SonexFlight

The Xenos is Sonex Aircraft’s long-wing motor glider, a derivative of the basic Sonex design. It sports a 40 ft wingspan, longer fuselage with Y-tail, and a flapless-wing with ailerons and spoilers. The Xenos is designed as a touring motorglider, and has found a small but loyal following among Sonex pilots. Our guest Dave Dooley tells us all about his Xenos and how he enjoys flying the mountains of Colorado.

2017 is in the books, and there were a number of things that stand out. We look back at some of the more significant things to occur, review a few of the popular topics we covered on the podcast, and discuss the results of the 2017 Listener Feedback Survey. Lastly, we look ahead at a preview of the year we have planned for the podcast, and finish up with our thoughts on a “Most Wanted List for 2018” of things that we’d like to see Sonex Aircraft do, initiatives to focus on, or products to develop.

Regardless of engine choice on your Sonex you’re going to need a prop to go with it. There are many choices, but the goal is the same – to get an efficient, durable, good looking prop for a reasonable price. Prince Aircraft Company is one of the best respected propeller brands available for the Sonex. Lonnie Prince tells us about his prop and how to create speed out of thin air.

Every pilot dreams of flying their own jet, especially one that is small, fast and maneuverable. Sonex Aircraft has fulfilled that dream for a handful of customers, but there’s much more potential for others to join the ranks as well! John Corneal is an early SubSonex builder and talks about how a “regular guy” was able to pull this off.

Fall is here, and for many people that means flying is slowing down and it’s time to conduct the annual condition inspection. We’ll review the areas typically inspected during a good condition inspection, and go over our best practices for Sonex-specific items that should be on your checklist.

"Camp Sonex" was formed once again, this time at the 31st Annual Fly-in at the Flying-M Ranch in Reklaw, TX! This gathering is a special event, and it's hard to describe why it's so loved by those who attend. The cast and attendees attempt to put the magic of Reklaw into words as we catch up around the camp fire.

Captain Mike "Caveman" Neidenthal joins us again as we attempt to describe the feel and personality of flying a Sonex, and to give some insight to why Sonex has such a loyal following of pilots. Simply put, we love the way they fly, and we’re going to tell you all about it!

We discuss an alternate way to bend the leading edge skins using an ordinary shop vac, rather than the complicated process of press-bending the skins. The vacuum bending technique is great for scratch-builders, or for those kit builders that have to replace their leading edge skins and want to avoid the cost of buying (and shipping) pre-fabricated skins from the factory.

Waiex builder Jim Hicke is back from his 3-week Alaska trip. This was an epic trip, filled with spectacular sights and video, unexpected rewards, and a few unpleasant surprises. We discuss Jim's highlights and his challenges, the planning involved, and lessons learned from making a big trip in a Sonex.

The process of moving from Interested Outsider to Full-fledged Builder can be intimidating as the would-be-builder conducts research, builds support for the project, and works up his or her budget. Our guest this episode did just that and recently took the plunge into building.