Marchetti SF260a

[vandereydt]

Hi all
The SF 260 is a wonderfull aircraft
Does anybody have experience knowledge on this aircraft
The things to look out for, the absolute nogo's, ....
Maintenance issues?

Thanks
Ronny

[Small Rodent Driver]

Nothing I can impart about the SF260 other than..... Want One!!!!!!

[dirkdj]

One of the mechanics who works on my aircraft was in charge of maintenance of the fleet of SF260s in the Belgian Air Force before his retirement. There is one sitting in a hangar somewhere on our field that seems to take an eternity to get fixed. If you are thinking about this one, better do some research.

[Dave Clarke Fife]

Ronny, I have no direct operational experience nor maintenance experience of the 260 but wish i did have. My old company (no prizes for guessing who) used to have one painted in the old company colour scheme. Despite my deepest desire and wishes to get my hands on this little beauty, much to my chagrin, they insisted i fly their airbus instead.





Photo copyright belongs to Glyn Charles Jones

[Curlytips]

Same answer. No technical knowledge, but flew the 260d with Fighter Pilots USA, and it was stunning. Instructors were all ex-F15 pilots and rated it highly. They also did multiple "missions" daily so commercially they had to be reliable. Can imagine that spares availability could be the problem.

[vandereydt]

thanks all


What I m looking for is the hidden issues with the Marhetti
Availability of parts is one (cost another )
Operational issues
Maintenance issues, where do I find qualified engineers to work on it
Can the panel be upgraded to modern standards?
.....


Thanks all


Ronny

[Above The Clouds]

Curlytips
Same answer. No technical knowledge, but flew the 260d with Fighter Pilots USA

I delivered one of those 260's to the Fighter Pilots USA in the early 90's it was an ex Irish Army Air Corp one, needless to say I had a great time from Ballykelly to California

[S-Works]

My friend owns one. His is ITAF and real delight to fly. If you drop me a PM I can put yo in contact, I am sure he will be happy to share his extensive knowledge of them.

You could also talk to the maintenance guys at Leicester, Metair I think they are called as they maintain it.

[Marchettiman]

SF260

I first flew one in 1969, have owned mine since 1982 and have flown every model over the years. Nothing compares! Message me and I will happily help with any questions you may have.

[n5296s]

I've flown one and it is a very impressive aircraft - a fully aerobatic (including inverted) cross country IFR capable aircraft. My aerobatics instructor owns one and uses it as his personal plane - he says that when eventually he retires and sells the school, it is the one aircraft he'll keep.

I'm happy to put you in touch with him if you want.

As for using loads of runway - like the Cirrus it is a 61 knot (maximum) stall speed aircraft, so Vref is in the high 70s. Plus apparently it has really unpleasant stall characteristics when close to the ground and you really don't want to go there. So you probably need 2500 feet to operate with confidence. But not 8000.

(Of course it stalls exactly the same at 200 feet as it does at 10000. But you need a bit of space to recover since it tends to drop a wing hard).

[megan]

A pilot report by a gentleman who knows his stuff, mentions a few weaknesses in his commentary. Used by the Singaporean Air Force as a trainer at one stage.

Marchetti S.F.260 Pilot Report

With 800 sold to the military one would think spares would be available from some where.

[Cows getting bigger]

When I win the lottery I'm going to buy two of them; can't be bothered twiddling my thumbs when maintenance time arrives.

[megan]

That would be the turbine version CGB?

[Langball]

I had some indirect involvement with the Irish SF260W machines (not recently!). They were very reliable, given that they were used for primary training (pilots trained on the Marchetti and Fouga Magister, then when they got their wings they went onto the Cessna 172).

Only recurrent problem was the 'engine bearer arms' as we called them. The front undercarriage was bolted directly onto the engine cradle rather than directly onto the front bulkhead. And every time we did NDT on the 2 lugs they were cracked. There was an approved procedure to grind out the cracks (to a certain depth), but this was not very successful.

I know there was an AD about cracking at the end of the main wing spars. Both spars were connected together by two cheek plates at the root, and there was an AD (can't remember the exact details) about a repair. Make sure this is done.

There was also another AD about cracking on one of the pivot arms for the undercarriage mechanism (with was an electric motor and a series of rods).

Only other problem (that I can remember) was that under the anti slip coating at the entrance to the cockpit the skin was liable to get some flexing from constant use and this cracked a small stringer underneath (not primary structure). Easily checked by looking up underneath the wheel well.

Most common problems was actually:
1. a live mag due to fracture of the ground wire onto the magneto. Could never understand why they didn't just put a loop on the wire with some extra length and
2. the release for the inertia reel on the safety harness. The wire connecting the lever of the side wall to the reel kept breaking. At one stage I went to a bicycle shop to get a replacement cable.

I know parts were very expensive, and could take a year to get. The air inlet filters were very expensive considering what was in them. We even made replacement elements ourselves from those used on the Cessna engine.

All in all very simple and reliable. But parts were expensive and took a long time to get.

[Newforest2]

For Ronny.

I can give you the contact details for the blue jobbie if you wish.. He lives in Germany.

[DaveUnwin]

I flew an SF260TP a few years back - fantastic machine.

[rigorcreds]

Landing gear system malfunction sf 260

Hello. Is anybody here has the same problem with mine. Our sf 260 retracts its landing gear even on ground after putting its battery on. Feedbacks are appreciated. Thank you

[fjade143]

SF 260 FH PROBLEM please help

Hi good morning, i am from the Philippine, is anybody here using SF 260 FH? Sorry to intrude but here in the Philippines i am flying the SF 260 FH, and i have a problem of its landing gear because it just suddenly retract while the plane is still on the ground. Does anybody here experience such problem? Please help by sharing to me your experience. Thank you.

[boybakal]

SF-260 Unintentional Gears Retraction

Good day, I've recently been flying the SF-260 and it's an amazing machine. One thing to look out for is its gears though. During startup, as another pilot switched the battery ON, the gears somehow retracted. Caused some damage to the aircraft, gas was leaking etc..

I'm new to this plane and this incident has caused myself and my colleagues some concern.

I'd like to ask if anyone here would have any information why this would happen? Thanks!

[FLEXJET]

"Mechanically, the weakest part of the Meteor is its landing gear retraction system. It's super sensitive to rigging and even the slightest amount of adjustment creep results in some very expensive noises. As if to prove a point, Harry pointed out that his is the only one of the original airplanes not to have been on its nose after the nose gear collapses on roll-out. The culprit is an adjustable. spring loaded actuating rod that is either easily bent or misadjusted The up locks also required some updating and the yellow bird of the duo had the unfortunate distinction of having its gear come banging out during a four G pull out, which ruptured everything within reach of the actuator mounting brackets.''

Marchetti S.F.260 Pilot Report


Is says here that limit switches are sensitive:
THE SIAI MARCHETTI SF260 LANDING GEAR