The Sling TSi is a South African four-seat, single-engine, low-wing

homebuilt 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 ...

sold in kit form by Sling Aircraft of

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 ...

. It was developed from the Sling 4. The Sling TSi first flew in 2018, with kits being shipped to builders in fall 2018.

Design and development

The aircraft was developed in 2018. The Sling TSi is an all-metal, low-wing, fixed

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

. The airplane is equipped with the new Rotax 915iS engine and was the inspiration for the designation of TSi. Parts of the wings and fuselage were reinforced and outfitted with flush riveting for increased strength and reduced drag over the Sling 4. 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 t ...

has limited the airframe safe life to 1600 hours.

Operational history

The first Sling TSi in the USA was shown at

EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 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 2018. In a review for ''KitPlanes'', writer Paul Dye said, "...it lives up to its design goals. We flew with four full sized adults from a field with a density altitude of 9,000' and had to throttle back to keep from exceeding redline when we leveled off at 10,000. Later, operating off of a dry lakebed in the high desert, with temperatures of 100 degrees, we never had to worry about engine cooling - and it handled like a fine touring machine." A company demonstrator Sling TSi flew non-stop from

Torrance, California Torrance is a city in the Los Angeles metropolitan area located in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The city is part of what is known as the South Bay region of the metropolitan area. Torrance has of beachfront on the Pacific O ...

, to Tampa Executive Airport on its way to

Lakeland, Florida Lakeland is the most populous city in Polk County, Florida, part of the Tampa Bay Area, located along Interstate 4 east of Tampa. According to the 2020 U.S. Census Bureau release, the city had a population of 112,641. Lakeland is a principal ci ...

for Sun 'n Fun 2019 in 13.5 hours. The aircraft carried an additional of fuel over the normal long-range tanks and benefited from tailwinds en route. In July 2019 the company did a ceiling expansion test and flew non-stop from

Wittman Regional Airport Wittman Regional Airport is a county-owned public-use airport located two nautical miles (4 km) south of the central business district of Oshkosh, a city in Winnebago County, Wisconsin, United States. A large portion at the south en ...

to attend

for 9.75 hours. The aircraft reached a final height of 27,000 feet.

Variants

During EAA AirVenture Oshkosh in 2019 the development of a new

high-wing A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple planes. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing co ...

variant, the Sling HW was announced.

Specifications (2020 model Sling TSi)

References

External links