Sonex Back in Business, Starting Monday

The new owner of Sonex Aviation says all deposit holders of the former company will get their orders and all vendors will be paid as the company resumes operations at Wittman Regional Airport in Oshkosh this week. Stephen Osborne told AvBrief he expects almost all employees laid off when the company ceased operations in late March will return and Sonex is expanding by adding an in-house machine shop. Osborne, whose main business is as a general contractor on projects throughout the U.S., said his lifelong passion for aviation drove him to inquire about acquiring Sonex and he and Schaible were able to get the negotiations and paperwork done in three weeks.

He and former owner Mark Schaible (who is being retained as Lead Designer) said the company is now fully capitalized and once the pressing obligations are dealt with, the business will enter a new phase of production predictability. “Back orders are a thing of the past,” Osborne said. The company intends to fill the warehouse with part and kits so turnaround time on orders is minimal. The in-house machining capability will allow the company to quickly make parts that are not in stock when orders come in.

A major focus will be on the Highwing model introduced in 2025. Some tail kits have been shipped and production will be geared up to fulfill more than 80 orders for the Highwing. There are new designs on the drafting table, and Sonex hopes to return to a pace of delivering 100 or more kits each year. Most of the work will remain in Oshkosh, but administrative duties will transfer to Osborne’s corporate headquarters in Topeka, Kansas.