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Congratulations on your new birth! And +1 on the London airport cafe recommendation. I think it's called the "Katana Cafe" - it's located about mid-field, and I've enjoyed several really good meals there. It's definitely a cut above your typical airport restaurant!

It helps to make reservations for lunch at the Katana Cafe, since they're often quite busy. But I suspect that on the day when you take delivery of your new DA40NG, after a customer acceptance flight in the morning you may be taken there anyway.

Very cool. Congrats. A thread on life with the NG compared to previous life with the IO360 would be neat.

Tim

Looks like Diamond has sold some new DA40-180 XLTs as trainers -- http://aero-news.net/index.cfm?do=main. ... d483dc3f7b

blsewardjr wrote: ↑Wed Jul 15, 2020 6:59 pm Looks like Diamond has sold some new DA40-180 XLTs as trainers -- http://aero-news.net/index.cfm?do=main. ... d483dc3f7b

Thanks for posting. It is good to hear that Diamond is now producing airframes with the L-180 again. I just might have to replace my 2010 with one. But first, I have to get the green light from my copilot wife.

Diamond Canada was forced to cease production of Lycoming DA40 XLTs during 2017 until 2020 because that DA40 version was not certified for G1000 NXi, and Garmin stopped producing Legacy G1000 components for installation in new aircraft. The DA40 Type Certificate at the time had not yet been moved from Weiner Neustadt, Austria to London, Ontario, and Diamond Austria had only certified the Austro DA40NG version to use NXi avionics.

So the Lycoming DA40 was out of production until March 2020 when the G1000 NXi version was certified by Transport Canada. Now you have a choice of new DA40 aircraft.

Have there been any rumors of an IO-390 variant? With the NG gross weight increase? That would be an unbelievable plane.

I understand speed is not the issue, as most DA-40s already cruise right at the yellow arc, and can get up to 150kts.

But climb, CG, and payload could be big gains.

This is already an option in the Tecnam 2010, and standard on the Cirrus.

Adding an IO-390 via an STC, at least at its rated power of 215hp, would require, among other things, new spin testing. Per FAA Advisory Circular 23-24 "Airplanes modified by increasing the installed horsepower (maximum takeoff power) by more than 10% or 25 horsepower, whichever is less, over the original type certificated airplane installed horsepower rating, will require spin testing." The IO-390 215hp exceeds the power of the IO-360-180 by both 10% and 25hp. However the AC goes on to say that you can avoid the spin tests by installing a de-rated version of the new engine that does not exceed the lesser of 10%/25hp, i.e., 198hp. This can be done via a placarded limitation on maximum manifold pressure at each pressure altitude.

An IO-390 would be much bigger and heavier than the DA40's IO-360 despite both being 4-cylinder Lycoming engines. The 180 hp IO-360 M1A of the DA40 is a compact straight-valve engine, whereas the 200 hp IO-360s (e.g., from the Piper Arrow or Cessna Cardinal) and 215 hp IO-390 are very different "angle valve" engines with different heads.

IO-360 M1A weighs 279lb vs. IO-390 at 308lb, so about 30 lbs more.