Sling 4 Is Prototype Of New GA Design

The latest creation from The Airplane Factory in South Africa has embarked on an attempt to circumnavigate the globe. The Sling 4 ... a four-place, single engine GA airplane ... is heading east from South Africa, and the team plans to fly across the Indian Ocean, through Japan, across the dangerous waters of the Bering Sea, through the United States, across the North Atlantic and finally back home via Western Africa.

The Sling 4 seater is The Airplane Factory's latest creation. While the around-the-world attempt in a 4-place airplane is something of an accomplishment in its own right, The Airplane Factory team does have some experience on their side, as they flew their first airplane ... an LSA ... around the world in 2009, becoming the first to complete a circumnavigation in a 2 seat LSA.

The team can be followed on The Airplane Factory website or via Facebook  and Twitter. The latest entry on the team blog from Monday says:

Our plan though, if the weather's perfect, is to head off for Taiwan tomorrow afternoon, fly again through the night and land there midday the following day. That'll be roughly a 19 or 20 hour flight. Any questions on the weather and we'll check out the possibility instead of delaying a day and doing a day flight to Puerto Princessa International in the Philippines, followed the next day by a day flight to Taiwan, dividing the flight roughly in two. That does, however, depend on being able to get permission within a day.

FMI: www.airplanefactory.co.za/Sling4ATW.asp