SonexBuilders.net

I have just asked him to publish the weight of his Waiex, this will be interesting as the airframe is in it's heaviest configuration
(Waiex, heavier than Sonex,
Nosegear, heavier than tailwheel,
Painted, heavier than polished).

As alsways, we will have to wait and see if my question gets posted and Jan is willing to reply...

G'day Mike,
It is interesting to note the case of the first CH701, where for a brief time, the W&B was published on the Viking site. Then meaningless nose wheel weights under different load conditions for different engines were all that remained. When you go to the alternate site that you recently joined, look for my post giving weights for my (hardly lightweight) EA81 powered 701 versus a Viking powered one. I was quite shocked by the weights.
Regards,
Paul

It kinda makes sense why Jan is selling his company demonstrator Waiex/Viking. Like the original RV12 he was building to be the demonstrator back in 2010 (later sold), both Vans and Sonex companies do not support this configuration. So its an adversarial situation from the start. Not an optimal way to promote your product. Zenith seems to accept the VIking as a suitable alternative at least for the CH750. Although I think Zenith and UL Power have a thing going on. They at least list it on their website as a possible powerplant. Kitfox even doesn't do that.
The Sonex Onex showed some promise. The Viking website showed some pretty cool shots of the cowl and spinner. Haven't heard much in 6 months about that. I can only assume it hasn't progressed. Even so, he would face the same Sonex response when trying to market that solution.
If I end up building a Onex, I think I'll lean towards the D-Motor. At 95 HP and super light (105LB), it just seems made for the plane. Might have to hang some extra weight forward of the firewall!

What I find very strange about this is that we have not seen one video or one photo of his Waiex actally flying with the Viking. Usually such things are all over his website and forum.
I have a suspision his Waiex (and possibly the Onex as well) were a failure, maybe because of weight?
The Viking Sonex that recently flew for the first time was already over 720 lbs, and that was a polished tail dragger, his Waiex is a painted nose wheel airplane so one would suspect it would come in even heavier than that, how much is too much? When does your 2 seater Sonex become a single seater only because of the weight of the engine, and even worse, when does your single seater Onex become a "Nonex" because of the weight?

Jan had mentioned that his Waiex weighed 700 lbs with the aerovee motor.

I tried to make my own viking forum then within one week Egghead was threatening me with over 1 million lawsuit and said I was not to open up any future forums. This guy is out of control. Could you ever see Robert Helms acting in such a way? No, and this is one reason Robert and his UL Power are so successful..... No quirkyness, just good old fashioned engine building without the BS. That is one reason why his engine is the engine of choice for Zenith. Viking barely made the kit planes engine issue...he had nothing worthwhile to contribute.

Ben

Sonex701 wrote:I tried to make my own viking forum then within one week Egghead was threatening me with over 1 million lawsuit and said I was not to open up any future forums. This guy is out of control. Could you ever see Robert Helms acting in such a way? No, and this is one reason Robert and his UL Power are so successful..... No quirkyness, just good old fashioned engine building without the BS. That is one reason why his engine is the engine of choice for Zenith. Viking barely made the kit planes engine issue...he had nothing worthwhile to contribute.

Ben

Are you a Viking customer? What was the theme of your forum? I would think a forum for Viking owners by Viking owners would be clear of any lawsuit.

If the past is any indication, then any Viking people or potential Viking people who join any other Viking forum will be put on the "naughty list" and get booted off of Jan's Viking Forum.

He doesn't take kindly to not being able to moderate comments. The same thing happened to the Eggenfellner Engines Subaru people. When he got wind of the other group and its members - we all got the boot from the other group.

Jan even went as far to tell one RV-12 builder his had been declared "unfit by the Viking RV-12 Community" for the Viking Engine.

See the exchange here

I've never understood why any businessman would tell a potential customer they were not worthy of their product.

Jan just announced a turbo for the Viking on his forum.
He states $1000 extra for the turbo to deliver 25hp extra at sea level, that would be impressive.

The Viking will need a turbo version when the AeroVee Turbo finally becomes available as I believe it would annihilate the whole Viking idea as is:
Similar power, less weight, significantly lower cost, it has been tested for years before market release and most importantly it comes from a supplier with an excellent reputation.
The Viking needs to keep at least 20-30hp extra to compete with the AeroVee so if the AeroVee gets a Turbo, the Viking will need one as well.