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What a wild plane; Diamond DA-42

Waiting at the VIP entrance at Portland-Troutdale to take a prospective customer on a test flight... :jump:

da42fs9newseats000012n.jpg


Wow! What a nice young lady. It's obvious from her "bling" that she can easily afford this plane! I know that she bought her ring, necklace and earrings at Sothebys for $688,000 a few years ago...
http://blog.fjewelrystore.com/2006/12/08/sothebys-new-york-jewelry-sale-results/

da42test000002.jpg


I'd better make sure she's got her seatbelt on... Man, has she got a nice tan!:ernae:
da42test000001.jpg
 
azflyboy said:
The Twinstar is indeed amazing, and it's too bad the project has had some serious setbacks in the last couple of years.

Shortly after the aircraft went into production, it was discovered that if the aircraft took off with a dead battery (external power was used to start the engines) and the gear was retracted, the electrical load exceeded what the alternator could produce. When that happened, the ECU's for both engines shut off, thus shutting the engines down at a very inopportune time.

Diamond solved that problem by adding a couple of extra batteries and modifying the operating procedures for the aircraft, but the problems were just starting.

In April of 2008, Thielert (the engine manufacturer) filed bankruptcy, and shortly thereafter announced they weren't honoring existing warranties and were raising prices dramatically.

The price rise was so dramatic that each engine cost over $100/hr to operate, (not including fuel) versus about $12/hr for a conventional Lycoming of similar horsepower. Those figures made the DA42 completely uneconomical to operate, so Diamond stopped production in July 2008.

In early 2009, Diamond was able to secure approval to use engines from another (financially solvent) manufacturer, and deliveries to the US are expected to start again around mid-2010.
Click to expand...


Thanks AzFlyBoy for the history on that. I had heard of engine issues, but didnt know they shut down production.


Great screenshots Bill. Looks like a nice copilot there as well!



Bill
 
The Massey Twin Stars are Lycoming powered ..is there going to be a Lycoming powered ES model?
 
Not sure,

The single engine DA-40 was Lycoming powered via an IO-360 (180 HP).

I've got a number of hours in the DA-40, and while it had a wonderful view (due to the sitting position forward of the wing) I always found it an uncomfortable airplane for my 6'2", 250 lbs frame. I could not comfortably turn my head to the left wearing a baseball cap because the bill would hit the canopy, and my shins inevitably made contact with the lower panel. (seats don't adjust although the pedals do).

It was a lot of fun to fly on short trips, but a beast on long ones, and creeping around the ramp with that wingspan was always interesting.

Honestly, I was more comfortable in the -172, as long as I wasn't in a hurry.
 
TeaSea said:
I always found it an uncomfortable airplane for my 6'2", 250 lbs frame. I could not comfortably turn my head to the left wearing a baseball cap because the bill would hit the canopy, and my shins inevitably made contact with the lower panel. (seats don't adjust although the pedals do).
Click to expand...


I think they left that element out in the FS version. :d


(Sorry TeaSea, couldnt help it).

They have some very cool looking wings. I havent seen a plane with wings like that, except maybe a glider. Very thing and with that odd chop in the leading edge about half way out, like on the Kodiak. (This is on the single engine Diamond).

Bill
 
Lionheart said:
I think they left that element out in the FS version. :d


(Sorry TeaSea, couldnt help it).

What? No one can work that into the model??!! :bump:

Let me tell you about those wings...after you get used to the fact that they hang out there beyond the neutral zone.... The climb on this aircraft is amazing. Once you're off the ground you just shoot straight up, and the electric trim will not keep up. After you figure out you need to make the initial adjustment with the manual wheel, it's just a matter of touching the trim occasionally, but the thing climbs like the space shuttle.
Click to expand...
 
A couple of more pictures of Diamonds.

In looking at the photos, could one say that the fuselage assembly is the same on both of those, aside from the nose/cowlings?


Bill
 
I was going to say no, but from the windshield back they may very well be, until you get to the tail. The twin has larger vertical surfaces - longer upper fairing, and larger fin under the fuselage. And the area from the wing forward on the bottom is not as filled out in the twin.

Making one?:jump:

Brian
 
Lol at this plane...Embry Riddle picked a few up, in the hopes of replacing seminoles or some BS. How can you train for a multi when the controls, throttle mix. prop etc, are on one lever? WTF were they thinking...maybe good for Joe Schmo to go cruising, but for training? I think not. They already made the decision to get rid of them after only a few months of using them. No wonder tuition is so friggin high. Boys and their toys....
 
hey man, i didn't mean anything negative against people here, i must admit myself they are a neat lookin design, i just had to vent my disgust with a flight training schools choice of a training aeroplane...im just sayin why train with something that you would not see 99% of the time:engel016:
 
SO see post #8 of this thread, follow the link, and give us all the benefit of your experience...
 
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