From as early as I can remember, I've always loved airplanes. When I was in high school, I had a job at the local Safeway grocery store, which had a fairly large magazine section.
Any time I had a break, I would walk over to the magazine section and flip through magazines. One night I found a Kitplanes magazine on the shelf and a whole new world opened to me. I had no idea that you could build your own airplane and fly it ... legally, anyway. I was so excited about that prospect.
It's now 30 years later and I finally have the means to build my own kit aircraft.
Sonex Aircraft, LLC is one of the many kit manufacturers that exist and they tout their product boasts the highest performance per dollar spent. As of this writing, Sonex claims that you can build a flying aircraft, complete with engine and avionics for about $40,000USD.
If you've ever looked at aircraft ownership, especially a new aircraft, that's a REALLY low price. Obviously, since it's an amateur-built experimental aircraft, the sky's the limit regarding upgrades. So that $40,000 can easily become a lot more. But the same could be said for any other kit manufacturer's claimed cost of ownership.
Choosing the kit took a little time. Anytime I make a large purchase, I like to start with what I really want to accomplish. If I'm purchasing a car, for example, I start with how much space I need, what kind of mileage I can expect, how much insurance will cost, etc. Then I consider all of the superfluous options I might want such as a nice stereo, heated seats, etc. And armed with that information, I begin a search for a car that meets as much of that criteria as possible.
Deciding on an aircraft kit is no different. After careful consideration of the type of flying I enjoy, the Sonex was the best option. It's a two-seater, economical to fly (even with the largest Jabiru engine option), very sturdy(+6/-3G aerobatic), and most importantly, easy to build (it uses almost 100% pull rivets). Once I decided on the best kit option for my mission, it was time to start looking for a good deal.
If you've ever considered the purchase of an aircraft, you're probably familiar with barnstormers.com, the defacto aircraft buy & sell website. I regularly peruse the site to see what people have for sale.
One day I was searching for Sonex kits when I came across what seemed like perfect offering.
It was the newer Model B kit with a tricycle gear option (e.g. no tailwheel endorsement required). It was owned by a pilot couple who thought they could build it in about a year and have a nice, high performance aircraft for a fraction of the cost of a new airplane. But that was probably not realistic.
Their kit was delivered in February 2022 and stored in a hangar about 20 minutes from their home; which is what I believe doomed the project. If you have, say, an hour one evening to work on your airplane, you really only have 20 minutes to work on it after driving to the airport and back. After about 8 months, they realized that it would take much more than a year to complete the project and decided to sell it for a few thousand dollars less than they had paid for it.
That certainly caught my attention, but just as importantly, the kit was also in my home state of Maryland. So transporting the kit would be made simpler.
I talked it over with my wife and we determined that we had the money to make the purchase. I drove the 2.5 hours (each way) to look at the kit one weekend, letting the seller know that I would NOT be making a decision on the spot. I wanted to take a few days to think about it AFTER looking at it.
A few days later, I made an offer and returned two more times - once to complete payment and paperwork and then again to transport the kit home a week later.
Right around this time, a new EAA chapter was forming at a nearby airport. I've been an EAA member for many years and stand behind them in pretty much every way. But I'd never joined a chapter because there were none nearby. So when I noticed that one was forming about 20 minutes away, I jumped at the chance to join.
At that first meeting, I met another Sonex builder (Dave) and we hit it off right away. He had a car transport trailer and he offered to help me transport my kit. What an amazing bit of luck: the airplane, the location, the new EAA chapter, a new friend - it was meant to be.