Sling Aircraft (Pty) Ltd, formerly called The Airplane Factory (Pty) Ltd., is a South African

aircraft manufacturer An aerospace manufacturer is a company or individual involved in the various aspects of designing, building, testing, selling, and maintaining aircraft, aircraft parts, missiles, rockets, or spacecraft. Aerospace is a high technology industry. ...

based at Tedderfield Airpark, Eikenhof,

Johannesburg South Johannesburg South is a group of suburbs in the southern part of Johannesburg, South Africa. It is located in Region F of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality. Transport Roads Johannesburg South mainly lies along the N12 fre ...

. The company specializes in the design and manufacture of

light aircraft A light aircraft is an aircraft that has a Maximum Takeoff Weight, maximum gross takeoff weight of or less.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms, third edition'', page 308. Aviation Supplies & Academics, 1997. Light aircraft are use ...

in the form of kits for amateur construction and ready-to-fly aircraft for the

Fédération Aéronautique Internationale The World Air Sports Federation (; FAI) is the world governing body for air sports, and also stewards definitions regarding human spaceflight. It was founded on 14 October 1905, and is headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland. It maintains worl ...

microlight Ultralight aviation (called microlight aviation in some countries) is the flying of lightweight, 1- or 2-seat fixed-wing aircraft. Some countries differentiate between weight-shift control and conventional three-axis control aircraft with ailer ...

and the American

light-sport aircraft A light-sport aircraft (LSA), or light sport aircraft, is a category of small, lightweight aircraft that are simple to fly. LSAs tend to be heavier and more sophisticated than ultralight (aka "microlight") aircraft, but LSA restrictions on weigh ...

categories.Bayerl, Robby; Martin Berkemeier; et al: ''World Directory of Leisure Aviation 2011-12'', page 80. WDLA UK, Lancaster UK, 2011. Tacke, Willi; Marino Boric; et al: ''World Directory of Light Aviation 2015-16'', page 83. Flying Pages Europe SARL, 2015. The enterprise is a

proprietary company A proprietary company, the characteristic of which is abbreviated as "Pty", is a form of privately held company in Australia, Namibia and South Africa that is either limited company, limited or unlimited company, unlimited. However, unlike a p ...

under South African law. The company has three shareholders: Mike Blyth, Director; James Pitman, Chairman; Andrew Pitman, Managing Director. Sling Aircraft utilizes

numerical control Computer numerical control (CNC) or CNC machining is the automated control of machine tools by a computer. It is an evolution of numerical control (NC), where machine tools are directly managed by data storage media such as punched cards or ...

manufacturing and

computer-aided design Computer-aided design (CAD) is the use of computers (or ) to aid in the creation, modification, analysis, or optimization of a design. This software is used to increase the productivity of the designer, improve the quality of design, improve c ...

in its aircraft design and production processes. The company produces the two-seat Sling 2, which was first flown in 2008 and the four-seat Sling 4, introduced in 2011 and

Sling TSi The Sling TSi is a South African four-seat, single-engine, low-wing homebuilt aircraft sold in kit form by Sling Aircraft of Johannesburg South. It was developed from the Sling Aircraft Sling 4, Sling 4. The Sling TSi first flew in 2018, with ...

which was first released in 2018. The latest model being developed is a new high-wing model called the Sling HW that made its first flight in 2020. In July 2013, a Sling 4 was flown by Mike Blyth and his son from South Africa to

AirVenture EAA AirVenture Oshkosh (formerly the EAA Annual Convention and Fly-In), or just Oshkosh, is an annual air show and gathering of aviation enthusiasts held each summer at the Wittman Regional Airport and adjacent Pioneer Airport in Oshkosh, Wiscon ...

Oshkosh, Wisconsin Oshkosh () is a city in Winnebago County, Wisconsin, United States, and its county seat. It is located on the western shore of Lake Winnebago and had a population of 66,816 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List o ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. The flight included a 14-hour over-water leg using the modified Sling 4's 20 hours of fuel endurance. In July 2022, three Sling High Wings (one tail dragger, two with tricycle gear) were flown from South Africa to

Aircraft

References

External links

* {{Witwatersrand companies Aircraft manufacturers of South Africa Manufacturing companies based in Johannesburg Ultralight aircraft Homebuilt aircraft