Sling Pilots Forum

Hi!

My name is Zach and I'm from rural northeast Iowa, live on the small family farm (5 generations!!). I earned my PPL (2022) and Instrument rating (2023), don't have any plans as of right now for additional ratings, just build time and become more proficient. Wife and I have two boys (7 and 9) and have been flying to our vacations or to on airport restaurants as much as possible! I am part of a great flying club that has 3 Pipers (Cherokee, Archer, Dakota) and without the club none of this would have been possible. However, the main issue is I live about an hour away from the club, so when I want to go flying, I always have plan for that extra travel time, which the older I get the more valuable that time is. My town does have a small airport that is about 10min away, so this would be ideal, though hanger space is an issue at this point but I'm on the list for all the small airports near me . Also, with the club, we do have great board and members, maintenance is kept up on very well, but having said that, I really want my own plane, so I know the ins and outs, can do the maintenance, know how it has been flown and not abused especially when I have my whole life in the 3 other seats.

I have debated back and forth on whether to buy or build so much so that my wife's daily Facebook messenger messages went from dogs and chickens to airplanes for sale!! I think she was getting tired of me talking about it?! Ultimately wife, and I landed on building a Sling TSi. It fits our mission for every stage of our lives as well as fits our, 'we do not want DEBT lifestyle'! The plan is to do the slow build process and ordering the kits as I am getting ready for the next. This will help the wallet and keep our money in our pocket, not the banks! If something were to change with jobs/life, we would not be in debt and would be able to pivot if needed. I ordered the empennage kit about a month ago, and now I'm debating if I should get the wings coming too so I'm not sitting waiting. I will be building in machine shed (30' x 40') and have talked briefly with local EAA club about moving to EAA hanger for final assembly and first flight when the time comes.

This forum has been and will be really helpful especially when I start digging into the details more. I just want to say thank you to all that have contributed and spent time out of your day to help others, like me! I may try and document using timelapse and maybe post on YouTube in the future, we will see

Hi Zach!

I'm finishing my TSi rn at Midwest Sky Sports in MI. I have a (fifth generation!) farm in Western IL (Altona IL) and will hopefully be flying through NE Iowa this summer. Will definitely be spending time in KGBG, KDVN, and KCID. Details still TBD but happy to meet up if you're interested.

GL with your build.

That is exciting to almost be done with the build, I know I would be

I would definitely like to meet up, see your sling and maybe ask some questions if you are up for it! I'm an hour away (driving) from KCID or if you are near C27 in your travel, that is my hometown airport, let me know when you are in the area!

Nice to meet you!

Good morning,

Fear not, that's what i'm doing too. Building kit by kit as we can afford. In my garage. Build the empennage, then go to the fuselage, do that wings last. The fuselage, and associated stuff is 75% of the build. You don't need the wings till last.

Hi Steve - I'm following the same build sequence as you. Very nice to hear that I'm not the only one. Since I'm awaiting for my kits still - I'd love to know if you come across anything specific to watch out for with construction of the wings last.

Hi Zach - Welcome & best of luck with your build!

It sounds like you have plenty of space but one thing to consider is that the fuselage can't easily be put away once you've started it. I'm going to build the wings first and then hang them from my ceiling. Once the fuselage comes together there will not be room for the wings where I'm building.