Design and Development
The design is a conventional one, featuring a low wing and retractable tricycle undercarriage, and is often praised for its sleek lines and sporty appearance. The pilot and up to two passengers (or pilot and one student in trainer versions) are accommodated under a broad, extensively glazed canopy.
The SF.260 holds the airspeed records for aircraft in its class over the 100 km (62 mi) and 1,000 km (620 mi) closed circuits.
The aircraft was marketed in the United States in the late 1960s as the Waco Meteor, although it was in no way connected with the Waco aircraft company. Thirty SF.260EA – the most recent version – were delivered to the Italian Air Force in 2005 for a total price of €33 million ($40 million).
On 2010 was announced Alenia request conditions to assembly the aircraft at the Argentine factory Fábrica de Aviones Córdoba.
Read more about this topic: Aermacchi SF.260
Famous quotes containing the words design and/or development:
“What but design of darkness to appall?—
If design govern in a thing so small.”
—Robert Frost (1874–1963)
“Men are only as good as their technical development allows them to be.”
—George Orwell (1903–1950)