Fit brakes.
The highest-priority modification is braking. Popham demonstrated the limitation of competing without any means of braking; reducing the landing roll is the biggest initial performance opportunity.
The aircraft / The ambition
Project Slingshot
A separate development aircraft. A championship goal. A platform to explore what a Thruster can achieve.
Why Slingshot?
Slingshot takes its name from the aircraft’s intended character: lightweight, with a high power-to-weight ratio and a take-off that looks as though it has been launched from a catapult. Giving the aircraft a name also gives the public something distinctive to recognise, relate to and follow as the project develops.
Two aircraft. Two different roles.
The aircraft flown at Popham is Simon and Lauren’s stock, two-seat Thruster T300. It remains a two-seat aircraft operating under a Permit to Fly.
Slingshot’s separate donor aircraft combines a Thruster TST fuselage with T300 wings and is now registered in the Single Seat Deregulated (SSDR) category. This is the basis of the modification and development programme.
Developing Slingshot
Shed unnecessary weight.
Review the airframe, covering, equipment and installations to reduce weight wherever practical. Every kilogram saved contributes to the aircraft’s power-to-weight ratio and short-field performance.
More power. Better fuel efficiency.
Develop a more powerful, more fuel-efficient powerplant and a suitable propeller combination for stronger take-off and climb performance.
Further development will address the wing, undercarriage geometry, suspension and tyres. Individual components and the final configuration will be selected as the development progresses.
Why a microlight?
Lightweight aircraft offer an appealing combination of simplicity, affordability and performance. The stock Thruster’s competition debut demonstrated how much could be achieved with an accessible aircraft and well-developed flying skills.
Slingshot takes that idea further: explore what a lightweight microlight can achieve when developed specifically for STOL competition.
What is SSDR?
SSDR means Single Seat Deregulated. For a landplane such as Slingshot, the category normally limits maximum take-off weight to 300 kg, including the pilot, fuel and equipment, with a stall speed no greater than 35 knots calibrated airspeed at that weight.
Qualifying SSDR aircraft are exempt from the usual requirement to hold a Certificate of Airworthiness or Permit to Fly. Applicable pilot, airspace and operating rules still apply.
Category background: British Microlight Aircraft Association — SSDR ↗
Freedom to develop.
Responsibility for airworthiness.
Slingshot is being developed in SSDR because it provides the freedom to modify, test and refine an aircraft without the expensive and time-consuming modification approval process associated with a Permit to Fly aircraft.
That freedom is central to the project, allowing changes to the powerplant, undercarriage and wing configurations as it develops for competition and potentially future record attempts.
Deregulated does not mean unsafe, or that airworthiness can be taken less seriously. Responsibility for the aircraft’s airworthiness rests with Simon as its owner. Sound engineering, careful assessment of modifications and disciplined flight testing will underpin the programme.
The freedom to develop the aircraft comes with personal responsibility for its airworthiness and safe operation.
The programme
Compete for the championship.
The primary goal is to win the STOL UK season championship in the Fixed Wing Microlight category. Development will focus on the performance, consistency and reliability needed across a full season.
Bring Slingshot to an audience.
Airshow demonstrations and filmed challenges are the next priority, providing public coverage and opportunities for sponsor exposure. The development story—from workshop decisions to flight testing and competition—will form part of that journey.
Explore record performance.
If the aircraft performs as hoped, the longer-term ambition is to pursue time-to-climb class records and potentially an altitude record.
Three wings. Three tasks.
The record ambitions would require further sponsorship and three interchangeable sets of wings, each designed and tuned for its task: STOL competition, time to climb, and altitude performance.
Competition comes first. Measured performance will determine whether record attempts become the next stage.
IN DEVELOPMENT
Current focus
Develop the braking and undercarriage approach, reduce unnecessary weight, and evaluate the powerplant and wing options. Performance targets and demonstration concepts remain ambitions until established through assessment and testing.