Tedderfield smorgasboard

We waited 10 days for Durban's weather to "clear" before we could make the trip to Johannesburg over the escarpment to fetch Louis' new Sling ZU-JAL. The wind was totally trashy the whole trip there and back and we were bumped and bucked around the clouds which WindGuru said would have cleared by 10am around the halfway mark over the Berg escarpment but the only solution was to fly higher up to 8500ft where the air became a little smoother. As soon as we were over the Berg we scooted along at low level as the smoke from fires was also causing visibility problems. For the journey back the clouds had cleared some but there were at least 10 huge veld fires burning and the smoke was so thick it was almost as if we were flying in cloud with the visibility reduced. Not the best weather for 5 hours in the air there and back.

 

 

Louis and I very proud of his new fuel injected Sling 912 Is

I dropped off ZDL with The Airplane Factory to have the wiring on the new AvioGuard checked out as this is still an unresolved problem and then flew back with Louis in his new plane after taking delivery.



The Airplane Factory's Andrew hands over JAL to Louis

 I told Louis that he now has a Japanese plane after the Japan Airlines logo, but he insists that JAL stands for the initials of his wife Jeanette, sons Andre and Armand and himself Louis. I am not so sure he doesn't have a JAP plane.

The fuel economy of the fuel injected Rotax engine was evident on the way back as the 100hp engine sipped only 14 litres of 95 unleaded petrol per hour. This means we used about 35 litres or R450 for the 2 1/2 hour flight home @ 100 knots compared to about 18-20 litres for the carburettor version.
 

New plane being built at The Airplane Factory ZU-BLK

FTY in for maintenance

FYM at The Airplane Factory in for maintnenance

Aviation Direct's Sling MCA visiting the factory



A new Sling in production at the Factory

There were several Sling 4 in different stages of production at the Factory

The Sling 4-seater is distinguished by the slightly longer fuselage and the luggage hatch just behind the wing in this plane being assembled at the Factory

Louis' Sling JAL is the first to be fitted with the new MGL iEFIS - the largest touchscreen efis now available from MGL, our own homegrown international avionics company based in Cape Town. Congrats to Rainier from MGL for this superior product. It took a little getting used to on our maiden flight home, but it has several advanced features and marks a huge improvement over the MGL Voyager we have in ZDL.