The Sonex Introductory Builder Workshop

Building an airplane is a big project.  Huge really, especially if you are like me and have not done any metalworking since shop class in high school.  Luckily, the great people at Sonex Aircraft bend over backward to make people new to homebuilding as comfortable as possible with the process.  One of the ways they do this is through the Sonex Intro Builder Workshop.

The workshop is a good mix of talks on various Sonex topics (construction, powerplants, props, how it flies, etc), Q&A, and hands-on experience working with sheet aluminum and extruded aluminum angle components.  Being essentially a family business, you get a lot of quality time with John Monnett (designer of the Sonex and many other aircraft), Jeremy Monnett (John's son and CEO of Sonex), and all of their friendly employees.  Here's me and John Monnett in front of some of his creations:

There is some sales talk in the workshop, but it's never pushy, and more in the context of "here are your options if you build a Sonex, and here's what they cost."  Honestly, with the enthusiasm and excitement the Sonex staff have for their aircraft, the planes pretty much sell themselves.

The practical project in the workshop is to take three sheets of 6061-T6 aluminum sheet, a 12" length of of extruded aluminum angle, and a handful of rivets, and make a mock-up wing spar section, a wing rib, and a leading edge skin.  The Sonex people talk you through the whole process, and the employees wander around and make sure you're not going to build it totally wrong or take off your fingers with the band saw.  In the end it looks something like this:

This is a big confidence builder, since it covers many of the skills you'd need to build a Sonex.  In fact, unless you are scratch building from just plans, building might even be easier than a lot of what the workshop covers.  In the kit, for example, the wing ribs come preformed and ready to go, so you would not have to fabricate them from aluminum sheet.

In the end, I ordered the Sonex tail kit (includes the entire empennage -- horizontal and vertical stabilizers, elevator, and rudder) and the complete airframe plans.  I'm now an official "plans holder" and have some additional builder support and access to additional company resources.  Thus my Sonex project also has a number, corresponding to the serial number of my plans: 1416.  Now I'm just waiting for the parts to arrive and my workshop to be built and installed (should happen by the end of the month)...then I'll start building!