BurnieM

No immediate obstructions, slightly rising terrain but you have the Escarpment 4-5 miles away. The gusts may not seem like much but they are really inconsistent with a westerly wind dropping down 2500 feet off the Escarpment. On 26 normally you would depart right crosswind and climb then circle back and head west.

Shellharbours 26/08 runway is 4367 ft. It has a slight rise where it crosses the main 34/16 runway so you normally try to be off before this. The schools there avoid flying in westerly winds as it gets gusty and today it was westerly and gusty. The AD Closed notam has been extended to 1200 Sunday.

Names released https://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-updates/incidents/three-people-dead-in-light-plane-crash-in-shellharbour-illawarra-region/news-story/0c40e23f3cb900c95ef6bc8e71b4b9a6

https://asn.flightsafety.org/wikibase/550503 https://www.flightradar24.com/data/aircraft/vh-jva#3c9bcb93

Tumut originally Tumut north upgrade pic Tumut south upgrade pic Looks like they may be getting an AWIS and a different CTAF Current re-opening date is 21 November (but they have had a few delays previously).

People like shiny things (and EFISs). If you can afford it, why not ?

All the above have special certificates of airworthiness. Perhaps someone can explain the different types of SCA.

Sling have 3 levels of build; kit build and quick build both considered amateur built. Factory built come complete from the factory but with the wings off in a container. As do Bristells. Slings can be customised with different engines, props, avionics, parachutes, paint jobs, upholsery etc but for factory builds all this work is done in the factory.

I sort of understand the legalities and note a similar situation in the US. However, there are no structural/engineering differences between them (except perhaps a higher assembly quality in the factory built).

I did not say 'certified' just factory built. Yes, I believe they are experimental in VH land and Sling Aircraft is the builder. Obviously CASA considers there to be a difference requiring 'factory built' for school aircraft, although why a factory built aircraft can be registered at 600 kg MTOW but an amateur built can be registered at 700 kg is beyond my understanding.

I am not selling either. All the specs are available on Slings website - https://slingaircraft.com/aircraft/sling-2/ but the basics for a factory built Sling 2 (912is) are; Empty weight 380 kg MTOW 600 kg Useful load 220 kg Fuel capacity 150 litres 8-10 hours is pretty typical with full fuel but not achievable with 2 POB. The airframe life is a bit weird and only applies to Sling 2 in the UK. There are many Sling 2 with over 3000 hours in South Africa and a few over 2000 hours in Australia.

Factory built; Sling 2 with Rotax 912ULS Garmin G3X Touch efis Garmin radio and transponder $270,000 ish Sling 2 with Rotax 912is 2 x Garmin G3X Touch efis Garmin radio and transponder Garmin GMC507 autopilot controller and servos Parachute $330,000 ish Interesting fact; you can register a factory built Sling 2 at 600kg MTOW but a kit built Sling can be registered at 700kg MTOW

🫢 Don't ask, don't tell

Currently GAP (the AUS Sling distributor) are on a demo/marketing tour of Western Australia from their base at Heck Field, Queensland. With their Sling 4 TSI is a customer High Wing and customer TSi (both from NSW). I believe both owners are retired/semi retired and have the time for a trip. They are also helping to sell to others which says a lot about how owners view them. While they are not cheap at least some pilots think they are worth it.

I do not think you can call flying 3 high wings from South Africa to Oshkosh a stunt. Certainly it had marketing value but only because it showed what they were actually capable of. Yes, a Sling TSI or HW is getting up there at $550,000 but let’s not forget a new Cessna 172 (with a lower useable load) is now $1.2 mil.