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Is the DA40 really more forgiving when pilots are a bit rusty?

Absolutely. No question about it. Go up with an instructor and do some stalls power on/off, slow flight turns... you will see!

I can also relate to your thinking. I am a ~350 hour pilot with a similar mission - mostly fly in and around the San Fran Bay Area / California and like to fly up to Lake Tahoe versus driving. I trained in a 172 G1000 but fell in love with a DA40 NG that was on the line at West Valley Flying Club so flew that and other DA40's for the past few years. That DA40 NG was sold and I missed it so much I decided to buy a new one (N842LA - closing next week) and will put it on the line at one of the flight clubs at KPAO. The FADEC / Austro engine combined with how much I enjoy the flight characteristics and A/C for the hot summer months make the plane perfect for my mission.

Andrew is right, go do some stalls. I know there is a DA40 rental at KSTS and a CFI familiar with the plane. West Valley Flying Club in KPAO also has a DA40 and I know an instructor there who is familiar with the plane.

@DA40Fan, I’m a new-to-DA40NG student pilot (60h) working on my PPL, and planning to work on IFR, Mountain and eventually multi-engine ratings. I was flying 172SP’s out of West Valley Flying Club before I got DA40NG with the G1000NXi deck.

My primary analytical reason for going with the DA40NG was safety both in my training phase, and post initial training, as I assume I’ll be a low time pilot since I fly for fun. From a safety perspective: incredible low speed performance, difficult to stall, incredible glide performance, no need for a parachute to be safe, post-crash fire safety, and exceptional accident history (one article suggested it has a similar accident rate to commercial operations...so 10x fewer incidents than 172s).

Another reason I went with the DA40NG is to get familiar with Diamonds, so I could step up to the DA50/DA62 down the road if I do end up doing lots more cross-country or business trips.

While my analytical reasoning was driven by safety and operating cost (including maintenance/depreciation), my emotional reasoning was driven by my entirely subjective view that the Diamond planes are just gorgeous. Life’s too short to fly planes that don’t spark joy ;D

I’ve now racked up 25h on the DA40NG, and could not be happier with my choice. Lots of surprises that made my experience better than expected.

• I *love* the diesel Austrian engine. It sips fuel (and cheaper jet fuel no less), and is surprisingly quiet compared to what I was used to.

• I absolutely love the canopy. The views are incredible but more importantly, I just feel so much safer being able to see so much of the airspace, especially in a busy circuit or in marginal VFR conditions.

• It feels like a nimble sports car (fit/finish/responsiveness that’s often compared to Porsches).

• I’ve noticed that I can do longer training flights without feeling drained. I can quite easily fly 3-4h with my flight instructor v. The 1-2h I could handle before.

• I also found as others have mentioned, that insurance companies seem to really like the DA40NG, so that definitely helped.

If you want to learn more about the plane, checkout this new concise guide: https://books.apple.com/us/book/the-co ... 1531586903

The Da40NG truly is a joy to fly. Best of luck in your search!

You are effectively comparing two different classes of plane. The DA40 is closer to the SR20 in terms of performance and costs. I think others have covered the annual costs already, yours sound way out of line unless you somehow got one with massive amounts of deferred MX.

In terms of forgiving; the answer is maybe.
I believe the DA-40 has much better slow speed handling, better stall warning, better haptic feedback, stays coordinated better...

However, you are most concerned about landing based on your comments than other aspects of flying.
Unless your runway is less than 2K paved feet long, 3 knots off Vref should not be a big deal in a SR22. Until it was lengthened recently, my home field was 2700ft, and is situated where you almost always have a mechanically induced crosswind that shifts directions multiple times. So it makes it real run to have the wind change direction on you a few times on short final to the runway. Based on your descriptions I would therefore suggest you find a new CSIP or school; because the lessons do not sound like they are sticking.

I could be wrong, but the few times I have flown a Diamond, I felt it was even more susceptible to floating down the runway when you were slightly fast than the Cirrus. I believe this is due to the longer wings. Now I am fairly positive the landing distance of the DA40 is less (likely due to lower stall speeds) so it may balance out.
So like others have said, go fly some and see which one makes you happy.

Note: I have a few hundred hours in a mix of Cirrus planes, and probably about twenty hours in mix of Diamonds, so I am absolutely no expert.

TimS wrote: ↑Fri Apr 09, 2021 7:08 pm I could be wrong, but the few times I have flown a Diamond, I felt it was even more susceptible to floating down the runway when you were slightly fast than the Cirrus. I believe this is due to the longer wings. Now I am fairly positive the landing distance of the DA40 is less (likely due to lower stall speeds) so it may balance out.
So like others have said, go fly some and see which one makes you happy.

If you are equivalently loaded (pounds in cabin and fuel) in an SR22 vs DA40 and are equivalently excessive too high (or proper, for that matter) in speed, you're eating up runway at a 20 knot (33 fps) higher rate in the SR. And the DA40 has a lot less kinetic energy to dissipate, it'd be lighter by something like 400-500 lbs.

Current SR22's have a wingspan 1 ft. less than a DA40. The wingspan was increased a couple of times over the years.

Correction the SR 22 wingspan has always been a bit over 38 ft. It was the 20's that got increased.

Rich wrote: ↑Sun Apr 11, 2021 9:27 pm If you are equivalently loaded (pounds in cabin and fuel) in an SR22 vs DA40 and are equivalently excessive too high (or proper, for that matter) in speed, you're eating up runway at a 20 knot (33 fps) higher rate in the SR. And the DA40 has a lot less kinetic energy to dissipate, it'd be lighter by something like 400-500 lbs.

Current SR22's have a wingspan 1 ft. less than a DA40. The wingspan was increased a couple of times over the years.

Rich,

Two minor nit picks. Fuel does not matter when comparing planes. Compare reserve time + alternate distance, passenger load.... The SR22 with the larger engine will need more fuel.
Dam, I always had the impression the DA40 had a much longer wingspan. But it really is only a foot longer. Whodathunk?

Tim

Once you fly the DA40, make a couple landings, compare insurance and maintenance costs, you'll want to call me. I'll have a great, lightly used 2012 XLS for sale.

TimS wrote: ↑Mon Apr 12, 2021 8:51 am Dam, I always had the impression the DA40 had a much longer wingspan. But it really is only a foot longer. Whodathunk?

For the current models, the SR22 has the longer wingspan. Presumably the winglets on the DA40 are responsible for the change.

SR22: 38' 4" (from Cirrus website)
DA40NG: 38' 2" (from AFM)