My wife Rebekah and I have decided to discontinue construction of our Van's RV-14A empennage and proceed with construction of a Sling TSi from Sling Aircraft! We originally ordered an RV-14 empennage kit a little over 2 years ago (1/2022) and received it shortly after my father-in-law's passing in October 2022. Life events slowed down construction until mid 2023 and by that time Van's started to pay attention to reports of cracked laser cut parts. I moved slowly with the build on parts that were not affected until Van's stopped shipping parts in October to develop a laser cut parts replacement strategy. The final straw for me happened when they reorganized under bankruptcy protection on December 3, 2023 and subsequently substantially raised their kit prices to be comparable to other manufacturers offerings. I was happy with the Sling after visiting Midwest Sky Sports and seeing the design, kit quality, and product completeness that far surpasses any of the Van's kits.
I met up with Brian and Laurie Garrett and Aaron Stampa while in Denver to hear of their build and flying experiences with the Sling, and Aaron graciously offered me a ride in his plane to experience the great performance of the design. Hook, Line, and Sinker!