I made short video of the building of my airplane, "One Alpha Mike," a Sling TSi. About a year's worth of work consolidated into less than 8 minutes. Many thanks to Evan Brunye for expert Build Assist!
Hey my buddy is 6’7” - can you lower the seat 6” by mounting it directly to the floor building it differently?
Only a year, because I cheated! It's easier/faster when you've got an expert telling you what and how to do everything, helping with the hard parts, and continuing to build on days that you can't be there. Build Assist is worth it's weight in gold, IMHO! The seat design is brilliant: the seat track is reclined, so as you slide the seat back for more leg room it also lowers, giving you more headroom. My buddy is 6' 2" and is quite comfortable in it. There's also an extended seat track option in case the standard one isn't enough. That gives even more legroom and headroom for the super-tall.
I was vaguely familiar with Sling but didn't know the TSi was even a thing, much less the HW. I'm intrigued by both options.
If you don't mind me asking, approximately what was the final cost of the build with EBA? I love the idea of building, especially the TSi, but the cost seems deterring.
I believe the latest pricing is about $200k all in for a VFR self built at home, up to about $300k for full IFR and build assist.
That seems like a lot of money for a homebuilt, 150kt airplane. I wonder how that compares to a comparable RV?
OPs Sling TSi is a 4-seater with a full IFR panel so you'd be comparing it to an IFR RV-10. $300K seems about right compared to the RV10.
I priced out the RV-10 at multiple build centers. In every case, a comparably-equipped RV-10 would have cost me substantially more money and taken a longer time to build. Like a dream! Climbs great, very light on the controls, super-fast roll-rate, yet quite stable. Takes hardly any rudder. Cruise up to 160 KTAS (if you climb into the high teens), burn only 7.4 - 7.8 GPH of mogas or Avgas. Performance-wise, I'd say this airplane falls between an SR20 and a normally-aspirated SR22. We all know how expensive those are. The Sling TSi is far cheaper not only in acquisition costs but also in operating costs - by a wide margin.To get a brand-new airplane with that kind of performance and technology (including FADEC engine, Garmin panel and ballistic parachute), I think it's a steal.
