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ZU-IBM

ZU-IBM

I guess almost every person who starts a PPL has the desire to own their own plane at some point. I was always in denial about this but I discovered very soon after achieving the PPL that ‘hire and fly’ is a pain in the butt.

This was especially true at the flight school where I trained – they have 5 aircraft but at least one is almost always in maintenance and they have many students training for various ratings. You book a two hour slot and if the weather is dodgy, or someone is late bringing the plane back from their slot then sorry for you, you lose out.

While the financial aspect of owning v renting an aircraft is not clear cut, from a practical point of view, owning is the way to go. Weather lousy for a planned flight? No problem, we go later, or tomorrow. Want to go away for a weekend? No problem – no minimum daily rate to pay. That idiot who runs wide open throttle and never touches the mixture control? Not an issue if you’re the only person flying your plane.

The search for an aircraft initially looked very difficult – there are lots of planes for sale but most are very old and would need significant avionics upgrades. I came close to buying a Mooney M20F, a Cherokee 235 and a Cessna Cardinal C177RG. On a whim I test flew a Sling 4 which is a locally designed and built experimental/non type certified aircraft. I was hooked immediately and that is how we ended up with ZU-IBM.

ZU-IBM is a very yellow Sling 4. She was manufactured by The Airplane Factory in March 2014 and carries serial number 009. The Rotax 914 powered Sling 4 is a 4 seat aircraft with an empty weight of 490kg and a MAUW of 960kg which gives a very useful useful load. It is a true 4 seater with full fuel (Mogas of course) and while it is no Mooney in terms of cruise speed, the 125kts I plan for gets us where we want to be.

We plan for 25-26litres per hour at 85% power which is around 6 and a half gallons per hour. So far I’ve done one long cross country to Cape Town from Johannesburg (5.5h each way for 680nm) and we’ve made a number of smaller local trips around 150-175nm.

Maintenance wise we have had a few teething issues but nothing that has kept us on the ground. First oil change is coming up and we’ll see how that looks.

737945C9-F191-4E69-AB56-EA89CF268160
4BB113A1-8CCD-42AF-B1BF-7921B56826B6
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3F70DC32-C299-485E-B5AA-D28DE6FE72C0
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C4E31C69-DC67-4786-A8DA-8495D6082D6C

Places I’ve Landed

blackburnmike

The @flyinglionsaerobaticteam departing FAGM for t The @flyinglionsaerobaticteam departing FAGM for the Stellenbosch Airshow this weekend. Sound up!!

#harvard #t6 #radials #rand #fagm #generalaviation
First aerie out of Rand this morning. sublime atmo First aerie out of Rand this morning. sublime atmosphere for some practice manoeuvres. #sling4 #sling #slingaircraft #zuibm #mikemoment #flying #morning #generalaviation #fagm #ppl

Nice to meet @groundeffectfilms finally too!
The Saint John’s College Big Band performing “ The Saint John’s College Big Band performing “Turn the Beat Around” featuring Scott Blackburn on bass and Thomas Kruger on Drums 

#bigband #saintjohnscollege
just some condensation and the rotation of the ear just some condensation and the rotation of the earth.
short field takeoff from Glenvista airfield. 135m short field takeoff from Glenvista airfield. 135m give or take a metre. yes, it’s not proper short field technique but given the guys refilling a crop duster behind me i thought it would be rude to not do a rolling takeoff. 

#sling4 #missdaisy #zuibm #flying #mikemoment #generalaviation #sling
anyone else do this? can never remember the altitu anyone else do this? can never remember the altitude of the landing field so i write it on the window in whiteboard marker. #tips #flying #zuibm #mikemoment #aviation #memory
oh hai guys! #harvards #formation #flyinglions #ra oh hai guys!
#harvards #formation #flyinglions #rand #fagm #flying #sling #zuibm
one town, two airfields. Any guesses which town? one town, two airfields. Any guesses which town? 

#sling #sling4 #zuibm #flying #generalaviation
something something a mile of runway …… DA of something something a mile of runway …… DA of 4500 feet and i was airborne by the end of the concrete. 
#glenside #drakensberg #sling #flying #aviation
lovely morning for it…. #parktowngirls #diving lovely morning for it…. #parktowngirls #diving
popped past Panorama today on my ‘dust off the s popped past Panorama today on my ‘dust off the skills’ flight. great toastie, nice grass runway… what’s not to like? love it when the weather and work gods get the alignment right…

 #sling #sling4 #zuibm #aviator #flying #saflyers #southafricanaviation #grassstripsaremorefun
everyone is doing it this week - thought it would everyone is doing it this week - thought it would be rude not to - The Vaal dam with many (4) sluice gates open. first time in this year that the weather and my schedule have coincided…. 

#flying #southafricanaviation #sling4 #slingaircraft #zuibm #mikemoment #missdaisy #vaaldam #flyingeyessa #flyingeyes
great end of year flight out to @bonabonagamelodge great end of year flight out to @bonabonagamelodge with @sjr.briggs today. fought the wind there but miraculously got the benefits on the way back. solid 152Kts over the ground at FL95. 

✈️
#aviation #sling4 #slingaircraft #missdaisy #zuibm #flying #flyrotax #rotax914
Now loading- last flight of 2021. #sling4 #slinga Now loading- last flight of 2021. 
#sling4 #slingaircraft #flyrotax #missdaisy #flying #generalaviation #randairport #fagm #flyingeyes
epic storm here last night - if i was flying and i epic storm here last night - if i was flying and i’d looked at this radar image i’d be somewhat upset. why is the wx radar service so poor??
#kasouga #storm #epicsky #cloudporn
#lestweforget🌹 #lestweforget🌹
First flight behind my @flyingeyessa Kestrels. ver First flight behind my @flyingeyessa Kestrels. very impressed. nice to have proper noise cancelling seals now. 
#sling4 #sling #slingaircraft #flying #joburg #southafricanaviation #zuibm #flyingeyes #generalaviation
Hangar 9 flyers outing to Zebula. #sling #flying # Hangar 9 flyers outing to Zebula. #sling #flying #sling4 #zebula #southafricanaviation #zuibm
Preflight…. spot the Rotax thing i do? #flyrotax Preflight…. spot the Rotax thing i do? #flyrotax #sling4 #fagm #zuibm #flying
trying to blend in at Lanseria. went to fly IF pra trying to blend in at Lanseria. went to fly IF practice with a mate in an SR22.. #sling #sling4 #flying #cirrus #sr22 #lanseria #fala #southafricanaviation #whyaretherunwayssowide
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