Long-time Sonex employee and general manager Mark Schaible has purchased the assets of Sonex Aircraft and Sonex Aerospace.
The Oshkosh, Wisconsin-based kit aircraft, engine, accessories and unmanned aircraft manufacturer is retaining all of the current staff and will continue the operations founded by John Monnett in 1998, including fulfillment of all current orders, says Schaible, who has named the new company Sonex LLC.
Monnett will stay on as a lifetime emeritus advisor as part of a new Sonex Advisory Board, he adds.
“John Monnett is a legendary name in the aviation industry, so I am very humbled and excited to have the opportunity to stand on the shoulders of his achievements and continue to shape the Sonex legacy into the next generation,” Schaible says.
In addition to Monnett, the new advisory board includes original Sonex design partner and Lockheed Martin Senior Fellow Pete Buck, Sonex alumnus and Sonerai builder Joe Norris, Sonex supplier and AirVenture aircraft judging chairman Dave Juckem, and Chad Feucht, a retired Air Force F-16, F-22 and operational test pilot, former Lockheed-Martin and Boeing employee who owns a wealth management practice in neighboring Fond du Lac, Wisconsin.
Long-time employee and controller/customer service manager/HR manager Heather Zahner will move up to general manager.
According to Schaible, Sonex will continue to serve both the piston and turbine experimental aircraft markets with its current products.
In addition, he notes that new products and development priorities include:
- The JSX-2T two-seat SubSonex Personal Jet, scheduled to debut at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2022.
- The Sonex High Wing scheduled to be unveiled at AirVenture 2023.
- Additional support for the installation of Rotax 912-series engines, including the Rotax 912iS with a factory installation in-progress that will be the basis for the installation in the EAA AirVenture 2022 One Week Wonder.
- Expanded support for UL Power’s line of 4-cylinder engines and Jabiru engines.
- Advancements in Sonex’s line of AeroConversions products, while closely monitoring the engine market for other new products that may become good candidates to power Sonex aircraft as they develop and prove reliability.
The AeroConversions product line will continue to offer the AeroVee and AeroVee Turbo engine kits, along with the AeroInjector and the current line of AeroConversions accessories.
Sonex will also seek opportunities to improve and add features to its line of VW-based engine conversions while expanding the line of AeroConversions accessories available to experimental aircraft projects of all brands and types, Schaible says.
Additional diversity will come from Sonex Aerospace, which has been converted from a separate company to become the third major product line of Sonex LLC. This will focus on the rapidly growing Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) market, as well as other aerospace industry products and services.
“While our traditional market is stronger than it has been for many years, there is no question that the UAS market is growing exponentially and will continue to do so,” Schaible says.
Sonex was selected in 2015 to develop and build the Teros Group 4/5 UAS because of the company’s reputation in the homebuilt aircraft marketplace. The Xenos Motorglider-based UAS has also evolved and matured tremendously, and Sonex is continuing work with Navmar Applied Sciences Corporation (NASC) to bring the Teros and other UAS to production for government and commercial customers, according to Schaible.