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Re: ForcedAeroMotive: SuperCharged DA40
Posted: Thu May 02, 2019 3:04 pm
by krellis
Incremental changes, some of which are already delivered in newer DA40's, and a couple were side-effects:
- Starter failed - replaced with newer design -2 lb
- MLW mod - lighter main gear legs -3 lb
- Replaced A600 nav/strobes with Orion LED units -4 lb
So 9 lb. reduction with these. They mostly offset about +13 lb of mods over the years, bringing it back down to 1705 lb. Planned gyro replacements (AI, HSI) with newer stuff should shave it down further by another 8 lb or so.
Sounds like you are a perfect candidate for the G3X touch panel and autopilot. Garmin has done a great job of adding features and now that the formerly experimental system has been STC'd - I highly recommend it for the six pack DA40's. I have the full G3X system in my RV-7A and will put it into the RV-10 I'm building. I went with Garmin over Dynon/Advanced as the G3X interface is more like the G1000 DA40 I used to have. I'd like to think there will be better support with the G3X, but I guess that depends on how much Diamond is involved in the STC. I know a lot of folks have a bad taste in their mouths over the G1000 issues, but I think most of the blame falls on Diamond and not Garmin.
Re: ForcedAeroMotive: SuperCharged DA40
Posted: Thu May 02, 2019 3:12 pm
by Rich
krellis wrote: ↑Thu May 02, 2019 3:04 pm
Incremental changes, some of which are already delivered in newer DA40's, and a couple were side-effects:
- Starter failed - replaced with newer design -2 lb
- MLW mod - lighter main gear legs -3 lb
- Replaced A600 nav/strobes with Orion LED units -4 lb
So 9 lb. reduction with these. They mostly offset about +13 lb of mods over the years, bringing it back down to 1705 lb. Planned gyro replacements (AI, HSI) with newer stuff should shave it down further by another 8 lb or so.
Sounds like you are a perfect candidate for the G3X touch panel and autopilot. Garmin has done a great job of adding features and now that the formerly experimental system has been STC'd - I highly recommend it for the six pack DA40's. I have the full G3X system in my RV-7A and will put it into the RV-10 I'm building. I went with Garmin over Dynon/Advanced as the G3X interface is more like the G1000 DA40 I used to have. I'd like to think there will be better support with the G3X, but I guess that depends on how much Diamond is involved in the STC. I know a lot of folks have a bad taste in their mouths over the G1000 issues, but I think most of the blame falls on Diamond and not Garmin.
I've already looked into the possibility of the G3X and won't be going that way. See my discussion on "The Next Stuff" for my rationale.
Re: ForcedAeroMotive: SuperCharged DA40
Posted: Thu May 02, 2019 6:50 pm
by Ian Sage
BRS wrote: ↑Wed May 01, 2019 11:22 pm
I just double checked with Rod about props weighs etc.
Both the Hartzel metal and composite props are approved. The Metal Hartzel before the Powerflow (which I had at one point) has not been addressed. MT is in the process of do vibration analysis to approve it for use with our STC. . .
We received approval for the MT propeller this morning.
Cheers,
Ian
Re: ForcedAeroMotive: SuperCharged DA40
Posted: Thu May 02, 2019 7:22 pm
by TimS
Ian Sage wrote: ↑Thu May 02, 2019 6:50 pm
BRS wrote: ↑Wed May 01, 2019 11:22 pm
I just double checked with Rod about props weighs etc.
Both the Hartzel metal and composite props are approved. The Metal Hartzel before the Powerflow (which I had at one point) has not been addressed. MT is in the process of do vibration analysis to approve it for use with our STC. . .
We received approval for the MT propeller this morning.
Cheers,
Ian
Congrats!
Coming Home to Roost (Data help advice)
Posted: Sat May 25, 2019 5:35 pm
by BRS
Finally, after a very long STC venture it's time for N8QQ to come back home to the roost. In preparation to go pick it up I'm realizing that the databases are many many years out of date. So i'm reading through some of the threads on how to do the update and I even watched a very lengthy video on how to use the G1000. Yup, it's been a long time.
So I'm open to suggestions as to what needs to be updated. Obviously 'nav-data' but what about terrain and yes probably obstacle data. Can/should I get all that through Jepp or Garmin.
BTW - routing should take me north KAPA (Centennial), hang a left at Laramie to KBOI, Baker City, the Dalles, Vancouver WA. If you are along the route and want to visit let me know.
Re: ForcedAeroMotive: SuperCharged DA40
Posted: Sat May 25, 2019 5:43 pm
by CFIDave
If your G1000 files are many years old, it's probably best to subscribe to a "bundle" that includes multiple files at a discounted rate.. Garmin's PilotPak bundle (with their version of NavData) is cheaper than Jepp's bundle with Jepp NavData), so I'd suggest going with Garmin.
The only database that doesn't change much over the years is Terrain (tectonic plates move slowly!)
Re: Coming Home to Roost (Data help advice)
Posted: Sat May 25, 2019 8:00 pm
by Rich
BRS wrote: ↑Sat May 25, 2019 5:35 pm
So I'm open to suggestions as to what needs to be updated. Obviously 'nav-data' but what about terrain and yes probably obstacle data. Can/should I get all that through Jepp or Garmin.
BTW - routing should take me north KAPA (Centennial), hang a left at Laramie to KBOI, Baker City, the Dalles, Vancouver WA. If you are along the route and want to visit let me know.
The terrain/obstacle data in my GNS units is about a decade out of date. I haven't worried about it, since FF updates this roughly each year. But I figure I ought to update The GNS units after all this time, so I'm looking into it. Apparently I can now only get terrain data updates from Garmin, which complicates things.
I'm not precisely along the route you describe, but I am along a reasonable variant, at S39. From here it's about an hour to KVUO. Pretty cheap self-service fuel here, too.
Re: ForcedAeroMotive: SuperCharged DA40
Posted: Sat May 25, 2019 8:41 pm
by MarkA
I was in a similar position with N123MZ where other than the NAV database, all the other G1000 databases hadn't been updated since the plane was new.
I just signed up for a United States Standard OnePak subscription ($649 per year) on the Garmin site that includes a year's worth of updates for Navigation data, SafeTaxi, Obstacle, Airport Directory, Terrain (9 Arc Second needed for SVT), and the Basemap.
Re: ForcedAeroMotive: SuperCharged DA40
Posted: Sat May 25, 2019 9:57 pm
by Antoine
Just back to this thread that I have been watching for years. I flew 1'000 hours in two DA40s and left the family before the FAT team finally got their baby approved.
My second DA40 (N905PA) was a 2008 XLS. It had the 17 lb nose ballast and was fast.
I remember routinely doing 147 in cruise and easily hitting 150 on 10 GPH or so whenever I wanted.
So the supercharger mod would cost zero weight penalty, make the DA40 a 170 KTAS (wooot?!) aircraft and climb at 1200 fpm at 10'000 feet? What an amazing achievement!
Even at 30 K USD it is a very reasonable upgrade if you occasionally need to fly high. I mean you don't need to live in a mountainous area, just do some cross country and IFR.
Having sufficient climb power is very useful in challenging weather. This STC moves the DA40 into another league. I would have bought it right away.
Now that DAI no longer have a religion problem , I hope they pick up this STC and offer it as a factory option and retrofit.
Congratulations on a super clean and very refined installation. A brilliant case of "less is more".
Re: ForcedAeroMotive: SuperCharged DA40
Posted: Tue Jun 04, 2019 9:52 pm
by A Dopo
Antoine wrote: ↑Sat May 25, 2019 9:57 pm
Just back to this thread that I have been watching for years. I flew 1'000 hours in two DA40s and left the family before the FAT team finally got their baby approved.
My second DA40 (N905PA) was a 2008 XLS. It had the 17 lb nose ballast and was fast.
I remember routinely doing 147 in cruise and easily hitting 150 on 10 GPH or so whenever I wanted.
So the supercharger mod would cost zero weight penalty, make the DA40 a 170 KTAS (wooot?!) aircraft and climb at 1200 fpm at 10'000 feet? What an amazing achievement!
Even at 30 K USD it is a very reasonable upgrade if you occasionally need to fly high. I mean you don't need to live in a mountainous area, just do some cross country and IFR.
Having sufficient climb power is very useful in challenging weather. This STC moves the DA40 into another league. I would have bought it right away.
Now that DAI no longer have a religion problem , I hope they pick up this STC and offer it as a factory option and retrofit.
Congratulations on a super clean and very refined installation. A brilliant case of "less is more".
Far more useful than the 30,000 AC that came with our NG. At least that's my initial knee jerk reaction until we figure out why it's so anemic.