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I have my 14 and my Sonex in one hanger down at C56 in Monee and the 14 dwarfs the Sonex.
Just curious how come you are giving up on the Sonex? Have we spoken before by the way, I think I may have met you.
I am actually just putting my Sonex on the back burner. Once I get the 14 built, I would like to continue scratch building my Sonex at a leisurely pace.
Unless you were at the Great Lakes Sonex Fly-In last year, we probably haven't met, although I do think we exchanged messages on the old Sonex Yahoo Group. Or perhaps you have psychically sensed me following your Sonex build. Your site was one I went back to repeatedly, especially since you lived in Chicago, too.
There are several reasons I switched, but most of it comes down to realizing that the RV-14 is a better fit for me. Initially, I started with a Sonex because it was the best choice, given 2 constraints, financial and sport pilot. At the time, I was a new state employee and was making a new state employee?s salary. I had seen other people build a plane that they could not afford to keep and were forced to sell it.
The Sonex appealed to me because it EASILY fit within my budget. In addition, I was concerned about one day not being able to get a medical and again was scared off by stories of guys who built aircraft that they could no longer fly because they couldn?t get a medical. A Sport Pilot eligible aircraft seemed perfect.
The problem was that I kept thinking about mods to shoehorn the plane into fiting my wants/needs better. I was planning on using a Rotax instead of an Aerovee or Jabiru for weight and reliability reasons. I was also thinking about auxiliary fuel for longer trips. I wanted to see how I could bleed as much speed out of the plane as possible. I also was looking at seat/canopy mods to give me more space (I am a big guy). The new B model solved many of those problems, but not all.
Two things changed. First, as my career shifted to the private sector, I am able to afford more of a plane than I previously could. Second, BasicMed solves the medical issue. When I realized that I could do a somewhat budget build for an RV-14 (used angle valve IO-360 and a basic VFR panel) I did the numbers and the plane fit comfortably into my budget. Like I said, I am a big guy and the RV-14 seems like it was made for me. There is zero chance that I could have a comfortable cross country in a Sonex with another person. Normal size folks are tight in that plane, let alone someone built like a football player.
At the end of the day, every time I thought about the Sonex I thought about needing to buy second plane (larger, more conducive for cross-countries) to meet my needs. With the RV, it seems like my ?One Plane?. It isn?t perfect, but if I only owned an RV-14 virtually all of my needs would be met.