Hello All
I am a prospective builder dreaming of building a TSI. I passed my PPL around 3 months back and have racked up 90hrs of flying time in a high wing cessna.
After flying friends and family on short xc flights, I am pretty much set on the mission of the airplane and think that a TSI would be a good fit.
I am soaking up all the information that is available on the internet about the Sling Tsi builds and I am currently in a learning/exploring mode.
I appreciate any tips/tricks for a beginner like me who wants to venture into the world of building aircrafts.
Thanks in advance.
Hello from Seattle Washington
Re: Hello from Seattle Washington
Hi FlyBy,
Thanks for joining us as well as congrats on the PPL (3 months late)!
With only 90hrs of flying (so far) that's still pretty early to be making a commitment to building an airplane that I'm going to wager a guess you haven't ever flown in. I would definitely recommend flying a few other different types of airplanes to help get a feel for what the different airplanes fly like. Not to say the Sling fly's poorly or you wouldn't like it. The controls are MUCH crisper than a 172. It's more like driving a Miata vs. driving a Corolla.
On the subject of your rating v. airplane. Insurance is probably the bigger sticking point most SlingTsi folks run into. The lower your time, and lower the rating the more expensive the insurance will be. Getting your instrument rating first could be a several thousand dollars difference in what your insurance will be.
The SlingTsi is definitely a great mountain plane. Being from Seattle I'm sure that is going to factor into your decision making. It also means if you're going to be doing mountain flying to look in to getting some ground and air training around mountain flying. It can be deadly if you don't know how to manage flying in the mountains well. I live on the front range of Colorado where we have 53, 14,000' mountain peaks here in the state, so we take the high altitude very seriously here.
If you haven't joined a local EAA Chapter, then you need to find one and join like yesterday. In fact if you're still reading this, why you haven't you already joined one yet? When you join the local chapter, see if you can find out who is the middle of an active build - any active build and see if you can visit them where they are building to see what is involved. You have questions you don't even know you need to ask yet and they can help fill in the blanks. Ask them what the challenges of building are and how do they work through them?
Also, if you haven't joined the national EAA, then do that as well. The EAA holds seminars roughly once a week and their library is vast and deep on all things building and aviation. In addition to that, over the years I've "collected" a bunch of YouTube videos that cover a lot of the different build aspect, Sling activities and things I wanted to keep track of... the list should be able to be viewed at
Also since you're in Seattle, you're well positioned to head down to Eugene OR to Synergy Air (https://synergyair.com) for a fundamentals of building course. I just looked at their website and they aren't showing any courses in Eugene, so I'm not sure if they are still hosting them up there or what the deal is, but I'd give them a call and take a class from them. Their single-day fundamentals course discusses some of the building functions and as part of the course you rivet things together to learn the tools of the trade for building a metal airplane.
I also recommend to start consuming builders vlogs. There's several Sling builders out there that have vlogged their build experience - a shameless plug for mine at https://www.youtube.com/@FirstRivet. Evan is pretty much the gold standard for building - so much so that Sling had him do a series on the build which can be seen at
Time and money are other considerations. Usually you have one, both or neither. If you haven't spoken with Edward yet (he's the North America Sling Sales rep), then get a price sheet so you know what you are in for from the kit perspective. Keep in mind that in some circumstances the kit doesn't include the engine/avionics/interior or paint. Make sure you budget at least 25% or more for incidentals that were unplanned and then probably another 25% more for when Murphy decides to move into your house and set up shop. Life gets in the way, so you don't want to go broke building the plane and then be in a bad corner you can't get out of.
Probably the last piece of advice I have - if you haven't been to Oshkosh/Airventure, then plan to go for 2024. It's information overload of the highest order for someone who has never been, especially if you are looking to build, but it will give you an opportunity to see many of the different types of airplane kits you can build up close and personal. Plus you'll get to meet with many of the builders of each of the types of aircraft.
All that advice and $5 might get you a small coffee at Starbucks.
Thanks for joining us as well as congrats on the PPL (3 months late)!
With only 90hrs of flying (so far) that's still pretty early to be making a commitment to building an airplane that I'm going to wager a guess you haven't ever flown in. I would definitely recommend flying a few other different types of airplanes to help get a feel for what the different airplanes fly like. Not to say the Sling fly's poorly or you wouldn't like it. The controls are MUCH crisper than a 172. It's more like driving a Miata vs. driving a Corolla.
On the subject of your rating v. airplane. Insurance is probably the bigger sticking point most SlingTsi folks run into. The lower your time, and lower the rating the more expensive the insurance will be. Getting your instrument rating first could be a several thousand dollars difference in what your insurance will be.
The SlingTsi is definitely a great mountain plane. Being from Seattle I'm sure that is going to factor into your decision making. It also means if you're going to be doing mountain flying to look in to getting some ground and air training around mountain flying. It can be deadly if you don't know how to manage flying in the mountains well. I live on the front range of Colorado where we have 53, 14,000' mountain peaks here in the state, so we take the high altitude very seriously here.
If you haven't joined a local EAA Chapter, then you need to find one and join like yesterday. In fact if you're still reading this, why you haven't you already joined one yet? When you join the local chapter, see if you can find out who is the middle of an active build - any active build and see if you can visit them where they are building to see what is involved. You have questions you don't even know you need to ask yet and they can help fill in the blanks. Ask them what the challenges of building are and how do they work through them?
Also, if you haven't joined the national EAA, then do that as well. The EAA holds seminars roughly once a week and their library is vast and deep on all things building and aviation. In addition to that, over the years I've "collected" a bunch of YouTube videos that cover a lot of the different build aspect, Sling activities and things I wanted to keep track of... the list should be able to be viewed at
Also since you're in Seattle, you're well positioned to head down to Eugene OR to Synergy Air (https://synergyair.com) for a fundamentals of building course. I just looked at their website and they aren't showing any courses in Eugene, so I'm not sure if they are still hosting them up there or what the deal is, but I'd give them a call and take a class from them. Their single-day fundamentals course discusses some of the building functions and as part of the course you rivet things together to learn the tools of the trade for building a metal airplane.
I also recommend to start consuming builders vlogs. There's several Sling builders out there that have vlogged their build experience - a shameless plug for mine at https://www.youtube.com/@FirstRivet. Evan is pretty much the gold standard for building - so much so that Sling had him do a series on the build which can be seen at
Time and money are other considerations. Usually you have one, both or neither. If you haven't spoken with Edward yet (he's the North America Sling Sales rep), then get a price sheet so you know what you are in for from the kit perspective. Keep in mind that in some circumstances the kit doesn't include the engine/avionics/interior or paint. Make sure you budget at least 25% or more for incidentals that were unplanned and then probably another 25% more for when Murphy decides to move into your house and set up shop. Life gets in the way, so you don't want to go broke building the plane and then be in a bad corner you can't get out of.
Probably the last piece of advice I have - if you haven't been to Oshkosh/Airventure, then plan to go for 2024. It's information overload of the highest order for someone who has never been, especially if you are looking to build, but it will give you an opportunity to see many of the different types of airplane kits you can build up close and personal. Plus you'll get to meet with many of the builders of each of the types of aircraft.
All that advice and $5 might get you a small coffee at Starbucks.
Brian Garrett
Re: Hello from Seattle Washington
Hi Brian
Thank you for taking out the time to respond with such great details and guidance. I appreciate it.
Btw, I found your youtube channel via google and I subscribed to it even before I registered at slingpilots.com haha.. great videos and I am following your build journey !
My immediate next steps are to complete IFR rating and also get my Commercial done and build around 350-400 hrs of flying time. I am not interested in joining the airline industry. Also gain experience in different types of airplanes e.g. low wing, complex etc. With these goals in mind, I am looking at atleast 2 years before I start buliding an airplane. But I am starting my "homework" early on so that I can gain knowledge and feel confident about the build.
I also lurk around Vans RV forums and people have strongly recommended joining a local EA chapter which I am going to join pretty soon. I have also book marked a handful of build log websites and have started reading them.
Once I complete my IFR rating, next I will be taking a mountain flying course as well.
I explored synergyair and I agree, their website does not show any fundamental classes for the Eugene location so will call them and ask.
I have done cost analysis of RV-10 and sling TSI and have compared them side by side. But great tip on contacting Edward and getting a price sheet. (2yrs time will also give me enough time to save up)
I had not thought of attending Oshkosh/AirVenture but now I will plan to attend in 2024.
Thank you for taking out the time to respond with such great details and guidance. I appreciate it.
Btw, I found your youtube channel via google and I subscribed to it even before I registered at slingpilots.com haha.. great videos and I am following your build journey !
My immediate next steps are to complete IFR rating and also get my Commercial done and build around 350-400 hrs of flying time. I am not interested in joining the airline industry. Also gain experience in different types of airplanes e.g. low wing, complex etc. With these goals in mind, I am looking at atleast 2 years before I start buliding an airplane. But I am starting my "homework" early on so that I can gain knowledge and feel confident about the build.
I also lurk around Vans RV forums and people have strongly recommended joining a local EA chapter which I am going to join pretty soon. I have also book marked a handful of build log websites and have started reading them.
Once I complete my IFR rating, next I will be taking a mountain flying course as well.
I explored synergyair and I agree, their website does not show any fundamental classes for the Eugene location so will call them and ask.
I have done cost analysis of RV-10 and sling TSI and have compared them side by side. But great tip on contacting Edward and getting a price sheet. (2yrs time will also give me enough time to save up
)I had not thought of attending Oshkosh/AirVenture but now I will plan to attend in 2024.