I am uncomfortable with Jan Eggenfellner of Viking Engines riding on Sonex’s coattails with already announcing new products and revisions for the Phoenix. Some of his previous conversions such as his Subaru offerings for Van’s products didn’t go so well.
I would have liked for Sonex to get more than a few kits out the door before major modifications from outside vendors came rushing in.
any opinions on this matter?
I’m not keen on the company. He did a similar thing to a Waiex IIRC, changing the design etc.
We have an RV7A on the field with a Egg Subaru power. He’s been through a couple of gearboxes, can’t do pattern work due to overheating, had the ECU fail and hasn’t flown in a year. I thought I had challenges with Fahrvergnügen but in comparison it’s 100% solid.
He was nosing around at the Open House. I don’t think Mark was too keen on him being there.
I have a personal opinion.
Anything Eggenfellner is crap. He ripped off a friend with his Subaru conversion years ago. And I believe a former Sonex owner had an off field landing with a Viking.
one man’s opinion.
I agree with the above forum members.
The price is very attractive but I just didn’t get a comfortable feeling when I stopped by their AirVenture booth. He wanted too many changes for an airframe that is still being ironed out. All of Viking’s 130hp+ offerings are over the FW forward weigh requirements. When I asked Jan about that, he claimed Sonex was already violating that since they support the AeroVee Turbo which he claimed he had proof it was over 200lbs. Not a real good argument, but left me doubting…
My build partner and I are still trying to decide which we will be using.
Personally, I understand why Jan is drawn to the Phoenix. I’m embarrassed to admit it, but I too plan to offer an upgrade. A simple upgrade that will enhance X-country performance.
Performance
Please stop by my booth at AirVenture 2057.
Tongue in Cheek,
Wes
P.S. Eggenfellner needs to stay in his lane.
Even if the actual aerovee turbo was 203 or something for the full firewall forward, that’s not the same as 220 engine weight that’ll be well north of that for the full fwf package
I have a work buddy, a former Navy and Sikorsky pilot, who keeps telling me I need to do the PT6 upgrade to the Waiex. But he has not mentioned that since this morning.
I am a WW FlyCorvair engine builder and will be using it on my (build in progress) Waiex. So I am not one to trash talk about another engine option that is over the factory FWF limits. But what I like about the Corvair is what I also liked about the AeroVee - it is a user assembled engine and can be maintained, rebuilt, fixed by the owner/builder at relatively low cost. The Viking is less of that and more appliance-like - like other commercial engine options. I also have heard some bad stuff about Eggenfellner offerings in the past but to be honest I have not been following so don’t know if things have changed for the better or not. Based on the things I had heard early on, I personally would not fly behind one of his engines. Not too different than in the Corvair conversion world, there is WW and SPA that sort of work hand in hand, then there is another person/company that sells a Corvair conversion - and there is no way I would ever use one of his engines.
The only upside I can see is if new builders like the mods that Eggenfellner plans to promote, and they like them, it means more kit sales for Sonex. Though in order for them to be a viable option, they would need to build their version and do extensive flight testing to be a proof of concept. So, at this point it doesn’t seem to be much more than a pipe dream.
They’re trying to modify the firewall, landing gear, windshield, cowl and fuel tank location. With that amount of changes and only having access to some details once they have a fuselage I can’t see this being anywhere close to a final and tested design. And the AI rendering gives me even less confidence.
The way they use Sonex Phoenix as a main heading and the phrase “Viking will make our own version of the new Sonex High Wing” also created confusion for me and I think some others that it’s a Sonex product or associated with Sonex or a knockoff of the entire design trying to use the Sonex trademarks to sell it. Viking FWF and mod package for the Sonex Phoenix would be a more accurate description. There’s plenty of companies making parts for kit aircraft and it’s generally a good thing. But this just seems too early and done in a way that makes it look too much like a Sonex product.
His prior kit-bashing effort.
Really ugly picture in that old thread!
That is too funny!
The Viking sport is bugly..b*tt ugly and an insult to anyone with Viking blood.
The rest is just noise.
I personally would avoid anything viking.
He is a salesman who uses his customers as beta testers, but gets really upset when you point that out.
Recently with the recent design honda gearbox it became clear the piece which holds the rubber elastomers was designed without regard to centrifugal force leading to repeated failures of that part.
Most of the recent field experience with the viking engines is in STOL type airplanes where the engine goes full power for TO but us then pulled way back to like 50-60% power once levelled off on aircraft that do not accumulate a lot of flight hours. The sonex HW is a cross country type plane and will use higher sustained power levels compared to a zenith and Im guessing will accumulate more flight hours as well. So zenith field experience is NOT an indicator of how the package will work on the HW.
I wouldn’t even consider doing business with him simply because of the snide comments he makes about sonex on his facebook group.
At a minimum it means he’s a poor businessman. If he wants to offer FWF packages for an airframe, he shouldn’t bad mouth the kit, designer, and owner of the damn company whose coattails he’s trying to ride on.
It strongly suggests that the numerous reports of bad experiences with his products and company are true.
Mom always said, If I can’t say anything nice dont say anything at all.
My attitude is that he’s full of pooh and no credibility on this. He’s talking major unproven changes on a plane that still under final development.
