Laura McDermid
Sling Aircraft was awarded the coveted August Raspet award at EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh this year. The award is given annually to a business or person that has made an outstanding contribution to aircraft design.
Highly regarded for their durability, fuel efficiency and excellent performance, Slings are the perfect light sport aircraft enjoyed by beginners and experienced pilots alike.
I have always been a fan of the brand and have followed their evolution with great interest. Visionaries Mike Blyth and James Pitman built their company based on a common love of adventure and aviation.
The Sling 2 was catapulted into the limelight when the dynamic duo flew a prototype around the world, proving the aircraft’s capability. Since those early days, Sling Aircraft has expanded its lineup, continuing to design and manufacture high quality aircraft including the four-seat Sling 4, Sling TSi, and the Sling High Wing.
Part of the resounding success of Sling has been the incorporation of the very capable Rotax engines. The most recent Sling TSis have capitalised on Rotax’s liquid cooling and fuel injection to enhance performance in varying conditions and altitudes.
The reliability and low maintenance of these engines supports Sling’s emphasis on creating aircraft that are affordable to operate and maintain.
I have been keen on flying a Sling for years and finally got the opportunity whilst recently in Cape Town. I met Etienne Bekker, owner of Stick N Throttle Aviation, at Oshkosh this year, and was immediately impressed by his passion for aviation and love of Slings.
No stranger to aviation, Etienne flew for SAA for twenty years and was a Training Captain when the company started going pear-shaped in 2006. As the saying goes, one man’s loss is another man’s gain, and Etienne spent the past 17 years in Dubai flying for Emirates as a B777 captain. He retired from the airline industry this year, returning to South Africa where he and wife Erna made Melkbosstrand in Cape Town their home.
Whilst in the UAE, Etienne hangared his own aeries, a Tiger Moth and a Piper Arrow, at Morningstar, north of Cape Town next to the N7. The airfield is currently home to 350 aircraft and is at maximum capacity. Expansion plans are afoot which will hopefully accommodate the ever-growing waiting list.
In 2019, Etienne and Erna began a flight school from Morningstar with one Sling 2. Their son, Grade III instructor Don Bekker, ran operations whilst Etienne was away with a goal to expand the fleet and offer licenses ranging from a PPL through to ATPL.
As if starting a new business isn’t stressful enough, life threw a spanner in the works the following year when all ‘non-essential’ businesses were forced to close their doors. Not one to be deterred, the interruption spurred Don and Etienne to create an online ground school which they presented on Zoom, which subsequently became a permanent feature of the school. One of the key benefits of their online training is that once a student enrolls for the lectures, they have lifetime access and are able to revisit a lesson at any time.
Until recently, Etienne was also one of the only instructors in the Western Cape who was qualified to test the practical and written radio exam.
Fast forward four years and the school now has three sling 2s, the most recent acquisition ZU- FTM was recently flown from Pretoria by Don.
A Piper Warrior and two privately owned Sling 4 TSis are available for dual instruction and It was on one of these Slings, ZU-STR, that we did my conversion.
The school has two full-time grade II and three grade III instructors who instruct a minimum of 40 hours a month. There are 25 active students at any given time, the majority of whom are PPL students.
The school also boasts a Red Bird simulator, an essential piece of equipment, especially in a province where the weather is so unpredictable!
Briefing on Saturday began with coffee and rusks followed by a tour of the facility. We were joined by Craig Mincher, a proud owner of a new Sling 4 TSi fitted with a Rotax 916is engine, an Airmaster Variable Pitch (VP) hydraulic prop and a ballistic chute. The aircraft is still in the process of being assembled at FATA, and will hopefully be ready before the end of the year.
Don explained the differences between the Slings and made special reference to the variance in the performance between the various Rotax engines.
Star One, the aerie that we would be flying, has a Rotax 915is turbo engine with an electric VP propellor, neither of which we were familiar with.
By the time briefing was over, the south-easterly wind had announced itself, and we made arrangements to fly on Monday morning.
On Monday, my husband Stuart opted to fly first. I hopped into the spacious back seat of Star One and could tell that the aircraft is much loved by owners Eran Feinstein and partner Ingrid, who keep the aircraft in immaculate condition.
As if the roomy cockpit wasn’t impressive enough, I was blown away by the extras such as the sun visors and air conditioner, not to mention the fact that the back seats can be folded flat, making room for two mountain bikes plus luggage. In the end it was the cup-holders that sold it for me, for what is an early morning flight without coffee?
Laminated charts were on hand to assist with the pre-flight and takeoff procedures; all of which are also programmed into the EFIS.
Stuart took off on Runway 20, by which time the south easterly wind was gusting 15 knots. We flew to the general flying area where he executed a few steep turns and stalls and by the time we headed back to Morningstar the wind had turned due east and had picked up significantly. Although I felt the turbulence, the aircraft handled the conditions superbly, even when it was tossed around by the wind shear over the eucalyptus trees on final approach.
Although I was given the option to fly, I noticed Don relax when I opted to rather return on Wednesday.
The flying gods took pity on me and Wednesday turned out to be one of the best days that the Western Cape had seen for months.
Our own aerie, an Alpi Pioneer 300, has a simple six pack, thus finding my way around the glass cockpit took some getting used to. Star One is equipped with a Garmin G3x Touch, a Garmin G5, and Garmin GMC 507 auto pilot. I begrudgingly found the ADS-B function to be useful despite my misgivings about CAA’s most recent demands.
Accustomed to the Rotax 912ULS, I found the transition to the 915is turbo to be the most challenging aspect of flying the plane. Combined with the electric VP 3-bladed Elcoprop, the 800 foot climb to circuit height happened in a blink of an eye, and Don kept on having to remind me to slow down.
Once comfortable with managing the speed, I found the aircraft a dream to fly. She was responsive and solid and docile in the stalls.
The circuit direction had changed to 02 on our return, which didn’t really matter considering the 10 knot easterly breeze. My familiarity with the runways at Eagles Creek and Jack Taylor stood me in good stead, and the Sling 4 gently kissed the tarmac on the skinny 600m long runway.
The school recently went paperless and within 15 minutes Don had signed me out and had submitted the paperwork to the CAA.
In my estimation Morningstar, Stick N Throttle and Sling TSis are all rising stars. A comment Etienne’s made summed up my experience ‘Ours is not a flight school, it’s a family’.