diamondaviators.net

Since learning to fly in 2003, I have purchased four brand new Diamond Stars from the factory which adds up to be well over a 1.3 million dollars. It is unthinkable to me that they would ignore the AV gas market, especially here in North America. Looks like my current Star may be my last purchase from Diamond as I have no interest in the diesel power plants. Just sayin.

ZAV wrote:It just seems real strange that they didn’t certify all the DA40 varieties with the NXi at the same time.

You may recall that before November the type certificate for the DA40 was controlled by Diamond Austria, which didn't care as much about North America-only avgas-engined DA40s. Now that Diamond Canada has the DA40 TC, we may see more "love" for both the the Lycoming and Austro-engine versions.

ZAV wrote:They seem to be leaving new plane orders on the table which seems unfathomable from a business perspective. The only business case for doing this is if they are at 100% production capacity at the factory. If that’s the case, not necessarily a bad thing for Diamond Canada then.

The Canada factory is pretty much at 100% production capacity right now; Diamond is hiring more workers to increase production.

Don, you need a Twinstar anyway.

Colin wrote:Don, you need a Twinstar anyway.

I guess that's not a possibility with Don's "no interest in the diesel power plants. Just sayin." ???!!! Unless he wants a Lycoming powered one??

If he had two, I think Don would appreciate the JetA and FADEC.

Colin wrote:If he had two, I think Don would appreciate the JetA and FADEC.

I had one of the original deposits on the Twin Star way back when. And you are right, with two engines my confidence level goes way up. I also have about three hours in the left seat of a Twin Star. When you shut down one engine it is pretty much a non event. During this time my wife was getting her PP certificate and she fell in love with the DA-40.
So we took the Twin Star deposit credit we had with DAC and applied it towards a newer model DA 40 with the G-1000.
With that said, I don't care for the single engine performance specs of the Diamond Star with a Diesel power plant. It seems like a step backwards from my current DA-40.
EDIT: Also, another reason for not getting a Twin Star is it will not fit through my 43 foot wide hanger door.

ZAV wrote:Thanks for your thoughts.

It just seems real strange that they didn’t certify all the DA40 varieties with the NXi at the same time.

They seem to be leaving new plane orders on the table which seems unfathomable from a business perspective. The only business case for doing this is if they are at 100% production capacity at the factory. If that’s the case, not necessarily a bad thing for Diamond Canada then.

With the integrated engine information, the process needs to be repeated. Last I read, neither EASA, FAA or NavCanada allowed for partial process. e.g. The PFD is the same, so verify it once and then just repeat each section for the MFD functionality. The result, you need to repeat the complete upgrade certification process from start to finish. At some point, I hope this changes; especially when you consider that all three organizations have made it possible to perform other upgrades without restarting.

Tim

Does anyone think the XLT delay is because of the pending AvGas FAA decisions?

Would FAA decision about AvGas alternative potentially allow for Lycoming to offer one of their newer engine types in the DA40?

Yes, it would be no fun to sell a hangar just to get a plane that seats the same number of people. I'm just saying that I could not have loved my DA40 more, and after two years in the DA42 I wish that I have switched three years sooner.

Has anyone heard any news from Diamond regarding DA40 XLT production?