Sonex Aircraft SubSonex Jet

Gemini Sparkle

Key Takeaways:

  • The SubSonex jet is presented as an affordable and accessible "fun jet," with its kit (including engine and quick-build options) costing around $140,000 and designed for relatively easy construction by novices.
  • It offers a brisk performance of around 200 knots and a 400-nm max range, primarily serving as a personal enjoyment aircraft rather than a practical cross-country traveler.
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Photo Courtesy of Subsonex

One of our favorite planes, period, the SubSonex embraces its mission, to be a fun jet that you don’t have to be rich to own. The cost of the kit, including the quick-build option, the PBS TJ-100 engine, and a bunch of bells and whistles still comes in at around $140,000. You do then indeed need to build the thing, but Sonex kits are from all accounts designed to make the job easier, even for newbies. It’s fast for a single-place jet, around 200 knots, and its max range at long-range cruise settings is around 400-nm. How practical a cross-country airplane is it? Not very. How cool a person jet is it? Off the charts. We’ll take two, please.

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