2011!
03-11-11

Our next Sonex Builder's Workshop is filling up fast, but space is still available. It is scheduled for April 30-May 1, 2011 here at the Sonex factory in Oshkosh. The $200 registration fee is available for credit toward your plans or kit purchase. A number of kit discounts are also available only for workshop attendees. Don't miss your chance to save a tremendous amount of money and time with these workshop discount opportunities.

Beat the Rush: Buy Now!
Note that there is no penalty for purchasing plans and/or kits in advance of the workshop. You receive the same discounts at the end of the workshop and you'll be first in line ahead of what we expect will be a strong list of kit and engine orders for Spring and Summer, 2011.

Interested in the Onex?
Sonex Workshop Attendees interested in building the new Onex single-place, folding wing, aerobatic, sport aircraft will still have an opportunity to receive Workshop Discount Incentives on their kit purchases once Onex kits become available.

Sign-Up for the Workshop Today!

See a Report from our most-recent Workshop!

See the Onex Fly! New In-Cockpit Video
03-04-11

 
EAA has published a new video, recorded on March 2, featuring Sonex pilot Drew Waterworth demonstrating some pattern work with the Onex, including takeoffs, 3-point and wheel landings, steep turns, and a high-speed pass over the runway. If you're not already excited about the Onex, this could change your mind! Watch the Video!

Read More About the Onex!

Join the Onex Mailing List!

Sonex Builders in the News: Karl Storjohann's Sonex Story Featured by EAA Experimenter
03-03-11

Sonex Builder Karl Storjohann (S/N 1178) completed his Jabiru 3300, Std-Gear aircraft earlier this year and wrote about it for EAA's Experimenter newsletter. The article shows Karl's excitement and perserverence in completing his project! Sonex congratulations Karl on his first flight... Gold Wings are on the way!

View the Latest Sonex Aircraft Completions

Read More Sonex Flying Stories!

Find More Articles about Sonex and AeroConversions Products

Sonex First Flight: Nick Tekstra
03-03-11

Congratulations to Nick Tekstra of Parkwood Gold Coast,, Queensland Australia whose Jabiru 3300 powered standard gear Sonex (S/N 1220) flew for the first time on February 6th! "I thought it was fantastic," writes Nick. "I think it only needs minor trimming but I have to test it again when the adrenalin isn't flowing as fast. All my thanks to the people at Sonex especially Kerry in the technical department who really did help out." Gold Wings are on the way!

View the Latest Sonex Aircraft Completions