Buying a DA-20

Any DA20 related topics

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Andiamo
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Buying a DA-20

Post by Andiamo »

I’m thinking of buying a DA-20. My “mission” for an airplane is: two seat, fun to fly, day and night VFR, reasonable payload, 120-140 knot cruise. Several LSAs also come close to fitting the bill. I intend on buying a new aircraft, whichever one I get.
Question for Diamond DA-20 Owners: would you buy it again?
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Pascal
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Re: Buying a DA-20

Post by Pascal »

Hi Paul,

I love my 1999 DA20-C1 and I would buy another DA20-C1 again without hesitation. It's reasonably fast, safe, frugal, simple systems and avionics (less stuff that can break or require expensive maintenance). It's also a lot of fun to fly. Price of insurance is very reasonable as this is a trainer aircraft, with a very low stall speed.

I would have preferred a P51-D but could not afford one :)

I purchased a 1999 DA20-C1 in April 2017 for 40k$. So far I believe I have put 20k$ of maintenance/upgrades to it, and I plan on adding another 20k$ to it over the next two years (ADSB-OUT and other avionics upgrades mostly), etc.

I believe the DA20-C1 represents an incredible bang for the buck compared to, say, a Cessna 172 if your mission is two seats maximum. Just with the lower fuel burn and higher cruising speed, I will save in fuel costs the price of an overhaul over the lifetime of the engine.

You are located very close to where my in-laws spend the winter (they are in Lantana). The Bahamas are just a short hop away.

An intangible benefit of owning a Diamond aircraft over some LSAs is that Diamond aircraft is well-funded, has an incredible product lineup, and is not going to go under any time soon.

Soon I will start renting a friend's DA40-180 for those times when I would want to bring the teenager along for the ride with my girlfriend. But I'm not getting rid of the DA20, which I will still be using 80% of the time. The DA40 is a nice, stable cross country machine, with an autopilot and lots of avionics porn, but it's not the mini fighter the DA20-C1 is.

But you should think about your mission really hard before committing to a VFR only, two seat airplane. For the price of a brand new DA20-C1, you can buy a lot more airplane, if you are willing to consider a like new, slightly used airplane.

BTW unfortunately Diamond does not make them at this time anyway, too busy building the other models in the lineup with a better profit margin...

Good luck with your research, and do not hesitate to ask more questions if you have any.
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ZAV
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Re: Buying a DA-20

Post by ZAV »

Make sure you fly a DA40 prior to making a decision. I trained in a DA20 for a few flights and then tried a DA40 and could never go back. The 20's max gross weight is easy to get to with full tanks and two men in the seats. The 40 will allow those passengers plus bags plus whatever else with minimal increase in hourly operating costs....plus the option of IFR training\use in the future. There isn't an option for a new 20 at the moment so that may help you with your decision.
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Derek
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Re: Buying a DA-20

Post by Derek »

I’ve owned a 2001 DA20 for about 7 years and love it. My main mission is a 1hr commute to the cottage but I also use it for business and leisure travel for anything up to a 3hr flight away. I fly about 75hrs/yr. I’ve looked at upgrading to a bigger faster machine but it’s just not worth it. I’m in the safest bird in the sky, fuel usage is amazing, speed is ok and way better than similar Cessnas, it’s simple without all the maintenance headaches I read about on the DA40 side, and it’s super fun to fly. It is very capable and strong.
It’s a personal thing but check out a used one too. Why spend extra money and not get too much in return? With mandated maintenance there isn’t too much difference between new and 10 years old. Unlike cars these things are built to last.

Good luck!
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YCCA
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Re: Buying a DA-20

Post by YCCA »

I own a 2001 DA-20 that I have in my small flight school. You will have a lot of fun in the airplane. It’s fast, for its small engine, you can spin it, the visibility is great and it’s fun to fly. Oh yeah and it’s an airplane that was built in this century.. The cons are that it’s pretty small after a couple hours. If you weigh 200 and your passenger is 200 you can’t put full fuel in. You probably won’t like flying it in gusty conditions being that it is so light. You also can’t legally pop through a layer to get out or in to an airfield. I see a new one listed at 228K but I doubt they actually have the airplane. I would not buy a new one, if it’s even possible.. The price is to steep, unless money is not an option or you are leasing it to a flight school to help offset the cost.
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Re: Buying a DA-20

Post by Hawker »

Good Morning,

Any comments on Katanas wit Rotax compared to Conti engines? Thank you!

Br,

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Pascal
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Re: Buying a DA-20

Post by Pascal »

The DA20-C1 is fuel injected, has better climb performance, higher cruise speed, and is mechanically simpler than the Rotax because it has a fixed pitch propeller. The DA20-C1 usually commands a higher resale price.

The DA20-A1's Rotax engine is carburated, has better fuel economy, has a better glide ratio, is lighter, has a shorter TBO, has a more complex variable pitch propeller with a drive reduction box. The A1 is slower than the C1. In my opinion what you save in fuel economy you might end up paying in higher maintenance cost because of the shorter time between overhauls, and because of the maintenance costs involved with the variable pitch propeller and the reduction drive.
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Re: Buying a DA-20

Post by krellis »

The Rotax engines have been given a bad rap. I've had an A1 for over 10 years and the Rotax has been really reliable. It starts quickly hot or cold and we plan 4.5 GPH on auto gas. The airframe is certified for 100LL, mogas or a combination. So with $2.25 per gallon mogas (today's price) versus $4.25 100LL (also today's price), that's about $10 per hour less for the Rotax.

Over the 10 years, we've had a water pump leak - this was the biggest deal, since we had to pull the engine and send it to Lockwood. Everything else has been relatively minor. The gearbox should be pulled every 500 hours if you run 100LL. The engine much prefers mogas.

There aren't a lot of A1's left in North America and Diamond has pretty much orphaned us, so that's a consideration too.

TBO does not matter in part 91 private operations. There was a flight school in Canada with 3000 hours plus on their Rotax powered DA20's.

The A1's command a higher price in Europe, because operators there want the Rotax engine.
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Re: Buying a DA-20

Post by RMarkSampson »

I'm one of many satisfied DA-20 owners. I run it in a club an the other 8-9 club members also love flying it. Having said that, we are also looking for a 4-seat IFR option. I think you will find the useful load and VFR-only being the biggest limiting factors for the DA-20 in my opinion - but the fuel economy can't be beat especially if you never fly with more than two people. New DA-20 panels are nice. Finding an older one with all the "bling" in the panel might be a challenge - to include an autopilot. Most were built with flight schools in mind, not with regional cross-country flying as a primary mission - so an autopilot is normally not part of the bling. I was speaking to a factory guy at Sun'nFun a year ago. According to him, there are only a few that were built with all the bells and whistles found in most standard DA-40's.
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Steven
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Re: Buying a DA-20

Post by Steven »

I owned both an A1 and a C1 model. Both are excellent aircraft. The only downsides are two seats and not IFR certified. If those don't bother you I would not hesitate to buy one. The A1 models are quite rare now and I would be somewhat concerned about parts and maintenance support going forward.
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