The Sling Aircraft Sling 4 is a South African

kit aircraft Homebuilt aircraft, also known as amateur-built aircraft or kit planes, are constructed by persons for whom this is not a professional activity. These aircraft may be constructed from "scratch", from plans, or from assembly kits.Armstrong, Kenn ...

. It is a development of the

Sling 2 Sling may refer to: Places *Sling, Anglesey, Wales * Sling, Gloucestershire, England, a small village in the Forest of Dean People with the name * Otto Šling (1912–1952), repressed Czech communist functionary Arts, entertainment, and media * ...

to accommodate four people, produced by Sling Aircraft of

Johannesburg, South Africa Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

Design and development

The Sling 4 is an all-metal, low-wing, fixed

tricycle gear Tricycle gear is a type of aircraft undercarriage, or ''landing gear'', that is arranged in a tricycle fashion. The tricycle arrangement has one or more nose wheels in a single front undercarriage and two or more main wheels slightly aft of th ...

, developed in 2011. The canopy was modified to include

gull-wing doors In the automotive industry, a gull-wing door, also known as a falcon-wing door, McLaren anhedral door, or an up-door, is a car door that is hinged at the roof rather than the side, as pioneered by Mercedes-Benz 300 SL, first as a race car i ...

. The aircraft has flaps with 40 degrees of travel. It has been estimated that building a Sling 4 requires 900-1,200 man-hours of work. The aircraft can be supplied as a kit, or built by the factory. The US

Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) is a Frederick, Maryland-based American non-profit political organization that advocates for general aviation. AOPA's membership consists mainly of general aviation pilots in the United States ...

(AOPA) tested the Sling 4 in 2016, citing a completed base price of

US$ The United States dollar (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and International use of the U.S. dollar, several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introdu ...

123,417, rising to $192,000 with most options. The UK

Light Aircraft Association The Light Aircraft Association (LAA) is the representative body in the United Kingdom for amateur aircraft construction, and recreational and sport flying. It oversees the construction and maintenance of homebuilt aircraft, under an approval from ...

has limited the airframe structural fatigue life to 500 hours for aircraft in that country. They have also only approved operation for day, visual flight rules.

Operational history

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, carrying 20 hours endurance in fuel. The flight included a 14-hour leg over water. A Sling 4 kit was completed in four days by 40 workers from the factory, and flown at a 2014 South African Airshow. In a 2016 detailed review for

Flying magazine ''Flying'', sometimes styled ''FLYING'', is an aviation magazine published since 1927 and called ''Popular Aviation'' prior to 1942, as well as ''Aeronautics'' for a brief period. It is read by pilots, aircraft owners, aviation enthusiasts and ...

, writer Marc C. Lee praised the design's controls, handling, aesthetics and load -carrying capabilities, while pointing out that it lacks cruise speed, an effective heater, has poor rubber molding and lacks a

USB Universal Serial Bus (USB) is an industry standard, developed by USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF), for digital data transmission and power delivery between many types of electronics. It specifies the architecture, in particular the physical ...

jack system. He also noted it has no mechanism whereby one could taxi with the gull-wing doors half open or cracked. A group of about 20 South African teenagers built a Sling 4 in about three weeks in 2019, with the engine and avionics fitted by specialists. and planned to fly it to

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

Variants

;Sling 4 :Base model with Rotax 914UL

turbocharged In an internal combustion engine, a turbocharger (also known as a turbo or a turbosupercharger) is a forced induction device that is powered by the flow of exhaust gases. It uses this energy to compress the intake air, forcing more air into the ...

engine, introduced in 2011. ;

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 ...

:Model fitting the

Rotax 915 iS The Rotax 915 iS is an Austrian aircraft engine, produced by Rotax of Gunskirchen for use in ultralight aircraft, homebuilt aircraft, light-sport aircraft, small helicopters and gyroplanes. The engine was type certified in 2017. The engine wa ...

engine, introduced in 2018, with improved aerodynamics, faster cruise speed and a slightly higher useful load.

Specifications (2016 model Sling 4)

References

External links