Howzit Christmas Slingers!
Sitting near the beach in Cape Town I feel a world away from the past year and Sling Aircraft already after just 7 days of road-tripping through the Great Karoo Plateau and Western Cape of South Africa. My trusty Sling Cycles “Tagati” bicycle strapped to our camping trailer in the hope that my Land Cruiser breaks down and I’ll have to save the day by riding to the closest town to get help for my stranded family….. Actually, I’m quite glad we have not broken down as the Karoo has always formed an almost impenetrable barrier to the interior from Cape Town, and the early adventurers, explorers, hunters, and travellers on the way to the Highveld unanimously denounced it as a frightening place of great heat, great frosts, great floods, and great droughts. Today, it is still a place of great heat and frosts, and with an annual rainfall of between only 50 and 250 mm – it’s pretty dry and unforgiving.
The Karoo weather though, is really the polar opposite to the year Sling Aircraft has had. It’s been a cracker across the globe for Sling. We have taken orders and deposits for over 100 High Wings and will deliver the first 12 High Wing kits in the first quarter of 2022. We are approaching SN360 on the Sling LSA and SN400 on the TSi. We have a standing order with the Sling Pilot Academy in LA to send three LSA trainers per month to the USA market, and have consistently delivered 13 airframes per month in the second half of 2021 in various different formats ranging from Ready to Fly, Quick Build and fully knocked down Kits. Sales continue to outstrip our production capabilities as we strive to ramp up our deliveries. We now employ over 300 people across our two locations in Johannesburg selling, manufacturing and assembling Slings, and are now looking to build one big factory at Tedderfield Air Park to consolidate under one roof and improve efficiencies.
Although Covid continues to disrupt our lives, it has not stopped us living. We have managed to continue to adventure and make our way through challenges. We raced the Ride Joburg Cycle Challenge, we flew and rode Slings through our 9 South African provinces in one short weekend, we started building the first production Sling High Wing with Linda Sollars and her partner Gordon at Sling HQ, we had a Christmas party between lockdowns over Easter (How many people have had a Christmas party at Easter?) and we once again won awards for building the greatest planes on earth.
With Christmas celebrations complete, I hope you enjoy taking time out to read our stories below of adventure, travel and going places.
Keep on Slinging!
Andrew Pitman
Director
What light aircraft do SA farmers prefer? Find out on Vliegtuig vir ‘n Boer — the brand-new TV series from Landbouweekblad that puts aviation to the test in real farming conditions. We’re proud to be part of this groundbreaking show, where real farmers climb into the cockpit and take our Sling TSi and Sling High Wing for a spin. Premiers July 22nd on VIA, DSTV Channel 147.