New Prospective Sonex owner

[rjhpilot91]

Hi everyone. I'm brand new to this website. I have been contemplating building an airplane for 10 years now and I think I've narrowed down the search to a sonex aircraft. My wife just gave me the go ahead this afternoon. :D I love the onex and everything about it but I can't justify having an airplane to share with only myself, and my 3 year old daughter loves flying already.

So I'm thinking the sonex it will have to be. Problem is I'm 6' 4" and 250 lbs. My wife is 5' 0" and 130 so space for us both isn't an isssue but I'd love to sit in one just to try it out before I spend a large amount of cash.

Anybody in the North East NC or South east VA area that wants to let me strap one on for size. It would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Rob

[Sonex1517]

Rob

I am in Chicagoland and still building, so while I can't help with the sitting in part, I wanted to say Welcome!

I obsessed for ten years and then about 18 months ago began building Sonex #1517. Love it.

blue skies


Robbie Culver
Sonex 1517

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[MichaelFarley56]

Hello Rob,

Welcome to the website! I'm glad to hear you're considering the Sonex. You've found a group of loyal fans here and hopefully we can help you by answering any questions you may have.

I'm in central Ohio so probably can't help a whole lot, but I can tell you that I'm 6'3", 235 lbs and have tons of room in my Waiex. You will need to build your Sonex with the lowered seat modification but that, combined with thin seat cushions, will leave you plenty of room. I've had guys 3-4" taller than me sit in my plane and so far, no one has been too tall.

Again, welcome!

[fastj22]

I'm 6,1 and I fit fine in my lowered seat Waiex. My hangar mate has a standard seat Sonex. My head hits the canopy in his plane. I think the current Onex is based on my size. I was at the builders clinic when Jeremy was designing the canopy. Used me to figure out the best angle. I sat in the end product at Airventure and it really gives me a few inches above my head.

[rjhpilot91]

Thanks for the reply guys. That makes me feel a lot better about fitting into the plane. I know the onex would be optimum for my size but I want to be able to take my kids up with me pretty often, plus the occasional cross country with my wife.

[EricS]

Hey Rob,

Welcome! I know what it's like when you finally decide/get the approval to go ahead! Congrats!

You may have already checked it out, but here is the link to some of the local Sonex flyins around the world. There is one in NC in May that might be good for you to check out.
http://www.sonexaircraft.com/builders/b ... vents.html

If you have the time and resources, I'd redommend making the trek and investing a few dollars to attend a builder's workshop at the Sonex facility in Oshkosh. I did last October and it was definitely worth the money and time. If you order while you are there you actually save money on the whole deal. I think there is one coming up in March.

Good luck and feel free to ask questions. Everyone on this forum is more than willing to lend a hand!

Regards,
Eric Seber

[Heywoody]

I'm 6'2" and 215lbs and I'm building Onex 082. I just flew two days of transition training with Scott Scheetz in his Sonex....the training is highly recommended, but it was a really tight, impractical fit for the two of us.....my head had to be bent over to the side ( making clear vision with my progressive glasses tough) and my knees were jammed into his lower panel cut-out....from this experience I'd say a single seat Sonex, or the Onex is the way to go for us tall pilots....at least you are centered in the canopy and taking advantage of its full height,something not possible in the two seater.

[rjhpilot91]

HeyWoody,

Were you sitting in one with a lowered seat mod? Some other folks here said it helps a lot for tall people.

I think even if I have to be a little cramped I will still go with a sonex. The alternative is an RV-9 or -7 and those add 20-30 thousand onto the price of a sonex, which I'm not comfortable spending. I'd really love the Onex, I fell in love with it when I first saw it but I would honestly regret flying by myself all the time. And I sure hate having to rent a junky old plane a couple of times a month to take my little ones flying. Kind of defeats the purpose of owning an airplane to me to still have to rent.

I'm willing to make some mods to the sonex to make it work for me. There seems to be some wiggle room with the instrument panel and how that is mounted. I can always make the panel smaller on my side and larger on the passenger side to accomadate a little more room for myself. And there seems to be some room to move the instrument panel up an inch or 2 as well I would think. I definately don't mind doing some simple modifying to fit my frame.

Oh and by the way some background on me. Private pilot, Active duty Coast Guard flying on MH-65D helicopters and HC-130J planes with 11 years of structural and engine maintenance experience as my day job. Compared to what I work on every day this sonex looks incredibly simple to build. :D

[daleandee]

I'll bet it was a bit tight in Scott's Sonex. For those that have not seen his panel take a look:

http://eaa488.files.wordpress.com/2010/ ... _2027j.jpg

It's very nice indeed but by design it does not leave much space for knee room. In Myunn I was determined not to put anything under the panel so as to have as much room as possible. Add to that a single center stick and my cockpit is quite roomy:

https://s3.amazonaws.com/expercraft/dal ... f25258.jpg

If I understand correctly the Todd's canopy will give you a bit more headroom but less side room as the Sonex "Sonplex" canopy bulges out at the sides a bit. That gives more side clearance but also tends to cause cracking because the Plexiglas is under some stress.

Dale Williams
N319WF @ 6J2