Sling Pilots Forum

Hello,
I finally just started my Sling HW build (more than 3 years after placing my initial deposit). I completed my first week at Midwest Skysports.

While I am generally pleased with their build assist process, the timeline for return visits is unknown.

I currently have plenty of time to work on this project, so I'm wondering how feasible it would be to do a hybrid build assist / build at home project. For those who have built Slings, are there subassemblies that I could reasonably take home to assemble then trailer back when at subsequent visits.

I do plan on asking Midwest Skysport this question too, but I imagine I will get pushback (maybe not) and I want to have a specific plan before approaching then.

I'm not sure how much value you'd get out of going that route. Are you using build assist because you don't have the space or tools to accomplish the build or because you aren't sure of your ability to properly complete the build?

From my perspective the build is overall pretty straightforward and if all you're looking for is someone to look over your shoulder, then a local EAA chapter tech advisor might be a good person to work with to ensure you're getting the build done correctly? You'd save a few bucks and could work on it all you want that way?

Just my $0.02 worth.

I do want someone looking over my shoulder and would prefer it’s someone familiar with the type. There is a value to experience.

If I was going to the build assist site regularly (as I though was going to be the plan) I’m sure that going through the build assist would be faster. They do a portion of the labor (such as dimpling and priming) and have everything nicely prepared and organized for the days work. I’m sure I accomplish more in my 4 days up there than I would have at home. And if I was going there every 2 to 3 weeks, I think I would make good progress.

The point of the hybrid plan would be to build smaller assemblies at home (I don’t have room to build a whole plane) and have them ready for my next visit. This could potentially move me along the build process faster.

I totally get and appreciate the space being a problem issue. For me that concept kinda flew out the window with the guy in the UK who built the plane parts in a garden shed in his backyard... This wasn't a huge garden shed even - it was a standard garden shed that was long enough to work on a wing at a time. He obviously had storage offsite or out of the shed somewhere but he did everything in there including alodining all the parts. I did mine in my 2 1/2 car garage - and even with that I had parts stored in my neighbors garage and at my in-laws.

As far as having someone looking over your shoulder and familiarity in type, if you haven't heard about local EAA Chapters having "technical counselors" you might inquire about that. While I did have access to a Sling builder in my immediate area, he did the quick build kit, so he didn't have to do the wings or fuselage. In an overabundance of caution I had a personal requirement to invite over the local chapter tech counselor. He had built a number of RV's and counseled on dozens of aircraft builds. They have different types of counselors for the different build types, such as tube & fabric, wood and metal. Obviously the metal counselor is the one to go for. From my perspective, while each airplane is its own unique building process, there are similarities across the different types of platforms regardless of the manufacture.

All that being said, I personally was very comfortable with building for the first time, on my own with our tech counselor looking over my shoulder. Every time I was ready to close out a part I would invite him over - sometimes he'd come the same day. They actually can and do provide paperwork for their visit to have documentation that they reviewed your stage of the build and it looks o.k. You can save all of that for the DAR if there is any question about a particular part of the build. In fact my tech counselor let me borrow some very build-specific tools that I needed for a few minutes vs. having to buy something net-new to do the same job.

I guess all of this to say - you are not alone in this build. Not by a long shot. There are most certainly experts in plane building in your area who would be happy to advise. There's also the online community. Just yesterday in the Sling Discord we had someone facing some alignment issues on the horizontal stabilizer - in the space of about 30 minutes we got it all "straightened out" and he was back in business. So if your desire to build as much as you can at home is high but you aren't comfortable with how to achieve the very best build you can, then I'm here to tell you I think all of us experience this at some point - at least I did. I'm very anal in how I wanted to have the airplane "perfect". For me the entire project was wandering off into the great unknown while knowing that I can and will ask questions when I hit a problem I can't resolve.

So, maybe back to the point of the question - the hybrid build. Maybe consider this. Have everything sent to your house to start. Build as far as you comfortably can at home and when you hit a point that you either don't have the necessary space, time, desire or skill and then box it up and ship it to the pro-builders to have them assist in the finishing aspect? I don't know if any of them offer the safety valve, but it might be worth having that conversation. My bet is you might find yourself going much farther into the project than you thought you could. But hey, maybe i'm an optimist from that perspective.

Thanks for taking the time to provide an informative response.

3 years ago, when I placed my order, Midwest Skysports was advertising “the total build time, with kits in-house, is about six months” (a quote from their YouTube video) so I was expecting something along that timeframe. This was the biggest selling point of doing build assist, plus having their oversight made my wife more accepting of the amateur build. Sling was also estimating 2 years for the kit. The kit took an extra year. Midwest now has had my kit since July and I’ve only been able to work on it 4 days, and they are now estimating another 11 months before flying. My main goal is (was) to be flying next summer (last chance to do a flying adventure with my daughter before she enters the workforce). I don’t think I can get it done that quickly on my own. …one of their bottlenecks seems to be the paint shop. So I’m now planning on just having the plane in primer, which might save me a couple of months (9 months gets flying in June or July). Then put it in the paint shop in the fall or winter for final paint.

I’m trying to develop a plan with Midwest Skysports wherein I can continue working on the project at home between sessions to keep the process moving, but they have seemed less than receptive to the idea.

Lastly, thanks for the tip about Discord. I don’t know it. I just search the forums and found the link.

Oh no problem... and yeah - if I knew the timing that would have definitely made a HUGE difference (or maybe I missed it). Without many hands working on the build getting there in that time frame is dang near impossible. I did meet a couple of builders at Osh this past year that built their Sling Tsi in 12 months, but they built full time and were unemployed during that time.

It always seems like no matter how well you plan, it always takes longer...

I certainly hope Midwest can get you through in time to get that trip in - that sounds amazingly special and worthy of the push.