Sling Aircraft South Africa Bios

Headquarters Sling Aircraft Team

Mike Blyth

Director – Founder

Mike, a shareholder and the person who started Sling Aircraft, is a fifth generation South African with a passion for aviation. A pioneer of early microlight aviation in South Africa, Mike has been involved in the aircraft business, designing, building and selling aircraft for 29 years. Mike is a past aviation world champion and has received numerous awards both for his contribution to aviation in South Africa and his aviation feats, as well as the films he has made to record them. To learn more about Mike’s aviation adventures see www.trike-expeditions.com.

Sling Aircraft is Mike’s latest, and he believes greatest, venture.

 

James Pitman

Co-CEO

James Pitman studied science and law at the University of Cape Town before deciding on following the legal route. If law paid the bills, adventure animated the soul. James was something of a legend in South African adventure circles, with some serious mountaineering challenges under his belt. In 2006, he joined up with Mike Blyth and Marianne Schwankhart for a flying (microlight) and rock-climbing trip around southern Africa. This trip was turned into a movie, No Need for Parking – An African Rock Adventure. From there, the idea to team up with Mike on an around-the-world adventure took root. Almost by accident, James – a lawyer, businessman and adventurer – was building an aircraft. He realized that his very eventful life had been working up to this very moment in time. His keen intellect and sharp scientific brain meant he could add serious value to building the Sling LSA prototype. His irrepressible energy and crazy enthusiasm helped fuel Mike’s vision of the ideal LSA. They made great partners and they achieved their goal of flying the Sling around the world. James, whose love of flying is palpable, sunk his savings into Sling and spent the first seven years in the business giving life and soul to creating an aircraft brand of lasting value. As Chairman of Sling, James brings a unique mix of leadership and passion to the company. While he oversees key areas like Production, Quality Assurance, Legal and Regulatory Compliance, he is best known for embodying the spirit of adventure that defines the Sling brand.

 

Andrew Pitman

Co-CEO

Growing up on a farm in the Midlands of Natal, Andrew, early on, developed a love for traveling, the outdoors and speed, often being found stripping a 2-stroke dirt bike only to see if it would go faster once put back together. After attending Michaelhouse boarding school for a fairly rebellious five years, Andrew graduated from Cape Town Varsity College in 2002 with an IMM diploma in International Business Management and Marketing. He moved to London the following year and joined Addison Corporate Marketing as an Account Executive and later, Account Manager. Andrew provided support to the investor relations teams of various clients, including Anglo-American, Vodafone, The Premier League, Visa and WPP. With six years’ experience in corporate financial communications, Andrew left the UK and returned to South Africa to join Sling. He started as the tea boy and book keeper, later becoming Sales and Marketing Manager. Having developed a passion for business, flying and adventure, Andrew is now Co-CEO and oversees Sales, Marketing, Daily HR, Finance, Procurement and the Aircraft Maintenance Organization (AMO).

The Airplane Factory Sling USA Bios

US Airplane Factory Team

Matt Liknaitzky

CO-CEO
Matt Liknaitzky grew up in South Africa and had a passion for aviation at an early age. He started flying Microlights at age 16 and at 19 went to work for a small aircraft manufacturer owned by Mike Blyth. After working in many areas of the company he joined the marketing team and in 3 years became the head of the department. In 2000 he moved to California to run several aviation-related businesses in partnership with Mike Blyth, the founder of Sling / The Airplane Factory.Matt holds a Commercial Pilot rating in Airplane SEL and Private MEL as well as Glider and Weight-Shift Control (WSC). He is also a Flight Instructor in Airplane, Glider and WSC. Matt was selected as one of the early FAA Designated Pilot Examiners for Sport Pilot and maintains examiner authority in Airplane, Glider and WSC for both Pilot and Flight Instructor. His passion for aviation is broad and his favorite aircraft to fly are light airplanes and his aerobatic biplane. Matt is a member of various ASTM committees for Light-Sport Aircraft, is strongly involved in the aviation industry and is excited and proud to be able to help bring the aircraft of Sling to the US and to introduce aviation to more of the general public.“ I started flying over 30 years ago and have accumulated varied experience and ratings over the years. Aviation is my life and my work. To me aviation is the intersection of mind, body, and emotion. When you fly you need to have your mind clear and focused on managing and understanding everything that is going on around you with cold clarity. Physically, you need to manipulate the controls with coordination and precision. And then there is a great emotional response of awe and exhilaration at being able to project yourself in all 3 dimensions and gain perspective of the incredible world we live in. There is nothing else that I know of that engages every part of me all at once – other than flying. And couple this to the fact that aviation is an endless source of learning and challenge, and you have a passion that will last a lifetime. Flying the Sling is as close to the dream of flying as I’ve ever imagined. Every day that I fly I feel like the luckiest person alive.”

Jean d’Assonville

CO-CEO

Born in 1963 to a mother who was in the South African Air Force (SAAF) during the Second World War and a father who was technical wizard in all practical fields, he grew up loving aircraft and what made them fly. From an early age his father taught him the numerous mechanical skills underlying the creation of machines. By the age of eight he had designed, built and flew several model aircraft. By thirteen he was building and racing motorcycles which became his passion. At eighteen, he matriculated at Pretoria Boys High and was intimately involved in motorcycle racing both as a rider and as a mechanic. By modifying and maintaining motorcycles he made extra money and honed his mechanical skills.

Before serving his two year commitment in the SAAF, he enrolled at South African Airways (SAA) as a trainee aircraft technician with the aim of becoming a flight engineer. He was awarded the top student prize in all subjects including practical. At the age of 23 he bought his first semi complete home-built aircraft as an entry into aircraft building. He began learning to fly and loved it so much that he redirected his life to full time flying.

He started a flight school with a partner teaching students about flight by starting them on model aircraft, then handglides, then microlight aircraft, before putting them into heavier machines. At that time he became an Approved Person (AP-similar to US A&P/IA) for the inspection of tube and fabric aircraft in South Africa. In 1998 he bought and built a kit aircraft which caught the attention of the owner of Shadowlite Aircraft, a company which builds, distributes and supports the Jabiru aircraft in South Africa. This landed him the job of inspector and test pilot at the company. This led him to upgrade his AP privileges to include composite and aluminum airframes as well as wood and fabric. As the quality controller and test pilot at Jabiru for a period of eight years he supervised the building of, inspected and test flew over 200 aircraft.

Since September 2009 he worked on aircraft development and as the manager of production at Sling. His role has included structural testing of the aircraft, part improvement, flight testing and implementation and improvement of manufacturing procedures. In 2014 Jean moved to the USA to assist North American Sling customers.

 


Barry Jay

NORTH AMERICAN SALES MANAGER
As Sales Manager, Barry is responsible for sales of the Sling LSA, Sling 2, Sling TSi, and Sling HW kit aircraft and working closely with Matt Liknaitzky and Jean D’Assonville, he supports our dealers in their sales and marketing efforts. Barry comes to us with decades of experience in the general aviation and automotive industries. He brings expertise that ranges from new Piper and Mooney aircraft sales to managing Lexus national advertising, Toyota experiential marketing and Toyota’s aviation business development department. In addition, Barry’s understanding of growing markets comes from stints in Lexus customer service & dealer education as well as Toyota dealer planning. A private pilot with over 900 hours, Barry has been a member of the Sling Flying Club for over four years and has been a strong promoter of The Airplane Factory brand. As an FAA Safety Team Representative, Barry has been conducting aviation safety seminars for over 20 years and was recently reelected to the post of President of the Torrance Airport Association.

 

 


Mario Sanchez

GENERAL MANAGER

Mario Sanchez moved to SoCal to join our team as the General Manager. Mario is a results-driven operations and supply chain executive with over 25 years of experience leading manufacturing, logistics, and business operations across diverse industries. His expertise lies in streamlining processes, optimizing supply chains, and driving operational excellence to enhance profitability and efficiency using lean manufacturing and other process improvement techniques.

As a strategic leader, he specializes in business transformation, cost reduction, and team development, helping organizations scale and succeed in competitive markets. He has successfully led multi-million-dollar P&Ls, reduced operational costs, improved production efficiency, and strengthened supplier relationships on a global scale.

 

 

 


Edward Hefter

CUSTOMER SERVICE MANAGER

Edward Hefter was born and raised in Central Florida and then spent a little over 5 years getting his 4 year engineering degree in Georgia. From there, he headed to California in 1992 for a few years, planning on moving back to the East Coast. That never happened, but 30 years of manufacturing, running a few businesses, raising a family, and getting bitten by the flying bug did happen.

His father took up flying after Edward left home, but when he took Edward on his first G.A. flight in his Cherokee 180 over Florida’s Space Coast, he was hooked. Edward’s father quit flying and was going to sell the Cherokee, so in 2019, Edward got his private pilot’s certificate, brought the Cherokee to California, and took many vacations and transported many animals with Pilots and Paws.

He got involved in Experimental Aircraft when complaining to a pilot friend about the price of a glass panel and autopilot upgrade for his Cherokee. His friend, who built his own Lindy-winning Velocity, convinced him to build his own plane rather than staying stuck in the Certified world. One demo flight in a Sling TSi with Jean and there was no turning back. Edward bought the empennage and soon bought the Quick Build kit, too.

During the build, Edward did some consulting for The Airplane Factory in Torrance and eventually convinced them to hire him. From there he embedded himself in TAF, with Sling in South Africa, and with all the fantastic customers that brighten his day. His Sling TSi was completed in 2024, just in time for Oshkosh, and has already flown family to vacations, pets for Pilots and Paws, and customers on their demo flights.