Priorities for 2022?

[Boatguy]

Happy New Year! A new year, with new priorities. The following is strictly my own opinion.

I wrote in the DA62 forum that I believe the only way Diamond will address customer issues is if those issues are brought to them by the owners. There is no customer advocate at Diamond or Austro or person dedicated to improving the Diamond customer experience. With that in mind, what are the priority issues for Diamond owners going forward? I believe there are five segments of Diamond owners with different needs and priorities:

Diamond pays particular attention to supporting fleet operators, flight schools, academies, and governmental agencies that purchase the MPP (multipurpose platform) planes. These owners do not need help having their issues heard at Diamond/Austro. The private owners split into three groups.

DA20/40/42 Lycoming: These owners planes are widely serviced by virtue of their Lycoming engines. For the most part these are older planes who also share few of the concerns of more recent buyers. Their need for WAAS upgrades was brought to Diamond and they responded with an upgrade program, though the program's execution has been somewhat inconsistent. Diamond has also committed to deliver the final version of G1000 software (aka v15).

DA40/42 TDI: These owners were effectively orphaned by Diamond by the creation of the Austro engine. Fortunately their engines are still manufactured and supported by Continental. There are issues around legacy avionics and Diamond has included them in the WAAS upgrade program, and v15 update. But beyond that Diamond has made it pretty clear they will not be investing resources into supporting these aircraft beyond those parts that are shared with other Diamond models.

DA40/42/62 Austro: These planes represent most of the planes purchased by private owners in the last five years. These owners have a different set of issues than the other two groups, both with the G1000NXi avionics and the Austro engine.

So what are the issues that you would like to see Diamond address in 2022-2023? Please include your Diamond model with your comments.

[ememic99]

DA20/40/42 Lycoming: These owners planes are widely serviced by virtue of their Lycoming engines. For the most part these are older planes who also share few of the concerns of more recent buyers. Their need for WAAS upgrades was brought to Diamond and they responded with an upgrade program, though the program's execution has been somewhat inconsistent. Diamond has also committed to deliver the final version of G1000 software (aka v15).

Aircrafts in this group actually don't share share same future. Lycoming DA40 (depending on year of manufacturing) might get pretty recent avionics and software or can go with non-G1000 solution. DA20 is practically out of production and owners can't expect much of DAI although they started prototyping DA20 with Austro engine. DA42 Lycoming is dead-end and definitely won't be supported by DAI and I doubt v15 will cover them, so I would say event worse than DA42 TDI.

DA40/42 TDI: These owners were effectively orphaned by Diamond by the creation of the Austro engine. Fortunately their engines are still manufactured and supported by Continental. There are issues around legacy avionics and Diamond has included them in the WAAS upgrade program, and v15 update. But beyond that Diamond has made it pretty clear they will not be investing resources into supporting these aircraft beyond those parts that are shared with other Diamond models.

Again, the situation is a bit different for these two aircrafts. Being in contact with DA42 TDI owners and remembering DAI survey, I'm pretty sure DA42 TDI owners are ready to invest substantial amounts in HW (and SW) upgrades which may result in getting owners financed STC to deliver GFC700, GIA64 and NXi to DA42 TDI. So I wish that we somehow persuade DAI and Garmin to finally reveal what has to happen for us to launch STC development.

Also I'm not sure v15 will cover DA40 TDI.

DA40/42/62 Austro: These planes represent most of the planes purchased by private owners in the last five years. These owners have a different set of issues than the other two groups, both with the G1000NXi avionics and the Austro engine.

With time lapsing these aircrafts have become (or will soon become) prevailing in currently operated Diamond fleet although until just recently TDI fleet was bigger but DAI (as usual) has been (and still is) interested only in new aircraft sales. I believe that the all owners within this group should be interested in upgrading their aircrafts to latest HW specifications (as close as current production as possible) if they want to benefit from further software releases. Otherwise, they will be orphaned in similar way as DA42 TDI, which can be seen on the example of DA62 with legacy G1000 of NXi Phase I.

Unfortunately, they will be challenged with new DAI policy of abandoning overhaul program and effectively buying new engines (probably at full price) rather then getting overhauled replacement at discounted price. So they will end-up with having iron cast block heavy engine which is TBR rather than TBO with shorted life (1800 hours for AE300 and 1200 hours AE330) and lots of maintenance and replacements during engine life time. Pretty grim perspective IMO.

[reinhardj]

The early G1000 software versions for the DA40TDI and DA42TDI were identical (010-0037-015).
Maybe there is a chance to combine the effort for getting STCs for both planes in parallel.

[ememic99]

The early G1000 software versions for the DA40TDI and DA42TDI were identical (010-0037-015).
Maybe there is a chance to combine the effort for getting STCs for both planes in parallel.

That was promised at the beginning but I'm not sure whether it will be kept.

[krellis]

Unfortunately, they will be challenged with new DAI policy of abandoning overhaul program and effectively buying new engines (probably at full price) rather then getting overhauled replacement at discounted price. So they will end-up with having iron cast block heavy engine which is TBR rather than TBO with shorted life (1800 hours for AE300 and 1200 hours AE330) and lots of maintenance and replacements during engine life time. Pretty grim perspective IMO.

Wasn't TBO of the Austro versus TBR of the Thielert one of the main "benefits" of the Austro? Certainly wasn't the weight.

That Lycosaurus powered DA40-180 is looking like the queen of the fleet now in my eyes. I think SouthTec could come up with a refurb program to take six pack and Garmin STC'd DA40-180's and install G3X touch systems. You would have most of the benefits of a brand new DA40-180 NXi at lower cost and probably 100 pounds lighter empty weight. I'll bet there are enough of these airplanes available and owners willing to amortize the STC cost.

[ememic99]

Unfortunately, they will be challenged with new DAI policy of abandoning overhaul program and effectively buying new engines (probably at full price) rather then getting overhauled replacement at discounted price. So they will end-up with having iron cast block heavy engine which is TBR rather than TBO with shorted life (1800 hours for AE300 and 1200 hours AE330) and lots of maintenance and replacements during engine life time. Pretty grim perspective IMO.

Wasn't TBO of the Austro versus TBR of the Thielert one of the main "benefits" of the Austro? Certainly wasn't the weight.

Yes but TBO vs TBR came at price of iron block instead of aluminium which required changes in DA42 landing gear due to more weight. In addition speeds were increased and everything ended up with nose-heavy aircraft less pleasant to hand-fly than TDI. However, DA42-VI (unlike NG) got some aerodynamic improvements which resulted in higher cruise speed and better efficiency in cruise.

That Lycosaurus powered DA40-180 is looking like the queen of the fleet now in my eyes. I think SouthTec could come up with a refurb program to take six pack and Garmin STC'd DA40-180's and install G3X touch systems. You would have most of the benefits of a brand new DA40-180 NXi at lower cost and probably 100 pounds lighter empty weight. I'll bet there are enough of these airplanes available and owners willing to amortize the STC cost.

I think this is a great idea. However, somebody has to start the process, gather owners, make business case and propose it to stakeholders.

[chili4way]

So I wish that we somehow persuade DAI and Garmin to finally reveal what has to happen for us to launch STC development.

The folks at URBE might be able to tell you what they would need from Diamond and Garmin to develop an avionics upgrade STC. They've done this before. They are also likely familiar with the EASA certification requirements for avionics upgrades. I think obtaining technical information isn't a barrier, and there isn't likely any commercial element (other than perhaps any Diamond-sourced parts). It will be important to eliminate any operational dependencies that require Diamond resources or execution (e.g. attempting to assign them the certification part).

[mhoran]

At some point my partner and I will be looking to upgrade from our 40. I'd love to step up to the 42, but given my experience over eight years of DA40 ownership, I've ruled Austro Engines powered planes out -- especially given the issues that have recently come up around overhaul and general maintenance issues. The TDI would be great great, but I don't want to go from one avionics dead end (or even step backwards from WAAS to non-WAAS) to another. An avionics upgrade path for Continental powered 42s would make the step up to a 42 much more attractive. Of course there are none on the market so it's a moot point anyway.

[ememic99]

So I wish that we somehow persuade DAI and Garmin to finally reveal what has to happen for us to launch STC development.

The folks at URBE might be able to tell you what they would need from Diamond and Garmin to develop an avionics upgrade STC. They've done this before. They are also likely familiar with the EASA certification requirements for avionics upgrades. I think obtaining technical information isn't a barrier, and there isn't likely any commercial element (other than perhaps any Diamond-sourced parts). It will be important to eliminate any operational dependencies that require Diamond resources or execution (e.g. attempting to assign them the certification part).

That's good suggestion although we had agreement with DAI (our last DAN6 meeting with them) they'll reply to my proposal on building case around this. However, I haven't got any response from their side. I don't have any direct/personal contact at Urbe - I only have generic e-mail address published at their web site.

[chili4way]

DA40/42/62 Austro: These planes represent most of the planes purchased by private owners in the last five years. These owners have a different set of issues than the other two groups, both with the G1000NXi avionics and the Austro engine.

DA40/42 Austro owners probably have the closest alignment with fleet owners' priorities. What we have in common are Austro engine issues, avionic bug fixes, production lead times, parts costs and lead times, and possibly delivery schedule communications. Where we likely have different priorities are Service Center locations and the availability of the latest travel-centric avionics features.

DA62 owners certainly share the Austro engine issues (and have unique ones, too). Their competition with DA40/42 fleet owners is likely only in the area of zero-sum maintenance-resolution priorities (e.g. engine or parts availability). However, since this model is on the front line of competition (with Cirrus) and has the highest price, there is ample motivation for Diamond to give this model the attention it needs. This is why the DA62 gets Phase III before the DA40. Certainly, DA62 owners share the same Service Center issues as private DA40/42 owners.