I will fly a DA62 tomorrow!

Any DA62 related topics

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Rick
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Re: I will fly a DA62 tomorrow!

Post by Rick »

I returned home from a flight last evening to find a DA62 sitting in the Diamond maintenance hangar here on the field (we have a Diamond Service center now here in Roanoke, VA!), with both engine cowlings off. Apparently the East Coast Tour has been delayed while something gets fixed - nobody was around to ask what was going on. I think she was headed to Leesburg next after her stop here for demo flights on Thursday, but it looks like that didn't happen.
Roanoke, VA (KROA)
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robert63
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Re: I will fly a DA62 tomorrow!

Post by robert63 »

Antoine wrote: In this situation, the Austros have a specific fuel burn of .38 lb/HP/hr versus 0.53 for the turbocharged TSIOL-550 C. The Austros are a whopping 28% more efficient! of course the Conti is running ROP; but it could not deliver enough HP LOP so the comparison is still valid at this power level.
Plus the Jet-A1 (Diesel) is a lot cheaper than Avgas and is available no matter where you go. With our DA42NG the fuel is just 10,1 % of the cost/hour.
And the Diamonds fly very well on single engine. Only problem is that maintenance cost is double. Maintenance cost is at least 25 % of the cost/hour with our NG.
But the pressurization and the cabin of the Extra 400 makes it a different class of course. A modern twin with pressurization plus a cabin with 6 seats would probably come close to 2 millions now or maybe more. :cry:
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carym
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Re: I will fly a DA62 tomorrow!

Post by carym »

Colin wrote:
I understand why some people dont want to do their MEP rating in a Diamond.
I got my multi-engine rating in a DA42. I am pretty sure I would be a hazard in a Baron and would do a lot of training before I took my family up in one.
.
After I bought my C310 and flew it (with my partner/instructor) for about 15 hrs, i got my MEL in a Duchess. I thought the C310 handled single engine ops better than the Duchess. i flew that C310 for 700 hours. It had no autopilot and no de-ice and i flew it in all kinds of weather, summer and winter, out of Minneapolis. As many of you know, i had several engine outs in that plane and handling the plane single.engine was no problem. The DA42 was just as much fun to fly, and I preferred to hand fly it. The (only) problem.with the DA42 is that the inrerior was much smaller and it could not handle the loads that the C310 could handle. Colin, while the Baron may be more difficult to.handle than the DA42, you wouldn't find the C310 more difficult.
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CFIDave
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Re: I will fly a DA62 tomorrow!

Post by CFIDave »

Rick wrote:I returned home from a flight last evening to find a DA62 sitting in the Diamond maintenance hangar here on the field (we have a Diamond Service center now here in Roanoke, VA!), with both engine cowlings off. Apparently the East Coast Tour has been delayed while something gets fixed - nobody was around to ask what was going on. I think she was headed to Leesburg next after her stop here for demo flights on Thursday, but it looks like that didn't happen.
I got to help fix that DA62 at Roanoke: :)

The plane wasn't making more than 86% power on one of its engines, so Fri morning I got to make a service call flying an hour down to Roanoke from Leesburg, VA KJYO in our DA42 with Austro engine "wizard" laptop software and a special USB hardware cable to diagnose the engine problem. After hooking up to the plane's RS-232 diagnostic connector I emailed the diagnostic files to the Canada factory. In 5 minutes they figured out it was a prop governor problem. Diamond flew in a mechanic with a spare governor that evening and was able to fly the plane to KJYO the next morning.

So we had to push back our Friday demo flights at Leesburg by one day, but the plane's been flying almost non-stop since then, really making use of its air conditioning in the 90+ degF heat and humidity. Everyone who's flown it the last couple of days has been really impressed.

BTW, for those in the northeast US who want to see the DA62 while on tour, it will be in Brandywine, PA (KOQN) tomorrow (Tues) with other dates/locations as follows:

Thursday, June 2 KHPN White Plains, Westchester, NY
Friday, June 3 KHPN White Plains, Westchester, NY
Saturday, June 4 KFRG Republic Field, Farmingdale (Long Island), NY
Sunday, June 5, KBDR Sikorsky Field, Stratford, CT
Monday, June 6, KOWD Norwood, MA
Tuesday, June 7, KROC Rochester, NY

We will have a DA40 XLT and my DA42-VI on display as well at most of these locations. If you'd like more details or would like to fly any of these aircraft (we still have a few DA62 demo slots open), please send me a PM. See you there...
- Dave
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Former DA40XLS, DA42-VI, and DA62 owner
ATP, CFI, CFI-I, MEI
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Fred
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Re: I will fly a DA62 tomorrow!

Post by Fred »

Had my demo flight in the DA62 canceled today at KBDR due to maintenance issues.... Not sure it made it in town today from it's last stop....

It's on tour and not sure when it's back in the area. Would like to consider a DA62 but leaning toward a Conquest II Turbo prop pressurized for half the purchase price (older AC of course and 6 times the fuel burn! and insurance and engine maintenance)....
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CFIDave
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Re: I will fly a DA62 tomorrow!

Post by CFIDave »

Diamond is rescheduling the DA62 tour dates today in CT, tomorrow in Norwood, MA, and Tues in Rochester, NY due to low ceilings and visibility; all demo flights must be flown in VFR conditions. Earlier this week they had to scrub 1 of 2 days that were scheduled in Brandywine, PA and again 1 of 2 days in Westchester, NY due to poor flying conditions, but at least some people were able to fly the DA62 (and DA42 and DA40).

My understanding is that Diamond will try again to visit Northeast US locations in a few weeks -- I'll post here when I know something.
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ememic99
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Re: I will fly a DA62 tomorrow!

Post by ememic99 »

I've got the offer for DA62 test flight from local Diamond representative. I have to find some time in my schedule to do it while the offer is still open.
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Aart
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Re: I will fly a DA62 tomorrow!

Post by Aart »

So my turn this morning. My impressions:

A rock solid platform, quite heavy on the controls. In still air could trim the plane quickly and let go. Low over terrain with thermals building up the bumps were a non-event. Does not feel underpowered, although I must admit we were seriously under MTOM (full fuel, 2 POB).

I am very fond of the outward view of the DA42, so this bar up front is a bit of a negative for me. I’d say the visibility in a Cirrus is better (apart from the engines not being in the way of course), but from a Seneca it is a lot worse. Anyway, it is not a site-seeing machine, it’s a traveller.

The cabin is very roomy. I (1.91m) fitted in very comfortably up front and in the second row. Only very wide people would touch shoulders, up front and on the first row. The third row is a lot tighter, needed to bend my head towards my shoulder to fit, and it’s a lot narrower there. So calling it a seven-seater (apart from the 2.0 vs 2.3 ton issue) is technically true, but stretching it.

Fit and finish is excellent.

Shame there is no keypad on the G1000, to me it looked as if they could have squeezed one in.. Would be interested to find out why it’s not there.

All in all an impressive machine. I can see the use for a family and as a short haul air taxi. They seem to be selling rather well!
Aart
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