Reserving Slots For The Single-Place, Folding-Wing, Aerobatic
Sport Aircraft Kits
Sonex Aircraft has begun accepting refundable deposits to
reserve kit production slots for the Onex single-place,
folding-wing, aerobatic sport aircraft. Onex airframe kit
deliveries are expected to begin by mid-year, 2011, with tail kit
deliveries beginning much sooner. The Onex has been a highly
anticipated Sport Pilot-eligible airplane kit, as evidenced by Onex
mailing list membership growing to over 1,300 subscribers. Many
prospective Onex builders have submitted requests to make a deposit
and reserve their place in-line for Onex kits, and the opportunity
to make those reservations has now arrived. On March 15, Onex
mailing list subscribers were given advance notification of the
availability of Onex Kit production slot reservations via a $500
deposit. The date and time of Onex deposit payment will be used to
sequence customer orders.
First Flight
"Sonex Aircraft is excited to be taking
deposits on this outstanding new aircraft," said Sonex Aircraft CEO
and General Manager Jeremy Monnett. "Many hundreds of hours have
been invested in the design, engineering, testing and flying of the
Onex. We feel the Onex has the potential to cut the already low
operating costs of the Sonex, Waiex, and Xenos even further. It
represents what we consider to be the lowest operational cost of
any sport pilot aircraft."
Estimated kit pricing is now available for the Onex, with a
Complete Airframe Kit base price of $12,995. Onex kits will be
offered in Complete Airframe Kits & Sub-Kits, and popular
upgrades such as Pre-Assembled Main Wing Spars and Machined Angle
Component Kits will be offered to reduce building time.
Additionally, the Onex design has a smaller parts count than other
Sonex Aircraft designs, while using more CNC machined parts to be
included as standard items in the basic, non-upgraded, kit to
further reduce build time. Estimated Sub-Kit pricing and kit
upgrade pricing is published in further detail on the Sonex
Aircraft web site.
"When comparing the pricing of the Onex to the Sonex, remember
that the Onex has some new design features that make it easier for
the builder, but they come with slightly higher costs," continued
Monnett. "We continue to sharpen our pencil on pricing and
recognize that every dollar we can shave off the price represents a
larger potential market! We're excited to be delivering this
aircraft to a world market where kit aircraft builders are
increasingly aware of the incredible amount of fun you can have
with an aircraft that costs a fraction of a new factory-built
LSA.
The Onex flight test schedule continues to make rapid progress,
and the Hornets' Nest Research and Development team at Sonex
Aircraft, LLC is extremely pleased with the aircraft's performance
in every aspect. "The preliminary flight test evaluation has been
extremely positive," said Monnett. "A new flight video is available
for download showing this activity. We're having a lot of fun
putting time on this little fighter!"