The age of personal jets is at hand

Posted at 3:45 PM on August 11, 2011 by Bob Collins
Filed under: Aviation

The FAA got the dying small airplane market revived many years ago when it created a category of aircraft to allow people to build and fly their own airplanes, often at a fraction of the cost of a certified aircraft from a company like Cirrus or Cessna.

Eventually, that decision allowed a new industry to pop up in the '90s -- companies that sold aircraft kits, which is less about building and more about assembling (disclaimer: I've been building, err, assembling one for the last 10 years).

Today, the next likely frontier appeared in the sky when the Sonex company -- one of the more popular kit makers -- test flew a jet for the second time that it may offer to people as a kit. It happened over in Oshkosh. The first flight was yesterday.

Want one?

The company says it hasn't decided yet whether to market the jet.

It does look a little familiar, although it doesn't collapse into a briefcase. Yet.

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