What comes after a DA40?

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Antoine
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Re: What comes after a DA40?

Post by Antoine »

Frank thanks for asking. I have actually won the case against Custom Aircraft Trimmers Ltd.

A court order is pending and this "gentleman" will soon be called by a UK based collection company.
The collection company have checked their credit rating and found that my case will be the third court injunction ordering them to pay up. Their credit rating is ... ahem... interesting...

Don't know what will come out of this, money wise.

Practically, we have been able to fix most of the bad workmanship that was delivered so it is mostly financial damage he caused, apart from the insult, stress and literally - blackmail...

But now it's history. Galatea is flying. Fast, high, far and with an animal roar every time I unleash the 360 horsepower while standing on the brakes. Funny thing is how friendly ATC is - like everyone else they are intrigued and they almost always give me anything I ask for. Maybe it has to do with the altitudes I fly at ? Lower than jets and higher than the bulk of small GA?

Would I do it again? Y E S in a heartbeat! In fact I am seriously considering exactly this. There's only 24 of these worldwide, a few are up for sale because they are a huge challenge to maintain and fix, unless you've done it before... see my point?
And then you get an all carbon fiber, pressurized, fast, roomy, air-conditioned aircraft with (almost) all the avionics whistles and bells, and tons of flying fun...
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dafzero
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Re: What comes after a DA40?

Post by dafzero »

My Friends,

Today I closed on the sale of my DA40 N468MA. It was a great aircraft and was perfect for where I was in my flying career but now I'm in pursuit of it's replacement.

Although the DA40-180 I had was perfect in so many ways, it had a few minuses that could not be overcome. It turned out that our "mission" consisted largely of cross-country flights and the 40 gal fuel tanks required a fuel stop during every leg. Sammie also struggled with the stick which prevented her from crossing her legs and the sun exposure. We also found that it's beautiful wings were a little more susceptible to turbulence than we'd expected. Having said all that, it's a fantastic plane that flies beautifully.

And so what's next? I've decided that the ability to upgrade the avionics in GA aircraft is usurious and so I'm headed for the experimental market. You can't go past composite planes so I've set my sights on either a Glasair III or a Lancair ES. The Glasair is a speedster but it's safety record is reasonable and it's tough as a brick. The Lancair ES is for all practical purposes a Corvalis/Columbia/Cessna 400 but without certification. Either of them allow the owner to upgrade the avionics at a fraction of certified GA costs and as many of you know, some upgrades can't even be performed. A whole panel of Garmin's latest, A/P and all, won't set you back much over $30K, not much more that the WAAS upgrade for the G1000 in a DA40.

And so I bid you adieu. This is a fantastic forum and a real compliment to the quality (and sagacity) of Diamond aviators.

See you out there.

David
David Bevan
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Antoine
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Re: What comes after a DA40?

Post by Antoine »

David all the best to you. I'd vote for the Lancair but you'll need to learn about living with a Continental.

These engines are much more fragile than our IO-360 Lycos. Make sure you check the AD situation on the cylinders of the engine you buy. And then talk to the seller to find out how he's been handling engine management.

Also please make sure your are in top of the MTOW issue. Builders can set whatever value they want - Lancair set theirs at a certain level for a reason... It makes no sense to me that builders of experimental aircraft are allowed to make up for weight gain during the build by simply increasing MTOW versus what the designer of the kit had defined WITHOUT any changes to the design....

This said if it were possible to fly IFR/experimental in Europe I'd be flying one...
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dafzero
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Re: What comes after a DA40?

Post by dafzero »

Thank you for your feedback Antoine. I have watched your machinations with considerable interest. You're early comments about choosing the next plane reflected my own almost exactly. I even found a Extra EA-400 for sale but decided it was just too much of an orphan here in the States. It really is a sort of personal airliner. Since we have yet to have anyone in the back, a 6 seater seems a little over the top for us.

I've actually created a questionnaire that I use when I'm enquiring about a plane and a good part of that is how they run the engine. I.e. preferred power-settings. I like the one's who run low power settings to try and make the engine last forever. The Glasair's seem to go fast without fireballing them all the time and don't have the unfortunate accident record of Lancair IV's, which the market is flooded with. Not surprising since insurance for those is running upward of $12 - 14K.

I'm not sure that I even need a turbo on the Glasair III since it doesn't seem to require upper flight levels to perform well. Flying over the weather is high on my list though and I haven't seen one fitted with a Thermawing yet. My brother who has about 5000 hours in Mooney turbo's is of the "don't leave home without it" school and thinks everyone should have a turbo. A turbo and anti-ice on a G3 would probably be a nice combo.

If you've nothing to do there is an interesting if long show and tell on a G3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SBfVzTO_gU

All the best,

db
David Bevan
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Re: What comes after a DA40?

Post by Star57 »

dafzero wrote:Thank you for your feedback Antoine. I have watched your machinations with considerable interest. You're early comments about choosing the next plane reflected my own almost exactly. I even found a Extra EA-400 for sale but decided it was just too much of an orphan here in the States. It really is a sort of personal airliner. Since we have yet to have anyone in the back, a 6 seater seems a little over the top for us.

I've actually created a questionnaire that I use when I'm enquiring about a plane and a good part of that is how they run the engine. I.e. preferred power-settings. I like the one's who run low power settings to try and make the engine last forever. The Glasair's seem to go fast without fireballing them all the time and don't have the unfortunate accident record of Lancair IV's, which the market is flooded with. Not surprising since insurance for those is running upward of $12 - 14K.

I'm not sure that I even need a turbo on the Glasair III since it doesn't seem to require upper flight levels to perform well. Flying over the weather is high on my list though and I haven't seen one fitted with a Thermawing yet. My brother who has about 5000 hours in Mooney turbo's is of the "don't leave home without it" school and thinks everyone should have a turbo. A turbo and anti-ice on a G3 would probably be a nice combo.

If you've nothing to do there is an interesting if long show and tell on a G3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SBfVzTO_gU

All the best,

db
Hello fellow aviators, I️ have been absent from this forum since I sold my DA40, I️ have purchased a Lancair ES, a dual door model.
Just got checked out on it in sunny Arizona by a senior CFI Elite Pilot Services.
If any one is interested in knowing more reach out to me at frank@startech.ca
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dafzero
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Re: What comes after a DA40?

Post by dafzero »

Hi Frank, Looks like you and I have reached the same conclusions. I purchased a Lancair Super ES kit a couple of weeks ago and dropped it off at AirFrames Inc in TN where they hope to start the build in the Spring. The ES fills the bill for us: less exposure to the sun, long range, docile handling, turbo, O2, de-ice, modern avionics and speed.
What really set my hair on fire was the price of avionics in general aviation. While it looks like there may be some sanity coming to the FAA (ok, I'm a Polly Anna) but I don't see Garmin taking their foot off of anybody's throats as far as upgrades go. The freedom of making my own choices made it for me, plus the cost of building a new plane is 1/3rd the cost of a new Cessna TTx. It'll take more than a year to get it but I'll just get my commercial ticket while I wait and spend more time on my x-plane simulator (which is amazingly good).

Have fun!

David
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Re: What comes after a DA40?

Post by Star57 »

Congrats on your decision David,I had been looking at this ES for 4 years in Holland, last April I pulled the trigger on it, it feels good to have a two door model.It has been challenging to get it registered in Canada but I got it all done.
In Canada I need a type certificate and just finished the training in AZ, left the plane with my CFI for him to look after a few squaks...
Will do an Avionics upgrade soon.
I think your choice of builder is a good one....if I building from scratch I would leave the Avionics till the very last...
Good luck, if you come to this part of the world ring me up, I will take you on a flight.
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dafzero
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Re: What comes after a DA40?

Post by dafzero »

Yes, the 2 door would be nice but the wife is actually more comfortable with one door on my side. Keeps her from falling out? :roll: There don't seem to be very many ES's on the market so you are fortunate to get a good one. Send me a photo or two when you get a chance.

Cheers!

db

ps See you on LancairTalk
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Re: What comes after a DA40?

Post by Star57 »

I have being been kicked in my cojones again, my adopted country just informed that after having to wait for 6 months for a CofR and a CofA, and having to get training on type by a certified Lancair ES CFI, by the way he is a retired Vietnam Veteran....
Now I will have to wait up to 3 months for my type certificate for the ES to be issued in Canada
I just about have had enough of free health care....
No other country in the world needs a type certificate on a Lancair ES....and if they did it would not take 3 months to be issued.
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Re: What comes after a DA40?

Post by Antoine »

welcome to uncharted territory Frank! Congrats on taking control.
Keep in mind my advice on MTOW and I suggest you ask your CFI for some serious slow flight exploration.
I am very concerned about the fact that it took quite some rework before the ES became the FAA certified 300__ do. you know if they did something to the wings?
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