Diamond Aircraft Sold!

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krellis
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Re: Diamond Aircraft Sold!

Post by krellis »

And at approximately the same dry weight to the CD-155, a DA40-NG airframe mated to an IO-390 would be a welcome upgrade for those who prefer Avgas to Jet-A.
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Re: Diamond Aircraft Sold!

Post by Colin »

Does anyone on here belong to the Cirrus organization and know how they handled it over there? I know they are happy and it sure seems like Cirrus pivoted to include pilot owners a LOT more. How did they do that? I believe at first there was resistance from the new Chinese owners, but in the end it looks really good.

Clues for us?
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Re: Diamond Aircraft Sold!

Post by CFIDave »

There is no Diamond counterpart to the COPA (Cirrus Owners and Pilots Association), which includes about 1/3 of Cirrus owners as members, and is very active. It is COPA that took the initiative to analyze Cirrus' poor safety record and changed the way that Cirrus pilots are now trained to pull the 'chute on their aircraft, with very positive results. COPA has annual fly-ins, membership dues, etc.

The company Cirrus Aircraft not surprisingly has benefited from the work done by COPA members, and thus maintains a close relationship.

Unlike Diamond, Cirrus has always had a sales and marketing-oriented culture (instead of a prime focus on technical innovation), with an emphasis on maintaining customer relationships made easier with a direct sales force. That's one reason for Cirrus' success in getting pre-existing Cirrus owners to trade in their aircraft for incrementally-improved newer models.

I don't believe Cirrus' transition to Chinese ownership changed this very much. Instead, the new ownership provided the investment capital needed to expand operations and complete development of the Cirrus Vision jet.
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H60 pilot
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Re: Diamond Aircraft Sold!

Post by H60 pilot »

Things can only get better, because this guy - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBv2V9d5hE0&t=31s is no longer positioned at the head of the table. #clue-freak'n-less :scratch:

I'll wait until the release of year-end sales to share my final thoughts, but given the topic I'd like to provide some objectivity to Diamond's performance as a global business.

High-performance singles accounted for 54% of CY2016 sales, trainers/entry level singles totaled 31% while multi-engines constitute the remaining 15%. Diamond hedged their future on the bottom 15% of the market, they don't participate in over half the addressable piston engine category whatsoever, and behave strangely apathetic towards the 31% of which they do. I'll add as anecdotal evidence that the D-Jet they wasted so much developmental capital on represents a market smaller than 0.5% of GA sales.

Mr. Dries claims in the interview above that GA sales are relatively flat? Well, no they aren't, high-performance and twins are flat, however entry level/trainers are performing extraordinarily well: the segment leader 172 is up 21%; SR20 +42%; PA28 +55%. Even the DA40 is performing well, up 48% YTD, but as evidenced by Diamond's former CEO, this particular segment is better left forgotten, best used to bolster company safety claims than continue to innovate and further redefine the category.

In closing, given Diamond's conquest of the smallest addressable market in GA, how well have they performed? Not well actually. DA42/62 sales are flat as Mr. Dries well knows, as is Textron's G58. But I wonder how Mr. Dries explains Piper's and Tecnam's twin-engine sales? Up 117% / 17% respectively, each must be a painful gouge in market share for Diamond.

https://gama.aero/wp-content/uploads/20 ... 2017-1.pdf
https://gama.aero/wp-content/uploads/GA ... Report.pdf
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Re: Diamond Aircraft Sold!

Post by thefoxx »

Another recent article:
http://www.skiesmag.com/news/diamond-c ... on-lines/

It’s been a year of transition for Diamond Aircraft Industries (a.k.a. Diamond Canada) in London, Ont.

A Diamond DA40 (foreground) and DA62 rest on the production line in London, Ont.A Diamond DA40 (foreground) and DA62 rest on the production line in London, Ont. Diamond Aircraft Photo
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Just before Christmas 2017, China-based Wanfeng Aviation Industry announced it had completed the acquisition of the Canadian company’s Austrian parent, Diamond Aircraft Group.

The news came just one year after Wanfeng acquired a 60 per cent controlling interest in Diamond Canada at the end of 2016. As part of that deal, all rights for two aircraft models–the four-seat DA40 and the seven-passenger DA62–were transferred to London.

“Diamond Canada purchased the DA40 and DA62 programs from our Austrian colleagues,” explained Peter Maurer, the company’s president and CEO, in a recent interview with Skies. “That means Diamond Canada now owns the type certificates for those aircraft and is responsible for global sales and all in-service support.”

When the type certificates were transferred to Diamond Canada on Nov. 15, 2017, the DA62 and the DA40NG automatically attained Canadian certification.

“We can now make design changes to those aircraft,” continued Maurer, adding that Diamond Canada will be focusing on modifications that appeal to the North American market.

The DA40, Diamond’s best-selling aircraft, is targeted for some product improvements, although Maurer said the DA62 will stay as is for now.

“The DA62, we don’t see a need to make any design mods now. The aircraft meets anybody’s standard. It comes with all the avionics anyone would want and the comfort features.”

Hiring Mode
With three aircraft production lines now running in London (DA20, DA40, DA62), Diamond Canada is busily searching for good people to help the factory meet order book demand.

“It’s been an absolute growth year,” said Maurer. “2017 has been very challenging for us in terms of hiring the people we need. We’re behind our hiring plan. We have over 180 people now, but it’s not enough in terms of our sales.”

DA62 flies over farmers' fieldsThe DA62 (pictured) is by far the most complex airplane Diamond has ever brought to market. Diamond Aircraft Photo
In total, he said the London factory will need about 300 staff by December 2018.

“A lot of people in aviation are looking for technicians and pilots. In our case, we’re also looking for production workers. They don’t necessarily need an aviation background. In essence, we look for people with a great attitude and we’ll teach them the skills.

“If we can’t find all the people we need, we’ll have to look at outsourcing some of the work or sharing resources with Diamond Austria.”

While the first DA40s completely produced in Canada have come off the production line–as has the first Canadian-built DA62–the London factory continues to operate at a lower production rate due to incremental ramp-up and staff shortages.

To complicate matters further, the DA62 is by far the most complex airplane Diamond has ever brought to market, necessitating more labour hours to build each aircraft.

“We are working with Diamond Austria to help us produce some of these aircraft because we can’t keep up with the demand,” said Maurer.

So far, Diamond has delivered more than 70 DA62 aircraft, which are proving to be popular primarily with private buyers.

When the type certificates were transferred to Diamond Canada, the DA40NG (pictured) and DA62 automatically attained Canadian certification. Diamond Aircraft Photo
“The aircraft is a 10,” said Maurer. “Universally, the feedback on the DA62 has been great in North America. We don’t have anyone saying they wished it did this or that.”

He said the new diesel-powered twin extends the piston market upwards with its impressive useful load and seven seats.

“I had a chance to fly in one of our DA62s from London to Ottawa. It took 90 minutes and we burned 23 gallons of jet fuel. Since it’s so fuel efficient, it needs to carry only a fraction of the fuel load that others carry. Full fuel payload on the aircraft is 1,004 pounds.”

The aircraft is also approved in Canada for flight into known icing (FIKI) conditions.

2018 priorities
While 2017 was tough in terms of dealing with massive growth, Maurer said 2018 should be smoother as the company gets down to business.

“We want to focus on increasing our production rate. Of course, with that comes expanding our sales efforts, especially internationally. The focus is on selling worldwide.”

In keeping with this strategy, Diamond Canada has signed up a network of international partners to handle sales, distribution and support.

Meanwhile, Maurer said the company will be ramping up to full production targets in 2018.
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Re: Diamond Aircraft Sold!

Post by TimS »

I stopped paying attention to Diamond a few years ago. Now that I am considering another plane (hopefully later this year); what were the issues with Diamond service?

Tim
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Re: Diamond Aircraft Sold!

Post by Antoine »

thefoxx wrote:
“Diamond Canada purchased the DA40 and DA62 programs from our Austrian colleagues,” explained Peter Maurer, the company’s president and CEO, “We can now make design changes to those aircraft,” continued Maurer, adding that Diamond Canada will be focusing on modifications that appeal to the North American market.

The DA40, Diamond’s best-selling aircraft, is targeted for some product improvements
Well finally! I think that DAI can double sales of the DA40 in the US.

In case someone in Canada is reading this, here some ideas:

- Redesigned landing gear, especially the nose gear, but there's a lot of weight to be saved on the MLG struts and a clean-up of the intersections is very obvious.
- Beringer wheels and brakes for less weight
- Carbon fiber instead of glass

This should save 45 Kg - 100 lbs and increase aerodynamic efficiency substantially.
A small MTOW increase would give 1'000 lbs useful load.

More performance ideas:
- Redesign engine air inlet. Replace the pseudo- NACA with a proper tubular inlet with pressure recovery plenum. This will increase performance at altitude (at least 1 inch MP gain in cruise). By making the inlet area a separate part, no big mods will be needed
- In combination with the above: adjust the 2 blade prop's angular position to exploit inlet pressure pulses.
- Plug the holes under wing roots (flaps) and add a trailing edge fairing (as in DV20)

Easy fixes/improvements
- Silent air intakes for the instrument panel vents (fix the oversize NACAs)
- Stronger rear door hinges
- integrated backup instrument, save weight and make room for ipad
- electric fan to assist cooling before engine start
- seat ventilation (much lighter than AC and can help a lot)
- new resins for sexy paint options.
- rework instrument panel and glare shield to provide 3 reference lines and reduce unnecessary blockage of side view. (Ok this one is not so easy, but I really missed a Panthera shape panel when training).

De-icing
- Step one: heated prop
- Step 2: non FIKI de-icing
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Re: Diamond Aircraft Sold!

Post by reinhardj »

Antoine,
I fully agree with your ideas. As a European fan of the Diesel engines, my wishes are:

- A DA40 version with Diesel engine with MTOW < 1200kg (EASA ELA1 plane with simplified maintenance)
- Use a Diesel engine with less weight (Continental or weight reduced Austro) resulting in a usefull load of >450kg
- G1000 NXI with separate certification of engine/airframe specific part (Air Data Computer GDC) and G1000 functional part would allow simpler software update maybe directly by Garmin without having the airframe manufacturer involved.
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Re: Diamond Aircraft Sold!

Post by ememic99 »

Unfortunately, I don’t think anything of this will happen. I believe new owner will try to strengthen the sales based on current state of development with reducing R&D.
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Re: Diamond Aircraft Sold!

Post by pietromarx »

I think Antoine is entirely on to something and I would be hopeful that the Chinese owners will both invest into DAI and into continued R&D with regards to the DA40, 42, and, eventually, the 62. They didn't buy the company in order to park some funds.

Personally, living in CA, I would absolutely love the DA-40 to have quieter vents, higher MP at altitude, and ventilated seats. Another iteration on the NLG/MLG to reduce weight and drag would also be useful. I remember the original MLG and it is past time to do it again.

At some point we need to start a call and mail campaign with Maurer, et al.
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