MY DA40 has the pox

[Chromer]

When I was at the factory in London, I was told that the planes that were built in Canada start with 40-200 upwards.

Daryl

[Rich]

When I was at the factory in London, I was told that the planes that were built in Canada start with 40-200 upwards.

Daryl

That is correct. Mine is 40.208, one of the very first off the line.

There really are several possibilities here:
1. Diamond didn't perform a proper paint job in certain aircraft, but the problem doesn't show up for several years.
2. You absolutely must keep your plane in a hangar or expect to see this problem. Something I never expected. Most planes are kept outside. What's so different about Diamonds? My Star was kept in a hangar for the first 8-1/2 years of its life. It's only been kept outside for the last 2-1/2 years.
3. You must keep your plane safe from any possibility of getting <some unknown compound> on your plane. I've owned the plane its entire life and I've never used any proscribed substances on my plane. One kind of new thing in the last couple of years for me is the use of TKS fluid to de-ice the plane on those frosty mornings. It's pretty rare, and this is what Diamond recommends for this purpose, but perhaps something like this is the culprit.
4. You absolutely must treat the plane in some special unspecified way to keep it from happening.

The thing that peeves me is Diamond telling multiple owners that they've never heard of this problem before.

[Lance Murray]

My airplane has been in San Diego it's whole life. We never use de-ice/anti-ice fluids so I don't think that is the culprit.

This issue did come up in the San Diego winter and both times when the temps were cold and raining for an extended time. Certainly we don't have the kind of rain or cold of the North East but it definitely was cold and wet for week or so.

And yes Diamond was told about this when it happened almost three years ago. I was NOT the first but they told me that they have never heard of this issue. This clearly isn't the truth.

[Tommy]

My airplane has been in San Diego it's whole life. We never use de-ice/anti-ice fluids so I don't think that is the culprit.

This issue did come up in the San Diego winter and both times when the temps were cold and raining for an extended time. Certainly we don't have the kind of rain or cold of the North East but it definitely was cold and wet for week or so.

And yes Diamond was told about this when it happened almost three years ago. I was NOT the first but they told me that they have never heard of this issue. This clearly isn't the truth.

Did the blistering diminish or completely go away once dryer sunnier weather returned?
Did you or anyone experiencing this problem break open a blister and observe moisture or was it completely dry?

[Lance Murray]

yes, the blisters diminished and hardened after the plane dried out and some time passed.

[Moonshine]

Interesting
My friend has a Lancair IVP PropJet (his is actually fast). He has... wouldn't call them pox, but texture to the wings. Not really an orange peel, but tiny little bumps - not quite a weave showing through either. He cruises up at around 340-350 ktas at FL280 and claims that once the bumps came out, the plane started flying 5 kts or so faster. Took his plane about 3-4 yrs to start showing those.
Might be completely unrelated, but his are due to carbon wing and temp changes.

[Rich]

Interesting
My friend has a Lancair IVP PropJet (his is actually fast). He has... wouldn't call them pox, but texture to the wings. Not really an orange peel, but tiny little bumps - not quite a weave showing through either. He cruises up at around 340-350 ktas at FL280 and claims that once the bumps came out, the plane started flying 5 kts or so faster. Took his plane about 3-4 yrs to start showing those.
Might be completely unrelated, but his are due to carbon wing and temp changes.

Ours are also tiny little bumps, really. Not orange peel.

[Tommy]

yes, the blisters diminished and hardened after the plane dried out and some time passed.

Did you or anyone experiencing the same problem actually break open a blister and observe water or just an empty dry shell?

[Thomas]

If this is a humidity problem, is then maybe a yearly polish with (silicone free)wax a solution?

[Rich]

Yearly waxing didn't seem to be enough in my case, but advisable anyway. Maybe waxing more often or waxing with some magical stuff yet to be determined.