Sonex back in business

Stephen Osborne, a military veteran and FAA-certificated commercial pilot who owns The Osborne Co., a general contracting company in Topeka, Kansas, along with Top Aviation Services, a Topeka flight school, announced his acquisition May 1 with a headline that proclaimed Sonex Aviaiton is "built to last."

"My family has flown for three generations; [it's] an absolute honor to carry on the proud legacy of the Sonex brand," Osborne said in the news release. "Sonex is part of how this country builds pilots and how everyday people get into the sky. Letting it disappear was never an option. To every customer with a deposit on the books—get your shop space ready. We are open, we are building, and your kit is coming."

Previous owner Mark Schaible now serves as lead designer in the Oshkosh, Wisconsin, operation. "Freed from the burdens of day-to-day administration, Mark now turns his full attention to what he does best—designing the aircraft our customers love, refining the kits they build, and supporting the pilots who fly them," the media release stated. "The drafting table has its master back full-time."

Schaible announced in March that declining sales and debt forced Sonex to close, though he and company founder John Monnett were working to find a buyer.

Osborne reported 80 orders for the first high-wing kit from Sonex will be filled, with shipment of tail kits to resume in May and full kits to follow "by mid-summer. The backlog is being cleared. The factory is expected to be at full production within the next few weeks." The two-seat Highwing (now High Wing, in the news release) flew for the first time in June.