Hi Maoraigh,
Yes. That was me in N260AP. It was a bit of festive fun as I couldn’t get together with my kids over Christmas due to the virus. It was a sort of giant Christmas card in these miserable times. I didn’t expect the warm response it generated.
That was a well flown Christmas tree! Am pleased to see 260AP is in good hands, which in its former life was owned by the flying club in Viterbo, Italy, and registered I-ISAK. It was boiught by a friend of mine in the USA and I picked it up from Viterbo in December 2002 and flew it to the UK via Cannes and Toussus.The original plan was to transfer to the N-reg and fly her to the States but the fun then began as trying to de-register an I-reg aircraft is a nightmare…it took 18 months. I carried out the post-certification test flight from EGLS in May 2003. By then we had sold 260AP to a guy at Biggin Hill so the Transatlantic trip never happened, but I did do a few hours training with the new owner to get him up to speed with the Marchetti.
The last I heard of 260AP was when I was on my way back from Corsica and somewhere over mid France in my 260 I heard the callsign on the same FIS frequency; he was on his way to Spain…we exchanged compliments of the day, as you do when two Marchettis come across each other, and continued on our respective ways.
If your Dornoch based, (in R. R-B’s hangar?) I’ll likely meet you once I can land-away again. I’ve a Dornoch landing card.
Maoraigh,
Yes. I share the ground with him at the moment. I have an artic wrap-up set of covers so out on the grass by his hangar but well protected. Also, I have hangarage at EGKT. Are you in a hangar at EGPE?
I think that Dickie is dreaming of the odd barbeque on the southside of his hangar. Roll on the warm days.
Maybe the restrictions on landing away will lift on Jan 16th, though we can at least fly, if not land away without special permission.
We’ll no doubt meet up sometime.
Marchettiman,
Good history there. I have the Italian books too.
I first flew an SF260 in around 1990. It belonged to the Irish Air Corps. I had a few hours in the Weston area, and a bird strike while accelerating past that big tree by the side of the runway. I had another bird strike on the 7th of this month too! No damage.
I got N260AP in 2014 and it has needed a lot of work. But, it now has the benefit of a zero-timed engine (metal in the oil filter), new fuel lines (long story), and decent glass avionics +++. All those high tensile steel rivets make for expensive bills. We had the underwing panels off and that involved many hours of work. (Now’s your chance Norflyer!) The plus side is, of course, that I fly knowing the wing spars are in excellent condition. In fact, it’s had a modified IRAN spread over the first two years of my ownership. The airframe has been brought up to scratch too.
Silvaire wrote:
’ve copied the digitized fil
Let me know if you need the vectors when you are ready to print the stencils for your 260 ;)
Frozentoes wrote:
Hi, Compliments of the season from another SF260D owner. I’m new on this site.
Hi! Looks like we are close to establishing a SF260 EU Owners and Operators group ;)
Frozentoes wrote:
We had the underwing panels off and that involved many hours of work. (Now’s your chance Norflyer!)
Fortunately we have “new” wings. Only thing is the doubler plate SB that will be performed.
The progress is quite slow during the holidays, but I guess that’s the way it is. I have brought a few bits and pieces to the home shop over Christmas for prep and powder coating. The landing gear should be ready to reassemble very soon.
The fuselage will get stripped and prepped for paint mid January. Our avionics guy has a type rating class in January so not expecting much progress here till February.
Marchettiman,
With your huge experience, are you certified to give differences-training on the SF260? It’s for an acquaintance.
differences-training on the SF260
Don’t round out early or chop the power – designed to be flown like a jet. The Italian air force cadets would then go onto the F-104 ‘widow maker’ :)
@RobertL18C wrote:
The Italian air force cadets would then go onto the F-104 ‘widow maker’ :)
I don’t want to disturb this impressive post (that will be my best series for the winter), but, intrigued buy the F-104, gave a look on Wikipedia, and read “it was developed as an all-weather multirole aircraft in the early 1960s”
What does “all weather aircraft” mean for a fighter ?
