The Sling Aircraft Sling 4 is a South African kit aircraft. 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 Sling Aircraft (Pty) Ltd, formerly called The Airplane Factory (Pty) Ltd., is a South African aircraft manufacturer based at Tedderfield Airpark, Eikenhof, Johannesburg South. The company specializes in the design and manufacture of light ai ...

of Johannesburg, South Africa.

Design and development

The Sling 4 is an all-metal, low-wing, fixed tricycle gear kit aircraft, 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 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 in 1952 ( W194), and then a ...

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

US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

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

Operational history

In July 2013, a Sling 4 was flown by Mike Blyth and his son from South Africa to AirVenture in

Oshkosh, Wisconsin Oshkosh is a city in Winnebago County, Wisconsin, of which it is the county seat. The city had a population of 66,816 in 2020, making it the ninth-largest city in Wisconsin. It is also adjacent to the Town of Oshkosh. History Oshkosh was ...

, 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 Ziff Davis#Popular Aviation, ''Popular Aviation'' prior to 1942, as well as ''Aeronautics'' for a brief period. It is read by pilots, aircraft owners ...

, 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 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.

Variants

;Sling 4 :Base model with Rotax 914UL

turbocharged In an internal combustion engine, a turbocharger (often called a turbo) is a forced induction device that is powered by the flow of exhaust gases. It uses this energy to compress the intake gas, forcing more air into the engine in order to pro ...

engine, introduced in 2011. ; Sling TSi :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 was ...

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

Specifications (2016 model Sling 4)

References

External links