Sonex Aircraft, LLC is an American

kit aircraft Homebuilt aircraft, also known as amateur-built aircraft or kit planes, are constructed by persons for whom this is not a professional activity. These aircraft may be constructed from "scratch", from plans, or from assembly kits.Armstrong, Kenn ...

manufacturer located in Oshkosh,

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

, producing kits for four all-metal homebuilt

monoplane A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple wings. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing con ...

s. 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.

History

The company opened a flight center and a parts distribution warehouse in 2006. In 2013, the FAA National Kit Evaluation Team (NKET) approved fast-build "51% rule" versions of the Sonex, Waiex, and Onex. Jeremy Monnett, the son of founder John Monnett Jr. and CEO, was killed in an airplane crash in 2015. In June 2018, John Monnett announced his plan to retire and sell the company. In January 2022, Sonex employee and general manager, Mark Schaible, purchased the assets of Sonex Aircraft LLC and Sonex Aerospace LLC, forming them into a new company, Sonex LLC. Schaible will be owner and president of the new company. In December 2019 the John Monnett-designed Sonerai was acquired by Sonex Aircraft. The company rolled out a prototype highwing aircraft in 2024.

Products

Aircraft

Engines

Company subsidiary AeroConversions manufactures the

AeroConversions AeroVee Engine The AeroConversions Aerovee Engine is a kit-built engine for homebuilt aircraft based on the Volkswagen air-cooled engine. Design and development The AeroVee engine is manufactured and marketed by AeroConversions, a part of Sonex Aircraft. In ...

, a custom aircraft implementation of the

Volkswagen air-cooled engine The Volkswagen air-cooled engine is an Air-cooled engine, air-cooled, gasoline-fuelled, boxer engine with four horizontally opposed cast-iron cylinder (engine), cylinders, cast aluminum alloy cylinder heads and pistons, magnesium-alloy crankca ...

Hornet's Nest

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

E-flight

AirVenture EAA AirVenture Oshkosh (formerly the EAA Annual Convention and Fly-In), or just Oshkosh, is an annual air show and gathering of aviation enthusiasts held each summer at the Wittman Regional Airport and adjacent Pioneer Airport in Oshkosh, Wiscon ...

2007, Sonex Aircraft announced a project to work on innovative technologies in aviation. The E-flight projects includes using an

electric motor An electric motor is a machine that converts electrical energy into mechanical energy. Most electric motors operate through the interaction between the motor's magnetic field and electric current in a electromagnetic coil, wire winding to gene ...

, ethanol-based fuels, and other

power plant A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the electricity generation, generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electr ...

alternatives. In December 2010, an all-electric Waiex was test flown from Wittman field in

Oshkosh, Wisconsin Oshkosh () is a city in Winnebago County, Wisconsin, United States, and its county seat. It is located on the western shore of Lake Winnebago and had a population of 66,816 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List o ...

. The aircraft was flown with a 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. This was the beginning of the development of the Sonex Electric Sport Aircraft.

References

External links

* {{Monnett aircraft Aircraft manufacturers of the United States Monnett aircraft Aviation in Wisconsin 1998 establishments in Wisconsin American companies established in 1998 Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1998 Oshkosh, Wisconsin