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 indust ...

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 The City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality is a metropolita ...

. The company specializes in the design and manufacture of

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

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

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 aile ...

and the American light-sport aircraft 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 or unlimited. However, unlike a public company there are, depending ...

under South African law. The company has three shareholders: Mike Blyth, Director; James Pitman, Chairman; Andrew Pitman, Managing Director. Sling Aircraft utilizes numerical control manufacturing and computer-aided design 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 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 Wittman Regional Airport and adjacent Pioneer Airport in Oshkosh, Wisconsi ...

in Oshkosh, Wisconsin,

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. 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

in Oshkosh, Wisconsin,

Aircraft

References

External links

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