DA40 as first plane?

[LTek1]

Hello, Everyone -

This may be a somewhat biased crowd, but I figured you would have the most specific knowledge of the DA40 costs, purchasing process, insurance, etc.

I've been flying for a relatively long time - 15 years - while having turned 30 this past February. That said, my hours are relatively low, as there has been a lot of starting and stopping to get through high school, then college, then starting a business.

I'm trying to tuck an airplane purchase in between "starting a business" and "starting a family," as I don't want another 15 years to go past.

First, my frustrations with renting: Having to clean everything out of the plane after every flight; having to drive back to the airport (35 minutes) the following morning to return the keys and paperwork if I get in after 8pm; ever-increasing minimum overnight hours.

My average mission has been hard to define. My wife and I have family up and down the east coast, as well as in Memphis TN. We have a family house in the Bahamas. Much of that is out of reach for a single; I understand that to really go somewhere at my own whim, I need to be in a FIKI twin.

But, I have low hours, I am not yet IFR, I don't have a multi. Reasonable trips for now are a few hundred miles with my wife, or lunch and dinner runs with another couple. I'm well aware of trading people for fuel in the DA40. I expect as I build time and capability, that my desired mission will increase.

There are so many adages.. "buy your last plane first" is one that makes financial sense, but I can't fly (or afford to fly) an IFR twin right now.

The DA40 appeals to me for a few reasons: Incredible safety record, good mission profile for two people, and what seems to be among the lowest fixed and hourly operating costs. I also have about 40 hours in a DA20, and love the way they fly, though the seats do wear out my back a bit. I like the way the DA40 looks; I hate flying high wing airplanes. I love the visibility of the Diamonds. I've sat in one several times and compared to a 152 or DA20, it's downright roomy. I'd take the interior styling over a 172 or 182.

My intention with my first plane is to build time and use it to get my IFR, pretty much immediately. But in the meantime, I want it to be a solid and safe vehicle for short vacations, visiting family around the state, going to my dad's house for the weekend.

So, for the next five years or so, the DA40 is a good fit for me. I'll step up to something more capable when my family and skill set are bigger.

So, the down side? Compared to, say, a used Cherokee Six, I'm spending more money for less capabilities. It's not an apples to apples comparison, but I'm having trouble keeping my sights on the mission. Sure, a Cherokee is going to burn more fuel and be more expensive to insure (especially as a six place), but saving $60,000 on the initial purchase buys a whole lot of fuel and insurance. Just about any used airplane, upgraded to perhaps a G500, looks attractive in price.

Are you starting to see my problem? I'm vacillating back and forth between the fancy new airplane that I want (DA40) and an older used airplane (the Cherokee was just an example) that would get the same or more job done for less over the five year period.

So the question is: How did you guys all decide on the DA40? Or do you think I should pare it back for my first plane? What did you own before the Diamond?

Thanks for the guidance, reality check, or whatever else you have to offer.

[ThomasD]

I bought a DA40 as my first plane in 2008 and love it. (Rented PA28s and 172s beforehand.)
Having your own plane avoids all those issues of course - you have it exactly as you want, when you want. It makes a tremendous difference with the pleasure and relaxation of flying.

My reason for the DA40 - simply the safest plane there is of the type.
Look at the accident stats - on average, 6 times less likely to die in it than the average Piper / Cessna / .. single.
It is lovely to fly, great view, great equipment.
I love the G1000 and GFC700, TAWS, TCAS and all that this gives - would be hard to get close to this in a Cherokee 6 (and would probably cost as much).

[41000]

I just bought my 1st- airplane 5weeks ago, a used 2001 Da40. At 54 and a professional piloting looked at everything from a tripacer to baron. I had settled on a archer, but the deal fell though and the diamond came into the picture. It was the last airplane I would consider until I looked at this forum mostly. I love it, absolutely a great machine! I also thought what I could have bought for the 125-140k range, a cherokee 6, mooney 201/231, bonanza and so on.. I came back to the same ideas, the da40, one of the best engines, low fuel burn for a decent speed, 4cyl engine to overhaul instead of 6, and I planned for worst case of $10 a gallon fuel for a short period of time. I have 19000 hrs and this is the most fun I have had flying, the kids and wife love it, plenty of room, great visability, and flys like baby.
It also should hold its value relatively well.

[Brichards]

I will probably get in trouble from forum members for what I am going to tell you. First and foremost, buy the plane you want not the one you think you can get by with. Most planes are safe as long as the pilot is safe. If you want speed and economy, buy the Mooney. If you want to haul weight, buy one of the 6's. If you want something in the middle, look at the Diamond. Whatever you do, you are almost sure to lose money on the investment but nothing fun is free. As far as maintenance costs go, my old 182 was much cheaper to maintain although those savings tended to flow out the exhaust pipe at a prodigious rate. I suspect the Mooneys with their landing gear and wet wings are a bit more expensive to maintain. The 6 series maintenance costs are bound to be somewhere in the middle. Apparently the old adage the there is no free lunch is true.

The big thing is to buy the avionics you want with the plane since it is much more expensive if you have them installed later.

[hookem80]

We purchased our 2004 G1000 DA40 N22QQ as a first plane about 5 years ago. At that time we were struggling with the same choices that you are today. I have to say that owning our DA40 has been an absolute joy and blessing! As an IFR training platform, the G1000 DA40's are exceptional. I had an out of date (1990 ) IFR rating that needed serious refreshing, and we easily accomplished that in the first 6 months.

My wife and I have flown N22QQ all over the country and we feel very safe in this airplane. Weather in the cockpit really helps the cross country flying experience. Fuel burn is very reasonable and can be as good as 20+ MPG.

Only negatives are sun loading on the bubble canopy, the stunning visibility comes at price and turbulence. The light wing loading on the 40ft wing span can magnify the bumps!

The maintenance costs for the airplane and the G1000 system have been quite reasonable

We would highly recommend the DA40 as a first and maybe last airplane to own!

[Robin]

Hello Lee

I did the same thing and bought my DA 40 XLS in 2010.

Very happy with it, some issues prop wise, and am much happier now with a LAME - maintenance engineer I can work with.

if you want to fly IFR, you have to consider icing...if you fly IFR I can really recommend the G 1000, the situational awareness is fantastic, I did my MECIR rating on a 30 year old Partenavia twin with 2 ADFs, and 2 VORs, no GPS. I would never ever fly IFR like that again. I much prefer the G1000 and the twin GPS. With the setup I have I am always in front of the aircraft.

When we evaluated buying a plane, my wife who has a PhD, and is a very capable researcher, soon researched that the DA 40 was streets ahead safety wise. She also found a study that part from smoking and drink driving, one of the best way to increase your life expectancy was to buy the safest care you can afford, I took that as buying the safest plane...

I fly in Australia - i have made other posts re the sun etc, I do not find this an issue at all.

Very happy with my DA 40, but hopefully test flying the DA 42 NG next week!

Cheers

Robin

[Gary]

I bought my 2003 DA40 in 2007. The DA40 works well for me. I frequently take my wife on trips of 150 to 300 miles and occasionally on longer 2 and 3 leg cross country trips. Sometimes we take my 15 year old son along. It's not the fastest or heaviest hauling 4 place but if the DA40 meets your requirements I don't think you will be disappointed. The best part is that it is more fun to fly than anything competing airplane I have flown. I spent a small fortune upgrading the airplane to G500 glass so if that's important you might want to spring for a G1000 instead of a steam gauge. Check out the wiki section above to see how the W&B characteristics have changed over the years.

[Chris]

If the DA40 fits your mission and your budget, then I don't think there is a better choice out there. It is a great IFR platform both for training and travel. Be aware that if you learn to fly IFR on a G1000, it would be very difficult (IMHO) to make the transition back to a standard steam gauge setup.

The lack of FIKI and inability to carry four typical adults does limit its versatility, and if you really need the capability of a twin for your typical mission, then I agree with Barry that you might be better off purchasing the plane you want rather than being in the position of selling one that you've outgrown in a couple of years. You might outgrow it faster than you think. I've taken our DA40 from Oregon to Illinois several times, so it is capable of making serious trips, but I don't think that I'd be comfortable taking it to the Bahamas, and I'm stuck on the ground for much of the winter here.

Best of luck in your decision. The DA40 was our first plane, and after four years, I still love flying it every chance I get.

[carym]

t me give you another angle to think about that hasn'tbeen discussed yet. Before I bought my DA42, I owned a 1958 Cessna 310B. I loved that C310. It was a dream to fly, very stable, operated well on one engine, and had "bullet proof" TCM O-470 engines.

I had 4 engine failures in that plane (convinced me that having a twin is worthwhile). At nearly every annual I was replacing cracked aluminum located at different places. When we re-skinned the horizontal stabilizer (there were just too many stop drill holes to continue doing that) we found that one of the ribs was never even put in the plane at the factory. While I flew that plane for 700 hours in all weather (it had no autopilot, no de-ice, only a storm-scope for weather), I decided I no longer felt safe not knowing what part of the plane would fall apart next (and at an inopportune time). Getting a relatively newer used plane, such as a DA40, should alleviate most of these issues. Getting an older used plane is initially cheaper, but you will pay more in repairs (unless you are quite lucky). Just something else to consider.

[Charles]

The DA40 is my first plane and it turned out to have been a perfect choice. I bought a steam gauge 2002 (or 2003 not sure) while I was doing my PPL on a DA20 in 2010. Got an IFR rating in the first year after the PPL. We've put about 250 hours on the plane since then, a lot of times with my wife and 2 young kids. We fly to the cottage 100nm away with it almost every weekend in the summer and I use it about every other week for business to go to an office 300nm away. You can get a good sense of it on Flightaware: http://flightaware.com/live/flight/CFLEV

I think it is a pretty economical airplane. We flew with 4 light adults from Montreal QC to Hyannis MA with a stop in Burlington VT last weekend on 21 gallons (about 275nm) which I think is less than it would have taken in a fullsize car.

Maintenance is a different story. We had to do the 1000-hour inspection last winter and the cost was staggering. We expected flying to be expensive though, so we're fine with that.

In short, the DA40 has been a great first plane so far but I can already envision the day that I will trade up to a more capable aircraft, with TKS, AP, and more speed.