diamondaviators.net

Somewhat interested in this one. Like the interior although it looks like there are some marks on the seats where they are putting the head sets, particularly on the back, trim could be better on the dash tuck, and my main question is why didn't they cover the rear opening passenger door with the same leather? New door?

Also, why is the screw so corroded on the hobbs meter? It appear to be in Naples, is the salt that bad or are some of the fasteners that cheap?

Low hours, nice interior, but some questions. I can see an owner in Naples doing the interior, but questions... Yes I have sent some of these to the sales agent.

Thanks

I have never seen a rear door with leather applied.

Eliminate the Hobbs unless you are renting it out. Even if you rent it out, eliminate it and use the tach.

Having previously been interested a low time Cessna from Florida in the past; corrosion is inexcapable. The Cleveland brakes inner hub and corroded disc were corrosion cemented together so that removing the disc was impossible and almost $1000 per wheel in cost to replace by the owner. I am not going to mention the corrosion problems with the engine. The plane was hangered in Florida unused only 18 months. No I did not buy it. Pre buy Inspection is critical.

The interior looks sharp. It's done by a guy in the U.K. Corrosion on the DA40 is inescapable. Diamond used inferior metric hardware and didn't take proper corrosion protection measures anywhere in the airplane. You will find minor surface corrosion on the metric hardware on most diamonds. Most of it is purely cosmetic.

I have always been happy with the Diamond hardware. The stainless steel hardware and fasteners on my plane still looks brand new after 7 years. With that said, my plane has always been hangered and is about 3 miles inland from the Pacific Ocean. The screws holding the Hobbs meter in the OP's photo are not stainless steel. They appear to be the cheap non stainless steel flat head ones that comes packed in the box when buying or replacing the meter. I am surprised Diamond did not replace them with stainless Phillips head screws when installing new at the factory.

Lance Murray wrote:The interior looks sharp. It's done by a guy in the U.K..

A word of warning. The company in the UK is called Custom Aircraft Trimmers and the MD is Jason Cooper.
They have extorted money from me in a very ugly way. I had to keep quiet until now because of court proceedings. I have filed and won a court case against them and found out that there were two more judgements against them already on record with total liabilities in the 5 digit range.
Enforcement pending in all three cases.
(PM me for more detail.)

As to the aircraft above:
1. Check latest weighing report - Mr Cooper does not really care how much his stuff weighs and he tends to *slightly* under estimate weight gain when asked at order time. In a DA40 where payload is already an issue this can become quite a usability restriction.
2. Check that appropriate fire test certificates acceptable by the FAA are in the aircraft's file.

I wish Antoine would just do a thread on Custom Aircraft Trimmers. I almost used that company to re-cover my seats. Now that the court case is over I'd love to see the details recorded here.

Their photographs and work *look* gorgeous.

Colin I will gladly do if this is ok'ed by DAN moderators.

I am certainly in favor of you posting your story. I don't see how it would violate any of the policies of this forum, and if it saves any other member from going through what you went through, it would be well worth it! At this point, I guess Chris has the final say, but I would go ahead and post your story (because I'm interested!) and then let the official moderators take it down if they think it doesn't belong here.

That's my vote!

Antoine wrote:

Lance Murray wrote:The interior looks sharp. It's done by a guy in the U.K..

A word of warning. The company in the UK is called Custom Aircraft Trimmers and the MD is Jason Cooper.
They have extorted money from me in a very ugly way. I had to keep quiet until now because of court proceedings. I have filed and won a court case against them and found out that there were two more judgements against them already on record with total liabilities in the 5 digit range.
Enforcement pending in all three cases.
(PM me for more detail.)

As to the aircraft above:
1. Check latest weighing report - Mr Cooper does not really care how much his stuff weighs and he tends to *slightly* under estimate weight gain when asked at order time. In a DA40 where payload is already an issue this can become quite a usability restriction.
2. Check that appropriate fire test certificates acceptable by the FAA are in the aircraft's file.

Wow..thanks to all for the replies. While it does look so much better than the stock seats, I was thinking they looked heavy-like Bentley Seats. I think I'll email the sales agent and mention he should have the A&P wieght the aircraft and or seats. if you were purchasing this DA40 would you request this or let it rest? I know it should have the proper paperwork already but based on the statements it seems it should somehow be checked. Or at least have the seats wieghed.