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TAF Launches Sling 4 Quick-Build Program

Synergy Air to offer builder assistance.

South African kit airplane maker The Airplane Factory (TAF) announced a program to help customers get into Sling 4 ownership without having to assemble the kit in its entirety. TAF has partnered with experimental aircraft builder Synergy Air, based in Eugene, Oregon, to assist customers with building the four-seat experimental airplane.

The first airplane in what has been called the Sling 4 Two Week Turbo Build Program will be constructed at Synergy Air’s facility in Eugene starting on October 1. Synergy Air’s president Wally Anderson said that, once the processes have been streamlined, the program should allow customers to comply with the 51-percent rule by spending two separate weeklong periods at the factory.

Synergy Air has been producing kit airplanes for more than 12 years and for the past three years it has produced Van’s RV-12 E-LSA airplanes.

With a sleek airframe and Rotax’s 914 Turbo engine, the Sling 4 climbs at about 900 fpm and cruises at true airspeeds beyond 120 knots, particularly at higher altitudes, while burning about 6 gph. The useful load for the airplane is right around 1,000 lbs.

The cost for the Sling 4 kit, including the engine and MGL avionics suite, is $108,414. Anderson expects to be able to offer the complete airplane under the quick build program at a price point below $190,000.

The Airplane Factory has produced 80 Sling 4 kits in South Africa, where there are currently 35 Sling 4s flying, TAF’s founder Mike Blyth said. Blyth, who has flown the airplane around the world and flew one of the Sling 2 airplanes that is on display at AirVenture to the show from South Africa, said the Sling 4 was designed with the U.S. market in mind. The company has a U.S. subsidiary, TAF USA, based in Torrance, California.

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