Early in June, John Monnett spoke about stepping down from Sonex Aircraft, the kit manufacturer he founded and has lead for decades. The company clarified, “After almost 50 years of involvement in the kit aircraft industry John has announced his retirement.” A Half Century of Achievement John’s roots in experimental aircraft date to 1968 when he was a young school teacher. After building a highly-modified Midget Mustang he was introduced to another Oshkosh legend, Steve Wittman (after whom the city airport is named). The two pioneers enjoyed a long friendship, which resulted in the development of Sonerai I, a Formula Vee racer that was John’s first design. Sonerai launched John into business. A half century later, he has many designs to his credit including several iterations of the Sonerai design, the Monerai sailplane, Moni motorglider, the world-record-holding Monex racer and a complete line of Sonex Aircraft models. Recognizing his work, John was inducted into the EAA Homebuilders Hall of Fame and is a two-time winner of the Dr.
High-Five and Thanks to Sonex Founder, John Monnett — What’s Next?
A Half Century of Achievement
John Monnett flies the very first Sonex.
John poses with the jet-powered variant of his versatile line, this one cleverly named SubSonex.
Own or Thinking Sonex?
What does this leadership change mean for owners of Sonex Aircraft (more than 500 are flying) or those building kits or pilots considering building one of the company's kits?(Take a video tour with General Manager, Mark Schaible.)
After decades of innovation and leadership, Sonex offers a family of affordable aircraft and engines.