Hehe Volker, as to me I marvelled first on the cockpit and instruments shown on the early pictures of the SF260. I was not particularly attracted by the shape, on the contrary of women ? But it's like the other RealAir planes : you learn to appreciate them as you fly them and finally you end up liking the real counterpart if that was not the case in the beginning :()

The SF260 is like an ugly duckling on the ground. It looks clumsy and awkward. The angle at which it rests on the ground is not good either, and the wheels and struts add to the ugliness.Then, like so many aircraft with tip tanks, you get it into the air, and hey presto, a beautiful aircraft. Perfect proportions and those Italian lines.Kind Regards,Rob Young

>The SF260 is like an ugly duckling on the ground. It looks>clumsy and awkward. The angle at which it rests on the ground>is not good either, and the wheels and struts add to the>ugliness.>>Then, like so many aircraft with tip tanks, you get it into>the air, and hey presto, a beautiful aircraft. Perfect>proportions and those Italian lines.>I even think it looks good on the ground! It's kind of along the lines of the all wooden Falco..................since it shares the same designer, as I remember.L.Adamson

Rob and Sean,I've purchased all the RealAir products to date. I began with yourproducts on the Fly! forum, and of course have moved into FS2K, FS2K4.I'll gladly pay the small upgrade for the SF260 - it's my favoriteplane to fly!I'll purchase the next RealAir product in Fall of this year too.I'm convinced RealAir has the best aircraft for the Microsoft FlightSimulator - I'd purchase anything you offer - even if it was a chicken with a broken wing (haha).JerryG

Hi Volker,Not much room for another Twin Otter after Lago's. But it is an aircraft we certainly like. Super Cub is great too but we want to do a jet engined aircraft for a change.Thanks for your support and encouragement. Very much appreciated.All the Best,Rob

I flew the SF260 all day today after I purchased it this morning. I am not exaggerating, ALL DAY !!! with an occasional break to hit the kitchen. What a great aircraft. That coupled with my new PC, which FS runs so smoothly on , and some new So Florida scenery, and I will remember this day for a long time!! Can't wait to get home from work tomorrow, so I can fire up the 260 again.

Question on the SF260:I have been unable to find any mention of Pitot tube Heat. Does this aircraft not have that, and if so, has anyone had problems with airspeed indication in icing conditions?

Hi Bob,This aircraft must not be flown into known ice conditions because it does not have Pitot heat.If you fly into a cold cloud then the airspeed indicator will read zero or so due to icing. If you quit icing conditions the airspeed indicator will function normally again after a while.

I hope that does not imply that one would fly it into known icing if it did have pitot heat! :)

I sent an email questioning this issue to the RAS web site, and the answer was that you can program a key in assignments in the FS9 menu to turn pitot heat on and off. Going to do that this evening.