By STAN KASPRZYK

FlightLog Archive

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Aircraft Flown

Sling TSI Formation - Oct 2025

I had been enjoying flying in both Rob Smith's and Chris Terrell's impressive Sling TSi's, and mentioned to them both that I was available to teach them in the fine art of formation flying if they were interested. They both responded with enthusiasm, and I was able to convince one of my other formation instructors, Troy 'T-Lar' Larson, to join the effort. However, trying to coordinate four pilots' schedules, two new Sling TSi's availability and the Northwest weather for formation training gets tough, but we pulled it off!

I drove to Boeing Field, met with Rob Smith at his Sling TSi in NE parking. 'T-Lar' Larson had a break in his busy schedule and showed up soon after, as we waited for Chris Terrell to takeoff from fog-shrouded Harvey Field. Chris filed IFR and was only slightly delayed, and then became one of the first aircraft to land on the newly opened runway 32R at KBFI. We briefed the formation flight details in T-Lar's car, and got to experience Rob jumping his Sling TSi battery after it ran down loading databases.

Chris and I took off as #2 in Sling TSi N828BW at noon from BFI’s runway 32L, in trail with Rob Smith and T-Lar instructing in Sling N2066T. Since this was the first Sling formation training for both Rob and Chris, we worked on the basics. Chris first flew fingertip, route and cross-unders with Rob/T-Lar leading, using Port Orchard as our reference airspace center. I emphasized smooth movements and slow corrections, then demonstrated a pitchout and rejoin to Chris, then swapped leads. We led fingertip, route, cross-under and trail practice for Rob, plus we led a pitchout and rejoin. We again swapped leads, and cruised back in close formation to Boeing Field, where Chris and I dropped back for a landing in trail on runway 32L, coordinating with tower as a flight, to both be on the runway at the same time.

We enjoyed great formation flying and lots of learning today for Chris and Rob, and they are both ready for more!

Epilog

A few days after our formation flight, Rob Smith took N2066T on a flight demostrating the impressive cross-country capabilities of the Sling TSi, non-stop from Seattle/Boeing Field (KBFI] to Canyonlands Regional airport in Moab, UT (KCNY). He was aided by impressive 107 knot quartering tailwinds, giving him a groundspeed of 218 knots at 21,000 feet burning only 7.4 GPH. Impressive!