No DA40-180 produced for 4 years?

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linzhiming
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No DA40-180 produced for 4 years?

Post by linzhiming »

I never realised the extent of the DA40-180 production hiatus that it was almost 4 years:

It looks like the first DA40-180 with G1000 NXi with serial number 40.1210 was registered in May this year (https://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquir ... ertxt=13DA) whilst 40.1208 was registered in September 2016 (https://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquir ... rtxt=389DS). (There is no 40.1209 on the US register).

That of course explains the lack of any innovations and software upgrades. That doesn't come as a surprise to anyone and the production stop was well-known but I didn't realise that it was for that long.

Now that the assembly line seems to be running again (albeit slowly, 40.1220 was registered only yesterday, https://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquir ... ertxt=79US), will DAI have time to focus on software upgrades for the 1209 aircraft with the "old" G1000?
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Re: No DA40-180 produced for 4 years?

Post by CFIDave »

linzhiming wrote: Sat Oct 10, 2020 8:26 am I never realised the extent of the DA40-180 production hiatus that it was almost 4 years
Diamond couldn't deliver any new Lycoming DA40 XLT aircraft because G1000 NXi for that model had not yet been certified by Transport Canada, and Legacy G1000 components were out of production by Garmin. That changed in March of this year, and as you noted, the Lycoming DA40-180 (i.e., DA40 XLT) is now back in production.
linzhiming wrote: Sat Oct 10, 2020 8:26 am will DAI have time to focus on software upgrades for the 1209 aircraft with the "old" G1000?
The "newest" Legacy G1000 software (Version 0321.23 for the Lycoming DA40 is only GDU 12 from 2012, so one of the major messages we (the DAN6 owners group) have sent to Diamond is that we'd like to see newer GDU 15 software available for these aircraft -- to fully exploit the capabilities of their Legacy G1000 hardware. However, if Diamond develops GDU 15 for the DA40-180, it will almost certainly require WAAS. This would be a free software upgrade for 2008+ DA40 XLS and XLT models that already have WAAS, or would require GIA63Ws to be installed in older non-WAAS DA40s (see the latest WAAS upgrade program from Diamond).
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dmloftus
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Re: No DA40-180 produced for 4 years?

Post by dmloftus »

we'd like to see newer GDU 15 software available for these aircraft -- to fully exploit the capabilities of their Legacy G1000 hardware
What would the benefits be for GDU15? With a 2008 DA40 with WAAS, it would be nice to know what upgrades could be gained.
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Re: No DA40-180 produced for 4 years?

Post by CFIDave »

dmloftus wrote: Sun Oct 11, 2020 8:15 pm
we'd like to see newer GDU 15 software available for these aircraft -- to fully exploit the capabilities of their Legacy G1000 hardware
What would the benefits be for GDU15? With a 2008 DA40 with WAAS, it would be nice to know what upgrades could be gained.
Please read the paper I wrote and posted "G1000 Evolution for Diamond Owners" -- it should more than answer your question. It can be found here:
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=7316
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Diamond_Dan
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Re: No DA40-180 produced for 4 years?

Post by Diamond_Dan »

Will GDU15 work with the KAP 140 autopilot?
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Re: No DA40-180 produced for 4 years?

Post by CFIDave »

Diamond_Dan wrote: Mon Oct 12, 2020 1:37 pm Will GDU15 work with the KAP 140 autopilot?
It could potentially. But we won't know until Diamond/Garmin commit to a GDU 15 software upgrade.
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