Service

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pietromarx
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Re: Service

Post by pietromarx »

Do you really need a Diamond Authorized Service Center to handle a DA-40? I've tried both types over many years and never found an issue that a regular A&P couldn't deal with. There is really not much specific to a Diamond that goes wrong or can't be dealt with by any decent mechanic. Certainly nothing that warrants a surcharge. The plane has few ADs and no real quirks. The propellers, engine, avionics, and pretty much anything that isn't made of glass or carbon fiber are third-party parts. (The old adage that an airplane is just "a collection of parts flying in close formation" is very true for the DA40.)

So ... why not use any competent A&P?
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AndrewM
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Re: Service

Post by AndrewM »

For some items I have found it is best to go with a service center that is authorized by Diamond. We use Falcon Air at KLWM for most annuals. One year I took the plane to Premier as I wanted to see if Falcon had missed anything, and also we were having ADS-B installed, so wanted a shop that had done a lot of other DA40 installations, rather than a shop that was learning. Premier did not find much that had been missed, so I was happy.

Both Premier and Falcon could not resolve a slipping trim wheel issue, so I took the plane to Infinity Aviation at Nashua, NH which is a Diamond Authorized center. They fixed that first time. I was quite frustrated with Falcon as I printed off all the exact stuff from DAN about how to fix the trim wheel issues and still that was ignored and the issue persisted. Infinity followed those instructions and the issue was resolved, first time.

Next, the gas strut in the fwd canopy closure device needed replacement. I asked the mechanic there how the job would be done, and just did not feel comfortable that he was experienced enough with Diamonds so took it to Infinity and they fixed it easily.

My view is that for a regular annual, a regular shop like Falcon does a fine job. They know the engine extremely well and I feel comfortable. However, something really, really specific / tricky to Diamonds, I will take the plane to a DIA service center.

Also, every 3 years or so, will have the annual done at a DIA service center. just to make sure nothing is missed.
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mhoran
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Re: Service

Post by mhoran »

pietromarx wrote: Mon Apr 05, 2021 7:02 am Do you really need a Diamond Authorized Service Center to handle a DA-40? I've tried both types over many years and never found an issue that a regular A&P couldn't deal with.
Agreed. We'd gone to an A&P for the first 5 years of ownership but tried out the service center when we had some quirks that still hadn't gotten sorted over the years. As AndrewM pointed out, it seems a balance between the two may be the best bet -- service centers can usually debug the quirks pretty quickly, but so far as regular service goes can be pretty expensive.

Lincoln Park Aviation seems to be a balance between the two -- they're a service center and also work on avionics, so I'd save a trip -- but I can't find any PIREPs. So far as A&Ps go around NYC, they're a dime a dozen so I'd prefer to get a referral from others who may have gone that way.
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briankelly327
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Re: Service

Post by briankelly327 »

I’ve found Paragon out of CDW does an excellent job, and the top mechanic there also serves as a maintenance advisor for Savvy, which was important to me in thinking about the why of maintenance instead of throwing parts at the plane.

Paragon is certainly not cheap, but I can count on them to get job done right the first time. I’d rather pay more once, than have to visit multiple cheaper shops who fail to fix issues. As an example, paragon found an induction leak missed by multiple shops, advised against surefly sparing headache there, fixed flight control friction issue caused by another shop, the list goes on.

For a few peculiar diamond specific issues, I usually do a little research on DAN and reach out to diamond support, and Paragon has fixed those bugs no problem (failed canopy locking pin comes to mind here).
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mhoran
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Re: Service

Post by mhoran »

briankelly327 wrote: Mon Apr 05, 2021 2:51 pm I’ve found Paragon out of CDW does an excellent job, and the top mechanic there also serves as a maintenance advisor for Savvy, which was important to me in thinking about the why of maintenance instead of throwing parts at the plane.
Fantastic, thanks for the recommendation. I'd completely forgotten about Paragon, but they were recommended by C&W who I've gone to in the past for avionics work. Would be nice to get everything done in one stop.

It sounds like you've had some of the same quirks we've run into over the years and if Paragon has been able to take care of those then it sounds like we might have a one stop shop.
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mhoran
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Re: Service

Post by mhoran »

With our annual behind us, I wanted to follow up on the experience I had just yesterday with Take Flight.

We brought our plane to a mechanic based at our home field for our annual this year. They did a great job, but we were left with some lingering Diamond-specific squawks. With my upcoming Bahamas trip I wanted to make sure that these issues were addressed. As nice as it might be for the mechanic I'd have to fly down there, I'd rather pay to get those squawks fixed now rather than cut into my vacation budget!

Take Flight still had my Guardian CO detector unit that was pulled back at annual in 2019. I was still waiting to get that replaced, so I thought I'd have them look at my Amsafe airbags (due for replacement) and another squawk that had been driving me crazy for the entire time we'd owned N269RB: a canopy latch that never *quite* closed properly, and has a history of opening in flight. Not something I wanted to have happen on my upcoming trip.

Happy with the estimate I received, I scheduled the work for yesterday. Unfortunately the CO detector has changed interface and the adapter cable did not arrive in time. Also, the Amsafe airbags are back-ordered. However, upon arrival I was greeted by Take Flight's new head of maintenance James (Jim) Markey and was immediately impressed.

Take Flight pulled my canopy off and found a number of issues that were contributing to the canopy failures. First, the bowden cable to the right side locking pin was too long. This was replaced by the previous owner at some point before 2014 and was installed incorrectly. Second, because of the incorrectly installed bowden cable, the gas strut we had replaced a few years ago had gone bad already (they're supposed to have a seven year life.)

It took all day, but I'm happy to report that my canopy is good as new. I had no idea how secure the canopy should feel when closed -- but now I do. Jim and his team debugged a few other squawks and even fixed a few things they noticed when the cowling was off. I have to say I'm thoroughly impressed, and so glad that I gave them a second chance.

I do have to go back to get the CO detector installed (few weeks delay) and the airbags (few months delay). But for now the major issues are resolved and I'm just so thrilled that the door is working properly. I'm not sure what I'm going to do for my next annual, but at this point I'm open to considering giving them a crack at that as well. Jim used to work for (with?) Savvy Maintenance and stressed his frustration with shops overcharging and taking advantage of airplane owners -- something that definitely resonates with me.
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