TimS wrote: ↑Fri Jul 10, 2020 10:16 pm
I forgot to mention that the DA-50 has a short thread on COPA. Title
DA 50 RG….looks like they are finally releasing their SR22 competitor
So far, more questions than answers. Plus a lot of comments about wing size, and few other factors that do not make sense in the USA or in the market place. My take away is no one knows who is the target market.
The DA50 thread on COPA has 148 posts so far. My post in that thread:
"It appears the DA50’s selling points will be a nice big cabin, burns world available jet fuel and will sell new for less than 1 million USD.
Where avgas is readily available the SR22 has it beat ten ways. But where avgas is a problem, what are the competitors to the DA50? You can go smaller, slower and burn mogas in a Rotax or you can go higher and faster in a turboprop but to match the price it will have to be at least ten years old.
The main competition for the DA50 in that market will be it’s own siblings, the DA42 and the DA62. The 62 has the same cabin, better useful load, range and speed but costs 1.4 million. If you don’t need a big cabin the DA42 is the best performer of the three in terms of take-off distance, rate of climb and cruise speed and can be had new for less than a mill.
If they price the DA50 similar to the DA42 it will be interesting to see what the market prefers, cabin vs. performance. Or they could add a unique feature like Autoland and see if it helps sales like the parachute does Cirrus."
Addendum: I will bet that in the DA50 vs. DA42 contest the market will prefer the nicer cabin, as long as there is no difference in the perceived safety. Difficulty obtaining and maintaining multi-engine proficiency is another factor working in the 50's favor.