Picture of Diamond Aircraft at NBAA

News and Announcements.

Moderators: Rick, Lance Murray

User avatar
rwtucker
5 Diamonds Member
5 Diamonds Member
Posts: 1283
Joined: Thu Feb 21, 2013 11:24 pm
First Name: Rob
Aircraft Type: DA40
Aircraft Registration: N831BA
Airports: KFFZ KEUL
Has thanked: 100 times
Been thanked: 110 times

Re: Picture of Diamond Aircraft at NBAA

Post by rwtucker »

Gasser wrote:When you buy an airplane your buying the company and I've not seen an interest in treating the customer in a way that might generate the repeat customer like Cirrus has.
I agree with that. My Cirrus friends regularly put me to shame in relaying how engaged, responsive, and helpful they find the Cirrus people. The Diamond corporate culture is cut from another mold.
User avatar
Star57
3 Diamonds Member
3 Diamonds Member
Posts: 179
Joined: Sat Oct 29, 2011 4:15 pm
First Name: Frank
Aircraft Type: DA40
Aircraft Registration: C-FRZA 40.509
Airports: CYBW
Has thanked: 11 times
Been thanked: 7 times

Re: Picture of Diamond Aircraft at NBAA

Post by Star57 »

After owning a DA40 for 4 years, we had the painfull experience of having to replace a flap, that gave us the opportunity of learning how poor and inadequate the service is.
The flap had to be made to order in Austria, no body spare parts anywhere ! Shame on you Diamond Aircraft.
User avatar
CFIDave
5 Diamonds Member
5 Diamonds Member
Posts: 2678
Joined: Wed Nov 07, 2012 3:40 pm
First Name: Dave
Aircraft Type: OTHER
Aircraft Registration: N333GX
Airports: KJYO Leesburg VA
Has thanked: 231 times
Been thanked: 1473 times

Re: Picture of Diamond Aircraft at NBAA

Post by CFIDave »

Paul wrote:As is typical with Diamond, the seats don’t recline
Are you sure about this? The DA62 lumbar adjustment lever is evident in the photo, and in the latest DA42s the friction lever for reclining the front seats has been replaced with a much more convenient button (hydrolock) system. I recall seeing a button for reclining the front seats on each side of the center console on photos of the DA62 with the gray interior featured in multiple magazine articles.
Paul wrote:You must need to land this plane pretty flat because there wasn’t much clearance between the ground and the tail. I put my backpack in the pic below for scale.
The tail ventral fin appears to be no lower than that of the DA42, in which I've never felt the need to maintain a flat landing attitude. Unlike with DA40s, I've never heard of a DA42 with a tail strike. Due to their similarities I expect the DA62 shouldn't be any different to land than a DA42.
Epic Aircraft E1000 GX
Former DA40XLS, DA42-VI, and DA62 owner
ATP, CFI, CFI-I, MEI
User avatar
GLDAS
4 Diamonds Member
4 Diamonds Member
Posts: 209
Joined: Thu Apr 28, 2011 3:21 pm
First Name: Dan
Aircraft Type: DA40
Aircraft Registration: N969GL
Airports: LL10
Has thanked: 7 times
Been thanked: 18 times

Re: Picture of Diamond Aircraft at NBAA

Post by GLDAS »

Paul wrote: [snip]
- Also was told Diamond is working on slinging 6 cylinder engines on it at some point.
[/snip]
Paul,
Thanks for the pictures. My trip to NBAA fell victim to a broken American Airlines plane on Wednesday, and I was really looking forward to being there.

You are not the first person to report someone talking about a six cylinder or pressurized DA62 sometime in the future. Whoever told you that is misinformed. The six cyninder DA62 is not even a science project right now, and pressurizing this airframe is likewise not under consideration: the doors are way too large. So says DAI-C.

Additionally, it's not obvious that a huge injection of power would yield a meaningful increase in speed with this wing. One would have the opportunity to carry and consume more fuel, though.

Do you recall who told you about a six cylinder project?
-dan
Dan P. Eldridge
Great Lakes Diamond
User avatar
CFIDave
5 Diamonds Member
5 Diamonds Member
Posts: 2678
Joined: Wed Nov 07, 2012 3:40 pm
First Name: Dave
Aircraft Type: OTHER
Aircraft Registration: N333GX
Airports: KJYO Leesburg VA
Has thanked: 231 times
Been thanked: 1473 times

Re: Picture of Diamond Aircraft at NBAA

Post by CFIDave »

Regarding eventual pressurization of the DA62:

As has been noted elsewhere here, the single-engine piston DA50 (upon which the DA62 fuselage and doors are based) was originally proposed as a pressurized aircraft way back around 2007. The DA62 is really just the wings/engines/systems of the DA42-VI mated to the fuselage of the DA50 -- one of the reasons Diamond was able to build the first DA52 (now DA62) prototype so quickly. So if Diamond chose to pressurize the DA62 it might be able to leverage some of its original pressurized DA50 design already incorporated into the DA62 fuselage.

However...when asked at a press conference at Aero a few years ago about pressurization of the then-DA52 (now DA62) twin, Diamond CEO Christian Dries said it would not happen. Diamond apparently had a difficult experience going through the process of trying to get the pressurization of the D-Jet certified, and thus was not very enthusiastic about trying again with the DA52/DA62. The original certification standards and certification process that were applied to earlier Cessna/Piper/Beech pressurized twins in the 60's and 70's were much less rigorous than those currently required for certifying new pressurized aircraft designs.

So the bottom line is that a pressurized DA62 is doubtful.
Epic Aircraft E1000 GX
Former DA40XLS, DA42-VI, and DA62 owner
ATP, CFI, CFI-I, MEI
Post Reply