Darling Downs Aero Club
Est. 1946
Christmas has come early for the Darling Downs Aero Club as our brand new factory built Sling 2 has made its long journey from South Africa and is currently being reassembled at Heck Field. Let’s have a look at the history of the Sling. The aeroplane is the creation of Mike Blyth with the first prototype being launched on November 18, 2008. After testing, the second prototype was then flown around the world by both Blyth and James Pitman in 2009. The journey consisted of flying through west Africa, scooting across the Atlantic onwards to Brazil, Guyana and up to the US Virgin Islands and the East Coast of the US to make it to Oshkosh.
Post airshow festivities, the Sling then returned to the southern hemisphere via Asia back to South Africa. This whole journey took 40 days and travelled a total distance of 45 000km. To complete this journey a few modifications were put in place including larger tanks, strengthened landing gear, seats that lie flat for sleeping and a removable control stick. After the modification with the larger tanks the Sling’s endurance at a standard cruise was approximately 24 hours.
DDAC Instructor
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