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Flying 240 Miles In 22 Minutes

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A four-seat kit plane just turned a 242-mile hop into a masterclass in cross-country efficiency.

Mike, the pilot behind the MojoGrip channel, points his 2020 Sling TSi north out of his home base and doesn’t level off until Winston-Salem, North Carolina, comes into view 242 miles later. The video’s title, “Flying 240 Miles In 22 Minutes,” is a wink at aviation clickbait — the real flight ran closer to an hour and a half, edited down for the vlog. What’s left is a clean look at what a modern experimental aircraft can actually do on a routine cross-country leg.

• Mike flew his 2020 Sling TSi, a four-seat kit aircraft powered by a 141-horsepower turbocharged Rotax 915 iS, 242 miles north to Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
• Cruising at 9,500 feet with ATC flight following, the aircraft recorded 129 knots (148 mph) indicated airspeed, 148 knots (170 mph) true airspeed, and roughly 138 knots (159 mph) ground speed against a light headwind.
• Despite that cruise performance, the Sling TSi burned only 7.3 gallons of fuel per hour.

Smooth Air at 9,500 Feet

Mike climbs to 9,500 feet for the trip north, finding cool, calm air and a cooperative air traffic control team running flight following the whole way. That altitude choice matters for a turbocharged engine like the Rotax 915 iS — it lets the aircraft hold onto power output that a naturally aspirated engine would lose as the air thins out. The result, according to Mike, was “a relatively smooth flight” from takeoff to the approach into Winston-Salem.

The Numbers Behind the Cruise

The instrument readouts tell the real story of this leg. Indicated airspeed sat at 129 knots (148 mph), while true airspeed — adjusted for altitude and air density — climbed to 148 knots (170 mph). A light headwind knocked that back down to a ground speed of about 138 knots (159 mph), the number that actually determines how long the 242-mile trip takes.

What stands out is the fuel burn: just 7.3 gallons per hour at that cruise setting. For a four-seat aircraft moving at 170 mph true airspeed, that’s the kind of operating economy that kit-built aircraft like the Sling TSi were designed around.

The Sling TSi is a great performing and economical machine.

Winston-Salem Investment and Growth Advantages

This wasn’t a one-off joyride. Mike notes the Winston-Salem run is “one of many” trips tied to an aviation project he’s been building there — later identified as LookUp Flight Academy. He kept details close to the vest in the video itself, promising an announcement, but the repeat trips underline that this 242-mile route has become a working commute, not just content.

The Sling TSi as a Cross-Country Tool

Kit-built aircraft have a reputation for being weekend toys, but flights like this one push against that. A turbocharged four-seater cruising near 170 mph true airspeed on 7.3 gallons an hour puts the Sling TSi in the same conversation as far more expensive factory-built singles, which is exactly the pitch builders make for aircraft in this class — not unlike the argument owner-builders make for kit-built houses over on the ground.

The avionics and flight-following workflow Mike documents also show how far general aviation cockpits have come, a theme that shows up across other aviation content, from electric personal flyers like the Jetson One to military hardware like the F-16 demo flights out of Myrtle Beach.

Mike signs off the way he starts most of these legs — “See you at 9,500” — and with LookUp Flight Academy still taking shape in Winston-Salem back on the ground, this 242-mile run reads less like a one-time flight and more like a preview of the commute he’ll be making again.