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I “wasted” less money buying a 40 and flipping it than I would have done renting a beat up Cessna. And, it was a richer training experience. For me at least, in trying to go from zero to DA62 in as little calendar time as possible, minimizing the expense was pretty low on the priority list in any event.

As another alternative, I vaguely recall AFIT may have a DA40 at one of their locations. The DPE I used thought pretty highly of them for the Instrument work, I just couldn’t work out the schedule.

Here in the US the insurance for the DA62 for training might be prohibitive. Having your other ratings first and a bunch of hours would change that. Since it is a seller's market for the DA40 I think you'd be turning it over in a year or so and you wouldn't have spent that much money on it.

Hello all -

I brought N100DA back from the DIA Canada factory late Thursday.

Useful load (with AC, WX radar, O2, 3rd row seats, TKS and metallic paint) is 1315#.

(Factory advertised no "options" plane useful load is 1600+#) Air Conditioning was biggest "weight penalty" at 90+# (well worth it!).

Performance is at or better than the numbers in the AFM, for TO&L, cruise and OEI for the flying I've done so far.

Plane flys very well, either by hand or on the GFC700 (our DA42 had the older KAP140 autopilot - GFC700 is "much" IMPROVED!!) NXi still needs an additional software update through DIA/Garmin (approval coming sometime this fall??) to use GTX345 and Flight Stream along with the "visual approach" feature that are already usable with the Cirrus and Beech/Cessna G1000NXi.

WX radar has a big dish in the nose with an "advertised" effective range of 160NM - haven't had the chance to use it very much (yet!). Air Conditioning, at 90 deg yesterday on the ramp, kept plane comfortable, but not cold. It can be used once the left engine is running (dedicated 100 Amp Alternator on that side), or can be powered by a GCU with engines off.

Performance at 10-12,000 MSL is approximately (engine power shown as "% load, fuel mixture and prop pitch controlled by ECUs - only two "thrust levers" in cockpit):

60% Load, 160 KTAS, 6 gal per side, 12 GPH
70% Load, 170 KTAS, 7 gal per side, 14 GPH
80% Load, 180 KTAS, 8 gal per side, 16 GPH

Cabin height is about 4-5 inches taller than our 42 (no more "bumping" headset in turbulence)

Width is 14" wider than DA42 (which is approx 6" wider than Cirrus SR22?)

As far as CG goes, if you have more than "350# of pilot(s)" in the front seat(s), along with full TKS and full main tanks (worst case for forward CG), and the rest of the plane empty, you are pushing the forward CG. This happened when doing a "check out flight" yesterday (we were at 430# "up front"). To solve the CG, we put 30# ballast in the aft baggage area.

With one 180# passenger (or more) in the middle row, with the same "worst condition" CG (full mains and full TKS), we were good for 430# of "pilots" up front and no "ballast" in the aft baggage area needed.

John

Arrival back from DIA Canada Next day -

John, congrats on your new DA62! Was your plane built in Canada (62.CXXX) or Austria (62.XXX)?

Did you pick up the plane from the Canada factory by yourself? You might be interested to know that there's another new DA62 (I will be participating in the factory delivery/ferry flight/transition training with its new owner) coming to Michigan next month.

CFIDave wrote:John, congrats on your new DA62! Was your plane built in Canada (62.CXXX) or Austria (62.XXX)?

Did you pick up the plane from the Canada factory by yourself? You might be interested to know that there's another new DA62 (I will be participating in the factory delivery/ferry flight/transition training with its new owner) coming to Michigan next month.

Hi Dave -
It was built in Austria, like yours - 62.078.

We (my wife and I and another couple) drove/flew to the London factory 7/31. We flew 8/1 for its acceptance flight with Trevor.

We (2 of us for factory check-out) flew with Rob (from DFC) after the acceptance flight and flew with him again Thursday morning. I flew it back to PTK, via PHN, late Thursday afternoon (my wife drove our car back!).
My pilot friend and his wife flew their Baron back to PTK!

Send me a PM about your training and delivery in MI - I'll try to meet up with you in MI! Is the new 62 coming from Austria also?

John

Congratulations, John!

You said "middle row" so I assume you have the rear seats. (One of the DA62s in Long Beach is just a five seater, which apparently drops the insurance cost a bit. I'm not sure that makes sense, since you could always put luggage in that back row, it's not like they HAVE to be people...

Colin wrote:Congratulations, John!

You said "middle row" so I assume you have the rear seats. (One of the DA62s in Long Beach is just a five seater, which apparently drops the insurance cost a bit. I'm not sure that makes sense, since you could always put luggage in that back row, it's not like they HAVE to be people...

Insurance liability is based on number of seats. When I had the Aerostar, liability portion of insurance changed based on if I had four, five or six seats in the plane.

Tim

Colin wrote:Congratulations, John!

You said "middle row" so I assume you have the rear seats. (One of the DA62s in Long Beach is just a five seater, which apparently drops the insurance cost a bit. I'm not sure that makes sense, since you could always put luggage in that back row, it's not like they HAVE to be people...

Thanks Colin!

We decided on the "back seats" in order to fly with my son, his wife and their daughter (1 for now - more to come??!!)

One average size adult can fit in the back row using "both" seats - It's great for a couple of children though! WIth the installed "options, we have about 900# for pax and bags when carrying 50 gal fuel and full TKS.

The rear seat weighs 55#, so it takes away from useful load if not needed - I would like to see DAI come up with an "easily removable" option like in the Beech Baron - pull the "pins" and take the seat out versus having a certified Mechanic remove it, install the rear seat cover "tray" and bill you for approx 2 hours labor! You would gain a decent amount of room with the seat removed for more "stuff". The back row does fold very flat and there are a lot of baggage tie downs and straps pre-installed. With the rear seat "up", there is very little room for anything behind it - small soft sided bags only.

The middle row seats are 70/30 split and fold very flat too. Let me know when you're passing through, or near, PTK!

Let me know when you're passing through, or near, PTK!

I will. I'll be starting across tomorrow, LGB – OWD. I usually have a fuel stop at Burke Lakefront, but weather always makes a bunch of decisions for me on the 15hrs of flying, including the winds aloft.

Jason, I’ll love to get in contact with the lady from Texas if you would not mind. I’ve got to get on it since delivery is sometime next month.

Mike