Monnett
Moni
 Photo: Robert Deering 10/23/2006
Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum
Dulles International Airport (IAD)
Chantilly, Virginia
Monnett Moni

Schoolteacher John Monnett designed the Moni (mo-nee) during the early 1980s, and then coined the term 'air recreation vehicle' to describe this airplane. Monnett's design almost captured all the merits that so many leisure pilots longed to find in one aircraft. The Moni looked great just sitting on the ramp. It performed well, and someone reasonably handy with average shop tools could construct one in their own garage. The design had much going for it, but like so many homebuilt aircraft before and since, a few key engineering lapses in the design, plus problems with the engine and propeller, relegated the Moni to the category of homebuilt aircraft that promise much in design but fail to deliver. Harold C. Weston generously donated his Moni to the National Air and Space Museum in April 1992. Weston built the airplane himself and flew it more than 40 hours.

Dimensions:
Wingspan: 8.4 m (27 ft 6 in)
Length: 4.5 m (14 ft 7.5. in)
Height: 0.7 m (28 in)
Weights: Gross, 227 kg (500 lb)
Empty, 118 kg (260 lb)
Engine: KFM 107E, two-cylinder, two-stroke air-cooled, 25 horsepower

Materials:
Overall - Aluminum airframe, semi-monocoque construction.

Physical Description:
Low-wing, vee-tail motorglider, beige with purple, red, and orange trim; single-seat aircraft built from parts sent to builder by mail-order kit; mounted on roadable trailer with wings detached.

Source: Smithsonian Air & Space Museum

Monnett Experimental Aircraft

Monnett Experimental Aircraft was a United States aircraft manufacturer. Founded by John Monnett, a schoolteacher from Illinois who transitioned from a pilot of J3 Cubs and Aeronca Champs to building and designing tube-and-fabric racing aircraft built around the Volkswagen air-cooled engine. The company was founded to produce plans and kits for the Sonerai I aircraft. The Sonerai I was specially built to be used as a Formula V Air Racing racer. The follow-on aircraft, the Sonerai II was a two-seat modification that made the aircraft more marketable for sport piloting. In 1982, the company marketed its Moni motor glider. It was built of aluminum and featured bonded wing skins.

In 1986 Monnett Experimental Aircraft was sold to INAV Ltd. INAV remained viable for only one year. The rights to the Sonerai series of aircraft were sold to HAPI, and were then again purchased by Great Plains Aircraft Supply Company, who still sells plans for the Sonerai aircraft. John Monnett went on to found a new company, Sonex Aircraft. Sonex and its follow-on aircraft have a common lineage to the VW engines of the Sonerai and simple aluminum construction of the Moni and Monex.

Source: Wikipedia