The Sling Squawk – June 2026
7 Jun 2026
“It’s not going to last. You know that, right?”
“Yes, well I guess we’ll see.”
That was how conversations went when I arrived in Port Elizabeth with our first Sling in December of 2012.
Well, it’s 10 years on and our fleet of six years Slings have accumulated in excess of 35,000 flight hours. ZU-IAE has 7,300 hours on it, making it the highest-hour Sling in the world. This article tells the story of our experience of keeping our Slings airworthy.”
– Gerhard Van Eeden
The adventure continues! For once, there are no border crossings to navigate, no custom stops, and no major travel plans on the schedule. Just a quiet day at home. Naturally, that doesn’t last long… When Sling Chief Test Pilot, Riaan Denner, has an idea, you know things are about to get interesting. In this episode, Josh and Chelsea take to the skies over Johannesburg for some banner towing, go behind the scenes at the incredible Jonker Sailplanes factory, make a completely unplanned stop to meet a very special young zebra, and then set off on the next major leg of the journey — heading south towards Plettenberg Bay and Cape Town.