Sonex Aircraft, LLC recently hosted nine members of the newly-formed FAA National Kit Evaluation Team (NKET) for a practice evaluation of its Sonex Aircraft Complete Kit, which was selected to be the first in a series of Experimental-Amateur Built aircraft kits evaluated under the new Amateur-Built Orders and Advisory Circular. This practice evaluation helped prepare the NKET for all future kit evaluations, now that the temporary moratorium on new kit evaluations has been lifted.
“Overall, Sonex Aircraft could not have been more pleased with the way the FAA conducted this simulated kit evaluation,” said Sonex General Manager and CEO Jeremy Monnett.
“The new National Kit Evaluation Team arrived well prepared and organized and conducted themselves with a high degree of professionalism and consistency. All items that the ARC recommended during our series of meetings over the past few years were addressed by this visit.”
Although the Sonex, Waiex, and Xenos Aircraft Kits are grandfathered into the FAA-approved kit list under the previous kit evaluation system, Sonex Aircraft offered to participate in this evaluation exercise to continue its ongoing leadership role in the formation and refinement of the rules governing Experimental-Amateur Built Aircraft construction. “We want to state with absolute certainty that all Sonex, Waiex, and Xenos Aircraft Kits will remain safely in the 51% Experimental Amateur-Built Kit category for builders using all available components and upgrades from Sonex Aircraft,” Monnett said.
Sonex Aircraft has been serving on the FAA’s Amateur-Built Rulemaking Committee (ARC) since August 2006, having attended six ARC meetings over a two-year period. These meetings included representatives from the FAA, fellow aircraft kit manufacturers, commercial assistance owners, and aircraft associations. The final findings of the ARC Committee were published in the federal registry in September 2009.
For more information: SonexAircraft.com
