The Sling Squawk – June 2026
7 Jun 2026
I’m in the left seat of a Sling TSi, a four-seat kit airplane made in South Africa, and it’s the first time I’ve flown behind a turbocharged Rotax 915 engine. During the first 30 minutes of flight my companions have suffered through a series of stalls, steep turns, lazy eights, and slow flight while I got acquainted with this sporty but stable aircraft—and now one of them has suggested a change of pace.
“Let’s make a speed run,” says Matt Liknaitzky, a partner in The Airplane Factory, the U.S. arm of a company that markets, sells, supports, and offers flight training and builder assistance for Sling aircraft in nearby Torrance, California. “Go ahead and open the throttle.”
-Dave Hirschman (AOPA)
After twenty-five days, countless flights, three countries and more adventures than we ever could have planned for, the African flying adventure of Josh Flowers and Chelsea Smith of Aviation101, along with Chris Lammert and Keelyn Costello, has reached its final chapter. But there’s still plenty of Africa left to explore…