The SkyDancer SD-260 was an American aerobatic homebuilt biplane that was designed and produced by SkyDancer Aviation of Louisville, Kentucky, introduced in the mid-1990s. When it was available the aircraft was supplied as a kit.Purdy, Don: AeroCrafter - Homebuilt Aircraft Sourcebook, Fifth Edition, page 252. BAI Communications, 15 July 1998.
Design and development The SD-260 featured a strut-braced biplane layout, a two-seats-in-tandem open cockpit, with an optional bubble canopy, fixed conventional landing gear with wheel pants and a single engine in tractor configuration.
The aircraft fuselage was made from welded 4130 steel tubing. Its span had a wooden structure with four ailerons, a wing area of and was covered in doped aircraft fabric. The wing was supported by interplane struts, cabane struts and flying wires. The acceptable power range was and the standard engine used was the Lycoming IO-540 powerplant.
The SD-260 had a typical empty weight of and a gross weight of , giving a useful load of . With full fuel of the payload for the pilot, passenger and baggage was .
The standard day, sea level, no wind, take off with a engine was and the landing roll was .
The manufacturer estimated the construction time from the supplied kit as 1200 hours.
Operational history In March 2014 no examples were registered in the United States with the Federal Aviation Administration, although a total of two had been registered at one time. It is unlikely any remain in existence.
Variants SD-200 Basic Proposed model, not built SD-200C Classic Proposed model, not built SD-260 Base model, two built SD-300S Proposed single-seat model for advanced aerobatic maneuvers, not built
Specifications (SD-260)
See also List of aerobatic aircraft
References