Sling Family coming together

Andrew Pitman from The Airplane Factory is helping me join the dots collecting pics of each of the Sling airplanes built or being built at the moment. I have created a special page on my blog for The Sling family here. If you own or are building one, mail me some pics to add to the album. This magic shot is of Marc Gregson's Sling. James did a barrel or aileron roll in my Sling when I went to Tedderfield to take delivery and I was amazed at how sleek and smooth the Sling handles these types of manouvres, although the Sling does not yet have an aerobatic rating.

First day with my licence

 Today was a great day as I took to the air solo for the first time as a licenced NPL pilot. I took it easy with a short trip to Light Flight to welcome Ivor and Jack's new Sling to Durban. In the photos the new owners show off their respective planes and the silver bullet and red rocket nose each other.

Sling Solo

First Solo flight in the Sling

Showing off at Light Flight - myself and Llewellyn

 Today was an awesome day. I convinced Brad that I really was confident to take to the air in our Sling Solo for the first time. So off I went and did a few circuits at Virginia, even managing to take a photo of my first Sling solo flight. After that I took the pocket rocket solo to Pietermaritzburg while my instructor tailed me with Marc in his plane. Feeling a little unfamiliar with the route, I put the plane on auto-pilot for a short while while I gazed more intently at the GPS while chatting to Brad and Marc on 123.45.. sjoe what a morning, but awesome stuff and great to feel I can handle the plane myself. Big steps and rocketing now towards my licence I hope to achieve next month.

Brad at Light Flight

Home to Durban

Brad takes Calvin and Marc for their first flips in the plane

Fun day

Sling co-owners Llewellyn and Dave

Dave's daughter Kate-Lynn

Dave being de-briefed by Instructor Brad

Today we introduced our baby to the locals and did some great flying.. after the breathtaking first flight on Friday, today was a chance to get the feel of the plane, do my first landings at Pietermaritzburg and Light Flight and later Virginia.

It was a great day to put the Sling on show and enjoy a braai with family and friends before flying the plane to her home at Virginia Airport. So in the last photo, you see our city from offshore the Bluff like I've never seen it before, shortly before rounding the harbour entrance and making my first Virginia landing on runway 05.

Thanks Brad for taking on this challenge with me and bringing our baby home.

Sling on it's way

Our Sling is ready- at last. I have booked tickets to Johannesburg Friday morning with one of my instructors, Brad, where will will take delivery and receive familiarisation training (conversion to type) from the Airplane Factory and the instructors there. Brad and I will then fly the plane back to Durban. Awesome and exciting, so watch this spot.

ZU - ZDL takes shape

Thanks Ivor for these latest photos of our Sling coming together at The Airplane Factory in Johannesburg. We had a little wobbly initially with the colour. We asked for a slightly deeper metalic red but initial photos distorted the colour and we nearly had it repainted back to original Sling red from the photos we saw. However lighting can be deceptive and we decided to stick with the metalic shade you see here. Looking awesome!

Hot Stuff!!

I know one is supposed to be original but this is the colour we have chosen for our Sling, so there will be a few of them around, but only one called "Hot Stuff". ZU-FNM arrived in Durban last weekend and ours will be the next red one here soon. It's getting very exciting as D-Day arrives to collect the plane and fly it back to Durban. Also exciting is my 85% pass in navigation today, so that makes it 7 exams down and only one final exam on Aircraft General to go.. that's the technical stuff, like where do you put the fuel, what does a carb do etc.. so nearly there!!

The same colouring and style of our Sling plane in production

Hot Stuff

Here are some sketches from Mike of our Sling in red livery. Going to add some decent stripes, but this is "Hot Stuff" in the making.

Flying the Sling

The red Sling I flew in to The Airplane Factory

Dave and Llewellyn with their Sling in production

We designed our cockpit avionics layout on the computer

Terry and Ruan putting the prototype 4-seater together

Dave with The Airplane Factory's CEO Mike Blythe and our aeroplane

Computer design of the 4-seater prototype

We spent an awesome weekend in Johannesburg visiting Mike Blythe's Airplane Factory where our new Sling is in production. Mike picked me up in the red TAE at Lanseria Airport to fly to the factory at Tedderfield. At the factory there are about 10 Slings in production and Mike hopes to push up production as the orders flow in.

Also being built is the 4-seater prototype and in the 4th photo above Terry and Ruan fit some of the panels to the aircraft. They also showed me some of their incredible Solidworks computer designs that precede the final product on the factory floor.

The Sling it is!

Today we bought an aeroplane... and the Sling it is. It will be a partnership venture with Llewellyn sharing ownership with me and we finalised the order from The Airplane Factory in South Africa today.

The Sling is a locally made plane with an imported Rotax 912uls engine with a cruising speed of 110 knots (200 kmh). The specs are impressive and the plane has proved itself on an around the world and a trans-Africa trip.

Exciting times ahead.!!! Thanks to Neville, Marc, Michel and Mike for the guidance and input in reaching this decision. Thanks also to the offers and flights from the other contenders... all are great planes and the choice was difficult.