Update!
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I forgot that I set this up, but just got an alert that the higwing prototype is in the air:
Thereāve obviously been plenty of signs of life, but this is just another one on the list.
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Awesome! Iāve been watching for it.
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Successful test flight today. 
Big day for the Sonex team to see the High Wing model come to life again.
-Stephen O-
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Glad to hear it Stephen! Welcome to the forum!
Welcome Stephen. The HW is an awesome design. If I build again, that will be the one.
Wes
Welcome Stephen! I hope that with flight testing resuming, the team will keep posting YouTube vids of the flights. They always renew my excitement as I wait for my kit to arrive.
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Welcome to the forum, Stephen! Glad you could join us and happy to hear the high wing is up flying again!
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Hi all,
New videoposted yesterday, sonex update HW testing.
26 june on you tube. stephen, mark, joe.
enjoy
michael.
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Performance numbers from one of last weeks flights. Upper 160s TAS (mph) at Max continuous RPM on the UL350is. Even a few 170s TAS snuck in there.
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I assume it was sent to everyone who placed a tail kit order or had a reservation, but I received an email yesterday asking me to reach out & confirm orders with delivery expected to begin shortly after Airventure.
170 mph sounds great. 148 knots brings it back to some semblance of reality 
Iām beginning to wonder about their commitment to supporting the existing community.
I am experiencing quality issues which should have been caught at the factory. I received a part which required 21 spaces in a line of rivets. The CNC programmer read 21 holes. Fortunately, the 21 holes did line up, so it wasnāt much of an issue to match drill the remaining hole.
Yesterday I was attempting to trial fit the upper and lower firewall pieces to the airframe, only to find out that the matching holes didnāt match up. In fact the holes in the upper firewall are halfway between the matching holes on the lower fuselage.
When I was QCX manager for Vanart Engineering, When we made either a new die or changed a die, I created a FAIR (First Article Inspection Report) which measured every feature in the part and submitted it , along with the first 5 pieces , to the customer. The customer then verifies the first articles by comparing what is presented (ie. first 5 articles produced) to the plans. If they had been following standard QC procedures, they would have discovered the errors and corrected them before they went to the customer.
It would seem that Sonex does not have a QC program.
Despite community requests, it appears the Sunday before Airventure Sonex Open House is not going to happen. The official response was āWeāll have to have a meetingā and āWeāre working on itāā¦ then crickets. In corporate speak, these words mean nothing is happening. I am really questioning if the new ownership can be trusted.
Words are cheap, but the proof is in the pudding.
This was for the Wing Kit. They also said they hope to have the wing loading (to failure?) testing done by Friday, July 10th.
update: Nathan reached out to me via Email this afternoon. Plans and parts are at the hangar, email at home. It may take a day or two to work it through.
Nothing would make me happier than eating a little crow on this.
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I received an email today from Sonex Aviation. Expect an announcement in the next day or two about everything AirVenture and Sonex Aviation. (spoiler Sunday Open House is a go).
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I didnt get the email but I did just talk to S Osborne a couple weeks ago so maybe thats why. I have had my fuselage deposit in since Dec '25 which is all Iām willing to put forward until I see more pudding myself. Hopefully they still have me at my #9 spot at least for the fuselage.
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There are only 7 days until the 19th.
As they say in Texas, All hat and no cow.
FYI ā¦ Donāt know about others ā¦ I donāt Fakebook.
Dale
3.0 Corvair/Taildragger
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