Sling Aircraft Sling 4

The Sling Aircraft Sling 4 is a South African kit aircraft. It is a development of the Sling 2 to accommodate four people, produced by Sling Aircraft 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. 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$123,417, rising to $192,000 with most options.

The UK Light Aircraft Association 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 in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, 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, 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 115 hp Rotax 914UL turbocharged engine, introduced in 2011.


 * Sling TSi
 * Model fitting the 141 hp Rotax 915 iS engine, introduced in 2018, with improved aerodynamics, faster cruise speed and a slightly higher useful load.