Sonex Aircraft Archives - Golf Hotel Whiskey

Scott Spangler has recently noted that Sonex Aircraft’s new single-seater light sport aircraft (LSA), the Onex, has just made its first flight and has also passed its first FAA inspection. However and as you can see from the video below, the aircraft cockpit is a bit small and Scott did point out that normally with Sonex’s aircraft:

If you’re an FAA-standard human, like the Monnetts, you’re good to go. If you’re a 99th percentile human, at the far end of the height scale, you’re outa luck. That would be me: 6-foot-5, wearing jeans with a 38-inch inseam, and size 15 clodhoppers.

Nevertheless, Scott noted that he was actually able to squeeze into the cockpit of the Onex. Hence and for other “FAA-standard humans,” the Onex could be one very affordable aircraft as Scott noted that the kit will cost less than the US$15k (excluding the AeroVee engine) for the two seat Sonex (but the aircraft’s final price has yet to be determined). Moreover, a would-be pilot-owner will not only save money on the aircraft but he or she can fly it with only a sport license. Hence, Scott concluded that the Onex will put him and other pilots just like him, much closer to actually owning their own aircraft.

Scott Spangler of Jetwhine is reporting that it is once again a buyer’s market for recreational flyers with “homebuilding” (which allows pilot-owners to build an aircraft one section at a time and thus spreads the investment cost over a period of time) along with sport pilot and light-sport aircraft seeing an upsurge not seen since the last big economic downturn in the early 1980s. For example, Scott reports that with Sonex Aircraft, getting a whole kit at once will cost:

$13,995 for the kit and $200 for dual sticks, for a subtotal of $14,195, plus a $150 crating charge, for a grand total of $14,345…. When you add the cost of the five Sonex sub-assemblies and plans, the total is $18,650, and the crating charges add another $525. But you don’t have to pay it all at once. The sub kits run from the $1,750 tail kit to the $6,300 wing kit, prices less likely to need financing.

Sonex debuts the Onex for “FAA-standard humans”

Buyer’s market for recreational flyers