What have I got myself into?

I fetched the empennage on Saturday, brought it home, put it on the garage floor and took a look. Wow. All of a sudden it is real. It wasn’t the size of the box, it was the bits and pieces in it, how insubstantial they look, and how they’re going to get a whole lot more substantial as they become an aeroplane. That transformation is going to take a _lot_ of work.

The empennage kit, with the instruction manual and the basic tools. The ribs are in separate plastic bags, one each for elevator, rudder etc. Rivets are on the right. The clecos and other tools are on the left, with the pneumatic pop-riveter just visible behind the instruction manual.

But first, preparing:

• I’m working in a single garage next to our townhouse. We moved a lot of junk out of the garage to make space.
• I’ve built a table from trestles and a door. Needless to say, the building instructions quickly revealed that it isn’t big enough.
• I’ve installed two strip lights, and plan to install two more. There is now enough light to work in there at night. During the day, the open garage door makes for a very pleasant work space.
• There was a very good bargain on compressors at a local hardware mega-store, so that essential is now to hand.

Still some work to do before the building starts in earnest.

Decisions, decisions

There are many decisions to be made in choosing an aircraft. Here are some of the reasons I went the way I did:

Mission

I learnt to fly twenty years ago in Piper Cherokees. I haven’t flown since, because hire and fly didn’t work for me.

Right now, I’d like to spend time in the air, without spending too much money. I have no commercial flying ambitions, and won’t be flying for business. I’m not too interested in getting places fast. I like sight seeing. My ideal plane is restricted by my budget, but a two-seater with short/grass field capability is probably all I need.

I live in South Africa, and am an electrical engineer by profession.

Build or buy?

I prefer second-hand cars, mostly because someone else gets to the pay the heavy depreciation. But with planes, there’s a lot less depreciation, and keeping an old plane in the air can be expensive. So I’d like something newish. For cost reasons, that probably means I need to build. Building has the advantage of matching some of the expenses to available income, which pleases my bank manager.

I also like building things…

Kit or scratch-built?

There are few things for me to consider here:

• I design things for a living. At home, for a hobby, I don’t want to be repeating what I do at work, so I really want to follow someone else’s detailed instructions and not need to think too much.
• I’m not close to good aviation parts suppliers, and I don’t want to be struggling to get parts that I need.
• I have staying power, but it is not unlimited.

So for my first attempt, I want a quick build kit: I get told what to do, all the parts get supplied, but I get the satisfaction of assembling my own plane.

Metal or composite?

This is entirely a personal preference: I know and understand metal, I don’t know nearly enough about composites. I am happy that metal will be forgiving enough for me, whereas I can’t say the same for composites. Other alternatives don’t seem to give the same bang for the buck: tube and fabric are cheaper, but some people have commented that they are a lot of work, and they seem a bit slow compared to other types; wood seems like a great deal of work.

Sling or RV?

RV’s are the best selling kit planes of all time, they are fast, reliable, the kits are legendary for their quality. So why go with a Sling?

For me, it is the local support – the factory is 35 minutes drive away – and the Rotax. A lot of people argue that an RV is faster, and hence more economical, which it is in kilometres per dollar, but my aim is to spend time in my plane, so I want economical in hours per dollar, and here the Sling wins. [Yes, I know I can fly an RV at 55%. But I wouldn’t.] While I can’t make Victoria Falls in two hours, I can get to just about anywhere in South Africa on a single tank of fuel, and I can have a lot of fun for not too much money.

A new Sling is born

I’ve taken the plunge, and ordered the empennage and wing kits for a Sling kit built aircraft. It’ll be serial number 56.

The Sling is a 2 place, Rotax powered aluminium semi-monocoque aircraft,that can be built to light sport aircraft (LSA) or very light aircraft (VLA) specifications. See The Airplane Factory for details.

This is planned to be my build log.