Page 55 - World Airnews Magazine February 2020 Edition

FEATURE AIRCRAFT

SLING 4 - A LIGHT

SPORT AIRCRAFT

engine, the Sling 4 is fitted with

the 115 hp turbocharged Rotax
he idea of a Sling 914 UL engine, while the Sling
T4-seater emerged from TSi is powered by a 142 hp Rotax
TAF founders’ Mike Blyth and 915 iS Turbo Injected Sports.
James Pitman’s 2009 Around- The turbocharged engine gives
The-World (ATW) Sling flight. full power at up to 15,000 feet,

Although designed as a 600 kg at which altitude the 100 hp

Light Sport Aircraft, it was soon would only be delivering approx-
clear that even with a normally imately 55 hp. So, on a hot day

aspirated 100 hp motor, it per- the difference in power between
formed well up to 970 kg. Thus the 912 ULS and 914 UL engine
the Sling 2, after passing the re- is in the vicinity of 36%, not just

quired standards, was certified 15%.
The Sling 4 was built to be the
as a 700 kg MAUW. most practical and desirable (Compatible with Sling 2 & Sling 4)

Work also began on the devel-

Troops airlifted into action in a UN Mi-17 during anti-'Armed Group' operations in the CAR opment of a 4-seat version. The lightweight, four-place experi-

supplying infantry weapons and 170 civilian instructors to arm and money financing these insurrections comes direct from chief differences between the mental aircraft on the market, Value in excess of R45 000 & includes:

a niche not previously filled. I.
train the Central African Armed Forces (FACA) with the approval of Arab states which he named, but asked that details not be Sling 2 and the Sling 4 are wing It flies much like the Sling LSA, • Complete stabilisers, rudder and elevators

the United Nations. made public. size, engine and the centre fuse- perfectly-coordinated with • Structure complete, (unskinned)
Based at the former presidential palace complex at Berengo, While work was progressing towards some form of reconcili- lage arrangements. Where the highly responsive - but not over- • Pheumatic rivet gun and other tools
southwest of Bangui, this programme effectively duplicates ation in the CAR, he declared, it was an extremely standard Sling customarily uses ly-sensitive - controls. Q • Cleco’s

that run by Brigadier-General Peltier’s European Union Train- difficult task. a 100 hp Rotax 912 ULS or iS • Paperwork, build log and construction manual

ing Mission to create effective FACA units in the new national “About a quarter of the population - and of course the people
army that would total about 10,000 when all the slots have we deal with - do not speak French. That makes things awkward, Collect in Westville, Durban. Photos available on request.
Contact Colin 082 361 7716 or Delene 072 794 2337.
been filled. because it is necessary to establish a common language as well

By the time of my visit, the number of Russian instructors had as an integral identity to create an effective reconciliation and

been increased to 235 and some of these soldiers dispersed to var- integration process.”

ious locations “to ensure that the skills acquired during the training In fact, he declared, that was only the start of it.
are correctly applied by the FACA once deployed”. “For now it works,” he suggested, “but it will only remain effec-

This number does not include Russian mercenaries estimated to tive as long as the Bangui government is strong, which it is not.”

number in the hundreds and embedded with ‘armed groups’: exact He explained too, there were foreign influences on the fringes of

numbers are impossible to verity due to poor communications the country that tend to work towards political disruption, and in

with the interior. that role he mentioned both the Sudan and Chad as well as the com-

What we do know is that these foreigners are all former Russian paratively new revolutionary situation in the northern Cameroons.

army personnel and their numbers might range from a handful In fact, said the general, all the CAR’s neighbours - those already
to several dozen per hostile unit, usually billeted apart from main listed, as well as both Congos - “play their own African games.”

‘armed element’ camps, having established their own operational General Peltier stressed that the CAR had enormous potential

bases nearby. to develop, coupled to the resources that could make it happen.
While not prepared to be drawn on whether they were serving It had boundless deposits of diamonds, gold, uranium and other

members of Russia’s military, several senior UN officials told this minerals, “but while precious resources are being alluvially mined,
correspondent that it was common knowledge in the CAR that there are no big companies coming to Bangui to invest ... simply
the majority, while portraying themselves as private military put, they are aware that they would lose their money were they to
operators, had been exposed several times as having direct links do so,” he told World Airnews.

to Moscow. Another authoritative source that has been in the country for years

In a recent report which featured the activities of The Wagner as a senior advisor to the UN is Ghanaian national Kofi Wogomebou.

Group, as they are officially known, the London Times labelled He expanded on some of the comments made by Peltier.

them as “Putin’s Private Army”. “Those ‘armed groups’ that have rejected efforts at reconcili-

It is noteworthy that apart from also seeing considerable action ation of the Bangui government are major forces in the regions

in both Syria and Libya, a Wagner Group contingent is now also under their control: in effect, they are ‘no go areas’ and in the main

active in northern Mozambique, this time combating a force of are totally against the restoration of state authority.”

Jihadist insurgents who have taken over a large swathe of the Some mining - diamonds and gold - goes on in the interior, but it
country adjacent to the Tanzanian border. is illegal: the proceeds are filtered out of the country without any of

The insurgency in the Central African Republic has many supple- the proceeds touching sides in government coffers, he explained.

mentary issues to address, including the fact the majority of rebels Another point made by this veteran was that while the there
are Islamic fundamentalists, some of whom do not understand any were roughly 10,000 contingent troops active in the country (in a

of the local languages. A considerable number speak only Arabic total UN force of about 15,000 men and women) he reckoned it
and make no secret of their Sudanese heritage. would need a UN force of at least 150,000 to become totally effec-

Brigadier Peltier also made the point that much of the tive which, it was generally agreed, would never happen. Q

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