By Aaron Garinger
On Wednesday January 1st, N370AG had its first flight. The Sling TSi had both myself and a test pilot on board for the initial flight under the FAA Additional Pilot Program. The flight consisted of climbing to 2600 feet and orbiting the field for approximately 45 minutes before landing.
Based at Aero Valley Airport (52F), we stayed within gliding distance of the field and layered in between the traffic pattern at 1600 ft and the bottom of the Class B shelf at 3000 ft. The flight characteristics of the TSi operated as expected with good yaw and roll coordination without any inputs. The engine parameters were all in the green, and the electronic constant speed prop controller also performed as expected.
After landing there were just a few squawks to follow up on including the OAT sensor, secondary fuel pressure sensor readings and a weeping fuel line connection leak on the left wing to fuselage bulkhead connection.
Because of the good weather and the test pilot involvement for the week, the plane now has 20 hours on it and has been signed out of Phase 1. The test pilot has significant experience in the TSi type as he does Phase 1 flyoffs for a popular build assist center in Michigan that has built 40+ Slings over the years. This experience allowed the efficient completion of the test cards and was a great resource to get feedback on what is considered “normal” for a TSi.
An equally important milestone flight took place on the 16th with my spouse Gina going on her first flight. The late afternoon weather was extremely calm as we headed west for the brief sightseeing flight before returning to 52F. It was my best landing to date, thank goodness! Appreciation to her for the years of commitment and sacrifice to see this project to completion.
From start to finish the TSi project took five years to complete and fly. With its start in Jan 2020, it spent 4 years in the garage and the last year at 52F doing major finishing work in the hangar. Paint will be the last milestone, with no current plans, but generally targeting this spring or summer to complete.
