Seeks First Flight Before AirVenture Oshkosh 2025

Sonex Aircraft announced that its high-wing prototype aircraft has had its first engine start, which fired up immediately with no issues and it also successfully completed its first taxi and brake tests.

Sonex said the aircraft has a short task list yet to complete  before final inspection and its first flight, which it hopes to achieve before the EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2025. The company is eagerly awaiting the aircraft registration to be returned by the FAA and there is also an inspector lined up for the first flight.

The aircraft is powered by a Belgian 130 hp UL Power UL350iS engine. It is four-cylinder horizontally opposed, 4-stroke UL350I engine modified to a higher compression ratio and runs of Avgas or Mogas 97/98.

Sonex reported that since early April the company had completed tooling on the windshield and successfully formed a good windshield with minimal waste. The process isn’t completely finalized yet but the team is optimistic it can be perfected very soon.

The final skinning of the wing an installation of the outboard wing panels were completed in May, as were the construction and installation of the ailerons and flaps. Currently in process are the fairings for the metal flap roots.

The machined door hinges fit perfectly and the doors are now complete with an inexpensive handle for the release instead of the original idea of a lanyard-style release.

Also underway is the control stick frame and the associated aileron and elevator controls. The design allows for an interchangeable dual-stick, pilot-side only stick, or center-stick configurations.

Wiring with headset jacks is being completed by now, and the throttle quadrant is complete on the pilot’s side, as is the fuel system. Overall, good progress being made!

FMI:  www.sonexaircraft.com/