What comes after a DA40?

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Antoine
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Re: What comes after a DA40?

Post by Antoine »

LIfe's gooooooooood :)
Capture d’écran 2017-08-03 à 17.50.58.png
Here's the flight. An awesome experience @ FL250 and max TAS of 219 knots

https://www.flightradar24.com/data/airc ... g/#e55b6e3
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carym
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Re: What comes after a DA40?

Post by carym »

Antoine,
Going that fast you can't enjoy the experience of flying. You need to slow down to my speeds of 140 kts :)
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rwtucker
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Re: What comes after a DA40?

Post by rwtucker »

Enough bragging. If god had intended us to fly that fast, he would have told Dries in a dream that he should build a DA55.
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Re: What comes after a DA40?

Post by Tommy »

Wow!!! I like it.
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CFIDave
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Re: What comes after a DA40?

Post by CFIDave »

Antoine: What was your avgas fuel burn to achieve 219 kt TAS?

For comparison, this weekend I managed a consistent TAS of 193 knots at 15,500 feet for 3 solid hours flying back from EAA AirVenture Oshkosh in our DA62, burning 17.4 gph of JetA (total both engines combined). But I only had a 7-knot tailwind for a groundspeed of 200 kts.

The DA62's turbos can only achieve 90% power at that altitude; I could have gone faster (95% power max continuous) had I flown lower at 14,500 feet.
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carym
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Re: What comes after a DA40?

Post by carym »

And we came back from OSH at 7500 feet showing about 165 kts TAS and burning 23 gal/hr of 100LL in the C310 (not turbocharged). I don't think Antoine wants to tell you his fuel burn because he doesn't want to know it ;)
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Re: What comes after a DA40?

Post by CFIDave »

rwtucker wrote:If god had intended us to fly that fast, he would have told Dries in a dream that he should build a DA55.
The upcoming 380 hp Lycoming iE2 FADEC engine in the retractable version of the DA50 -- specifically targeted at the North American market because it burns avgas -- is supposed to cruise at 220 knots TAS.

So no dreaming may be necessary. :)
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Antoine
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Re: What comes after a DA40?

Post by Antoine »

I am still "high" from today's flying. Definitely in love. Now that everything is working I can tell you the EA-400 is a wild wild mustang. OK, its take off performance is ...ahem..., but once you have 50 feet below you the ride starts!
@Dave: At FL250 max continuous power is really 75% because you're limited to 32" of MP, so it was burning about 24 GPH at 219 KTAS, on a very very hot day... I think it would easily exceed 220 KTAS on an ISA day.
The most dizzying experience was the descent from FL 250. Just leave eco cruise power (65%) and point the nose down at 1500 FPM.
The plane was rock solid at all times and apart from a ton of left rudder it was a breeze to fly.
Ah and did I mention the 8500 ft cabin at FL250 and the AC that kept us cool and comfy in scorching heat at LFHO?
I had a (Mooney) pilot friend on board and he was seriously impressed. He said it was like flying in a private airliner...

Too bad Extra went bust. With a little bit of additional engineering (better AP, other engine) the EA-400 could have become the ultimate step up plane for all of us who want to travel seriously... and have fun in puffy cumulus when no one's watching...

As it stands the EA-400 is a challenging but very rewarding "unfinished" prototype with its quirks, do's and don'ts. Don't even touch it if you're not a very technically interested pilot...
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Re: What comes after a DA40?

Post by Erik »

Gs is impressive when going down wind - but a fast plane saves the most time vs a slower plane when going INTO the wind when gs are lower. E.g. 190 vs 140 knots (assuming you aren't flying as high when going into the wind) then knock of 60-70 knots for a high wind day.... then figure out your speeds.

What kind of mooney did your friend fly? The faster moneys are faster still - but not with that cabin space, load carrying or pressurization - but I do jump off the runway quickly. Very quickly.
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jon1746
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Re: What comes after a DA40?

Post by jon1746 »

Saw the Extra on our field again today. N13EP.

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