Sonex Aircraft

Last updated

Sonex Aircraft, LLC
Private
Industry Aerospace
Founded1998
Headquarters Oshkosh, Wisconsin, United States
Key people
John Monnett (founder)
Jeremy Monnett (CEO until his death in 2015 [1] )
Products Homebuilt aircraft
Number of employees
9
Subsidiaries AeroConversions engines
Website sonexaircraft.com

Sonex Aircraft, LLC is an American kit aircraft manufacturer located in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, producing kits for four all-metal homebuilt monoplanes. The company was founded in 1998 by John Monnett, who has designed the Monnett Sonerai sport aircraft series, Monnett Monerai sailplane, Monnett Moni motorglider, and Monnett Monex racer. Monnett designs are displayed in the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center of the National Air and Space Museum near Washington D.C.

Contents

In June 2018, John Monnett announced that he will retire and sell the company. [2]

Aircraft

In 2013, the FAA National Kit Evaluation Team (NKET) approved fast-build "51% rule" versions of the Sonex, Waiex, and Onex. [3]

In December 2019 the John Monnett-designed Sonerai was acquired by Sonex Aircraft. [4]

Summary of aircraft kits and plans by Sonex Aircraft
Model nameFirst flightNumber builtType
Sonerai 1971family of single and two-seat aircraft
Sonex 2000 (customer built)500 by 2014 [5] the original aircraft design, incorporating a low-wing design, seats two, and has a fast build time. [6]
Waiex almost identical to the Sonex, but features a Y-tail. [7]
Xenos 2003 [8] a motor-glider development of the Waiex with longer wings and the same engine selection as the other two Sonex models. [9]
Onex 2011a single seat aircraft with similar construction to a Sonex that will feature folding wings that allow the aircraft to be stored in a standard garage. [10]
ESA the Electric Sport Aircraft is a modified Xenos. [11]
SubSonex JSX-1 Single seat, single engine jet protype
SubSonex JSX-2 2011Single seat, single engine jet
Teros 2015UAV [12]
Sonex at the company display at Sun 'n Fun, 2004 SonexN232TM01.jpg
Sonex at the company display at Sun 'n Fun, 2004
Sonerai IILS 19-5409 Monnett Sonerai IILS (8543451673).jpg
Sonerai IILS
Sub Sonex JSX-1 Sub Sonex JSX-1.jpg
Sub Sonex JSX-1
Sonex Onex Sonex-Onex.jpg
Sonex Onex

Engines

Company subsidiary AeroConversions manufactures the AeroConversions AeroVee Engine, a custom aircraft implementation of the Volkswagen air-cooled engine.

Hornet's Nest

The Hornet's Nest is the research and development arm of Sonex LLC.

E-flight

At AirVenture 2007, Sonex Aircraft announced a project to work on innovative technologies in aviation. The E-flight projects includes using an electric motor, ethanol-based fuels, and other power plant alternatives. [13] In December 2010, an all-electric Waiex was test flown from Wittman field in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. The aircraft was flown with a 54 kW (72 hp) brushless DC electric motor, managed by a newly designed controller. Power is from a collection of 14.5 kW-hour lithium polymer batteries, giving the aircraft an endurance of one hour at low-speed cruise or 15 minutes of aerobatics. [14] [15] This was the beginning of the development of the Sonex Electric Sport Aircraft. [16]

Sonex Aircraft Sonex at Cotswold Airport, Gloucestershire, England, 2016 Sonex Aircraft Sonex (G-CIDX) at Cotswold Airport England 18Jun2016 arp.jpg
Sonex Aircraft Sonex at Cotswold Airport, Gloucestershire, England, 2016

Related Research Articles

Cirrus VK-30

The Cirrus VK-30 is a single-engine pusher-propeller homebuilt aircraft originally sold as a kit by Cirrus Design, and was the company's first model.

Sonex Aircraft Sonex

The Sonex, Waiex and Xenos are a family of lightweight, metal, low-wing, two seat homebuilt aircraft. Kits are produced and marketed by Sonex Aircraft, a small manufacturer based in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. By 2014, 500 customer built aircraft had been completed. The Sonex can also be built from plans.

Lancair Legacy

The Lancair Legacy, a modernized version of the Lancair 320, is a low-wing two-place retractable-gear composite monoplane, manufactured by the US company Lancair. It is available as a kit that cost US$71,500 in 2011. There is also a fixed-gear version, the Legacy FG. The retractable version of the Legacy cruises at 276 mph at 8,000 ft and the fixed gear version cruises at 215 mph.

Monnett Sonerai

The Sonerai is a small, VW-powered homebuilt aircraft, designed by John Monnett. The Sonerai began to compete as a single-seat, mid-wing, tailwheel Formula-V racer class formed in 1972. The Sonerai soon evolved into a two-seat model called the Sonerai II.

Monnett Moni

The Monnett Moni is a sport aircraft developed in the United States in the early 1980s and marketed for homebuilding.

Sonex Xenos

The Xenos is a lightweight, metal, low-wing, two seat homebuilt aircraft. that can be registered as a motor glider or an experimental light-sport aircraft (ELSA). Kits are produced and marketed by Sonex Aircraft, a small manufacturer based in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

Thatcher CX4

The Thatcher CX4 is an American-designed aircraft for amateur construction designed by David Thatcher of Pensacola, Florida and plans are supplied by Thatcher Aircraft, Inc..

The Yuneec International E430 is a Chinese two-seat electric aircraft that was designed for commercial production by electric model aircraft manufacturer Yuneec International. The first flight of the E430 took place from the Yuneec factory near Shanghai, China on June 12, 2009.

Flightstar

The Flightstar is a large family of single and two-seat, high wing, single engined kit aircraft that was produced by Flightstar Sportplanes of South Woodstock, Connecticut. In 2009 the rights, tooling and parts inventory were sold to Yuneec International of China when Flightstar Sportplanes' business was wound up.

Monnett Experimental Aircraft

Monnett Experimental Aircraft was a United States aircraft manufacturer. Founded by John Monnett, a schoolteacher from Illinois who transitioned from a pilot of J3 Cubs and Aeronca Champs to building and designing tube-and-fabric racing aircraft built around the Volkswagen air-cooled engine. The company was founded to produce plans and kits for the Sonerai I aircraft. The Sonerai I was specially built to be used as a Formula V Air Racing racer. The follow-on aircraft, the Sonerai II was a two-seat modification that made the aircraft more marketable for sport piloting. In 1982, the company marketed its Moni motor glider. It was built of aluminum and featured bonded wing skins.

Sonex Aircraft Onex American kit-built airplane

The Onex is an American single-seat, low-wing aircraft first flown on 27 January 2011 and currently being produced by Sonex Aircraft as a kit for amateur construction.

Aviation in Wisconsin

Aviation in Wisconsin refers to the aviation industry of the American Midwestern state of Wisconsin.

The Sonex Electric Sport Aircraft (ESA) is a two-place aircraft design currently under development by Sonex Aircraft, using the 80 hp (60 kW) Sonex e-Flight electric system for thrust. Sonex is designing this aircraft as a part of an attempt to develop alternate fuels, to ensure feasibility of inexpensive sport aviation in the future.

The Monnett Mini, also called the Mini Messashidt, was an early John Monnett modification of the Parker Jeanies Teenie.

Sonex Aircraft SubSonex

The SubSonex is an experimental, single-place, amateur-built jet from Sonex Aircraft's "Hornet's Nest" development division. The aircraft is often referred to in the industry as a "microjet".

Monnett may refer to:

The Liaoning Ruixiang RX1E is a Chinese two-seat electric aircraft, designed by the Liaoning General Aviation Academy at Shenyang Aerospace University and manufactured by the Liaoning Ruixiang General Aviation Manufacture Company Limited of Shenyang.

Sonex Aircraft Teros

The Teros is a UAV developed by Sonex Aircraft founder, John Monnett.

The Opener BlackFly is an American electric-powered VTOL personal air vehicle designed by Canadian Marcus Leng and under development by his company, Opener, Inc of Palo Alto, California. It was publicly introduced on 12 July 2018, after nine years of development. The aircraft is intended to be supplied complete and ready-to-fly.

References

  1. ↑ https://www.aopa.org/news-and-media/all-news/2015/june/03/sonex-ceo-jeremy-monnett-killed-in-aircraft-accident
  2. ↑ O'Connor, Kate (June 6, 2018). "Sonex For Sale". AVweb. Retrieved June 8, 2018.
  3. ↑ "Sonex Offers Quick-Build Kits Featuring Prebuilt Major Assemblies" . Retrieved July 22, 2013.
  4. ↑ Cook, Marc (December 30, 2019). "Sonerai Kit Aircraft Comes Home". AVweb. Archived from the original on January 2, 2020. Retrieved December 15, 2019.
  5. ↑ "Sonex reports 500th completion". Sport Aviation: 14. January 2015.
  6. ↑ Sonex Aircraft (2008). "Sonex - the Original Reality Check". Archived from the original on November 25, 2005. Retrieved October 9, 2008.
  7. ↑ Sonex Aircraft (2010). "Specifications - Tail Configuration: Y-tail". Archived from the original on April 5, 2006. Retrieved January 6, 2010.
  8. ↑ Xenos Archive, Xenos
  9. ↑ Sonex Aircraft (2008). "Xenos". Archived from the original on April 5, 2006. Retrieved October 9, 2008.
  10. ↑ Onex
  11. ↑ E-Flight ESA
  12. ↑ "Sonex Aircraft and Navmar Applied Sciences to Collaborate on UAV Design" . Retrieved June 26, 2015.
  13. ↑ "Another Secret Is Out" . Retrieved July 24, 2007.
  14. ↑ "Sonex electric-powered Waiex makes first flight" . Retrieved December 6, 2010.
  15. ↑ Pew, Glenn (December 2010). "Sonex Flies Electric Airplane". AvWeb. Retrieved December 6, 2010.
  16. ↑ "Sonex Aircraft Hornet's Nest Research and Development" . Retrieved October 21, 2011.


This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.