Experimental aircraft designer John Monnett’s designs have included Sonerai racers, Monerai motorgliders, and the SubSonex personal jet. His kitbuilt Sonex first flew in 1998, and with the introduction of the Sonex-B in 2016, Monnett’s Oshkosh, Wisconsin-based company opened up this basic and economical kitbuilt airplane—literally. What was once a cocoon-like cockpit is now larger (albeit only slightly more than 40 inches), there’s more panel room, there are expanded powerplant options, and the company says it’s quicker to build.
“We’ve taken the forward fuselage sides, which tapered from the forward and aft fuselage joint down to a smaller firewall, and made them parallel in the B-model,” said Mark Schaible, Sonex general manager. “This gives pilots a surprising increase in cockpit space. They gain about 2 inches at the shoulders and 6 inches at the knees.”
In addition, there’s more fuel capacity, a center Y-stick yoke, electric flaps, and dual throttles. “Because of the wider fuselage, we’ve been able to increase the size of the fuselage header tank from 16 to 20 gallons, giving a 150-mile increase in range,” said Schaible. “Despite the increased front area of the cowling fuselage, performance is identical, although our B models are a little cleaner.”
Build time for a Sonex-B is about 1,000 hours, the company says; there is a Quick Build Kit that can help you get a flying aircraft in 500 hours.
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For more information: sonexaircraft.com
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