Aerobatic Cruisers
I enjoyed your article on aerobatic travelers in the December 2023 Aviation Consumer, but was disappointed to see no mention of my longtime favorite—the SIAI-Marchetti SF-260. True, there aren’t many around, about 100 in the USA at last count, but of all the airplanes you listed, only the aerobatic Bonanza even comes close in terms of excelling as both a fast traveler (170 to 175 knots cruise) and a strong, capable aerobatic performer.
Most of the 1500 or so models in the world were sold to smaller-country militaries as primary trainers, and the side-by-side seating is well-suited to training or for easy sociability on a cross-country trip. (The small back seat is tight, uncomfortable, with limited visibility and poor ventilation, so it’s best suited for luggage.) With a 260-HP Lycoming O-540 or IO-540 engine, Hartzell prop and most other moving parts sourced from well-known U.S. manufacturers, maintenance is straightforward for any experienced American A&P; the few exotic parts are available —for a hefty price—from Italy.
Unlike some of the other warbirds mentioned in the article, the Marchetti is designed to train third-world cadets without killing them, and it has no frightening bad habits once you learn its preferences.
There are two populations of SF-260s in this country. Most, about 80, were imported as new, Standard Airworthiness Certificate airplanes between 1980 and the late 1990s, by Frank Strickler through his Fox 51 FBO in Denton, Texas. The rest had varying lives as trainers or even light-attack fighters for nations from Italy and Belgium to the Philippines and Singapore to Nigeria, Panama and Venezuela.
Those imports are all experimentals and certainly require meticulous prebuy examination. The type followed Italian corporate mergers, from Marchetti to Agusta to Aermacchi and now to Leonardo. Production dwindled over the years, but wasn’t officially discontinued until a few years ago. The last ones imported new were entered in the competition for the Air Force Academy to replace the T-41 (C-172). They lost out to the ill-fated Slingsby Firefly.
The Marchettis imported new were mostly equipped with King radios and an S-TEC 50 autopilot, and are fine IFR travelers. A modest panel upgrade adds modern GPS and ADS-B capability. The published max operating ceiling is 21,500 feet. I’ve never tried that, although with the normally aspirated engine it does fine, moving along at about 152 knots at 17,500.
There used to be a dozen or so Marchettis at AirVenture every summer, parked with the smaller warbirds. The community has dispersed since Fox 51 closed 20 years ago, and in recent years only three or four have showed up for AirVenture. It’s hard to pin down prices, since they don’t come on the market often, but think somewhere between $175,000 for an old one to $350,000 for one of the latest, mid-1990s models and ones with new avionics, paint and engine upgrades.
I fell in love with Marchettis in 1984, and continue to love mine to this day. Find one, and it will ruin you for almost any other light airplane.
—Stephen Leonard, Boise, Idaho
How could we forget the good-performing SF-260 aerobat? Although, our article focused on certified models. Still, the Marchettis we’ve flown and worked on were solid machines. Want to fly one? A worthwhile adventure (and a good training experience) is at Air Combat USA in Orange County, California. The company operates a fleet of fully aerobatic SF-260s. That’s an Air Combat student grinning ear-to-ear by one the Marchettis in the photo. Top Gun for a day.
G100UL Flight Trial
Thank you for Jon Sisk’s GAMI G100UL unleaded avgas flight trial (and video interview on Aviation Consumer’s YouTube channel) in the December 2023 Aviation Consumer. This approved fuel should have been populated at fuel farms around the country over a year ago. Thanks for your good work in putting the fuel in the spotlight.
—Ben Serner, via email
