Welcome!

This blog will serve to update friends and family on my build of a Sling 4 airplane.  The Sling 4 kit is provided by The Airplane Factory through its US Distributor.

After many years of enjoying flying my Cessna Cardinal, I decided that I would proceed down the experimental path.  Many reasons played into this decision, among which were education and recreation, lowering operating costs, and acquiring modern avionics at a reasonable cost.

Although most of my flying has been by myself, I wanted the option to seat up to 4 adults.  I didn't have experience working with either aluminum or composites, but I felt that going the sheet-metal pathway would be best for me.  To that end, I signed up for an EAA metal workshop to try my hand before making the final decision to pursue that path.

There are currently only a few 4-seat experimental metal kit options.  I had seriously looked at the Vans RV-10, but that is a lot more airplane than I currently fly and the build time was rather daunting.  I came across some information on the Sling 4 and decided it was a nice compromise.  Yes, I would prefer something that had a little more top end speed, but the reality is that the Sling 4 will cover all my planned uses.  I still have not actually seen a Sling 4 in person, but have test flown the Sling 2 at the US factory office and thoroughly enjoyed the handling and visibility.   While there certainly will be some differences between the Sling variants, I am sure that the Sling 4 will be every much as enjoyable.

The blog will follow the build process by the major airframe components/activities:

• Empennage, including horizontal and vertical stabilizers, elevator and rudder;
• Wings, including fuel cells, flaps, and ailerons;
• Fuselage, including canopy, doors and landing gear;
• Firewall forward, including engine, propeller and associated electrical and fuel components;
• Interior, including seats, panel and avionics;
• Final finish (painting or perhaps even wrapping)

I won't update this every day, but will try to post at least once a week to keep all informed of the latest progress.  

Whatever your reason for dropping by, I hope you enjoy the blog.

Gord

UPDATE: The empennage kit arrived on Friday, Aug 22, 2014, meaning the build has officially started!

The Airplane Factory Sling 4 (Photo from TAF SA website)