Do I have the 17# Ballast?

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BRS
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Re: Do I have the 17# Ballast?

Post by BRS »

We could almost be called a subspecies :D
A subspecies with options. There are so many great new avionics available since your plane was minted.
40.649 Sold (Still miss the DA40 from time to time)
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Rich
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Re: Do I have the 17# Ballast?

Post by Rich »

As far as I can tell, for all the G1000 DA40s (the vast majority), installing the FAT will either have a minuscule, if any, effect on W&B or you take the 18-lb. hit in weight in exchange for a non-trivial beneficial forward shift in CG.
2002 DA40-180: MT, PowerFlow, 530W/430W, KAP140, ext. baggage, 1090 ES out, 2646 MTOW, 40gal., Surefly, Flightstream 210, Orion 600 LED, XeVision, Aspen E5
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Lance Murray
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Re: Do I have the 17# Ballast?

Post by Lance Murray »

In my opinion after having owned both airplanes the NON-G1000 is superior in many different ways. I kept my steam gage airplane and sold my 2007XL.
Rich wrote: Thu Jun 06, 2019 4:07 am
BRS wrote: Thu Jun 06, 2019 3:58 am @rich
Rich, am I correct that you have the steam-gauges? Big difference from the G1000 models, much further forward CG.
You are correct. A definite minority among the DA40s. We could almost be called a subspecies :D
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astaib
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Re: Do I have the 17# Ballast?

Post by astaib »

Hello,

I also have the steam gauge.

Can you tell me what is better on this version from your point of view ?

Thanks.
Arnaud
DA40 Star 180 / 40.026 / 2001
Wingtip, landing and taxing LED (Whelen)
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Rich
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Re: Do I have the 17# Ballast?

Post by Rich »

astaib wrote: Fri Jun 07, 2019 3:36 pm Hello,

I also have the steam gauge.

Can you tell me what is better on this version from your point of view ?

Thanks.
It starts with these planes having been delivered lighter. And with a forward CG, allowing more load flexibility. In my case, I've chosen to add various options that now make my plane the one with the highest useful load listed on the wiki. But only by a couple of pounds - the three planes with the highest useful load are all pre-G1000 versions. Steve's plane (the only remaining pre-2004 version on the wiki) would leap-frog me were he to have the MTOW modification done.

Being simpler, they are more of a tabula rasa and can more easily be modified. Lots of examples:
- I got WAAS-enabled 12 years ago for $3600.
- ADS-B out was handled for just under $5K in two days four years ago.
- Single-unit failures have limited impact overall, since we have less "benefit" of overly-interdependent systems.
- We can choose from a variety of avionics upgrades that all wind up trimming even more weight from the airplane. I know of G5, Aspen, and G500 mods having been done. A lot of this has to do with these older ones being equipped similarly to thousands of non-Diamond aircraft.

I've stated the difficulties of adding the FAT conversion, but that doesn't mean it's impossible. I would have to give up some useful load but could minimize this and preserve CG by replacing the AI and HSI (which I plan to do anyway) and adding maybe 5 lb. in the skid plate. The net loss would then be about 15 lb. UL but CG would be preserved.

These are our advantages. Of course, newer ones have advantages in other areas. Faster, for one, though the Powerflow I added eats up some of that advantage.
2002 DA40-180: MT, PowerFlow, 530W/430W, KAP140, ext. baggage, 1090 ES out, 2646 MTOW, 40gal., Surefly, Flightstream 210, Orion 600 LED, XeVision, Aspen E5
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greg
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Re: Do I have the 17# Ballast?

Post by greg »

Ian Sage wrote: Wed Jun 05, 2019 4:32 pm
waynemcc999 wrote: Wed Jun 05, 2019 3:00 pm . . . How do I know if my aircraft has the 17 pound ballast up front? . . .
We have not seen them in person yet, but as I understand it they are lead weights bolted directly to the front of the engine.
They are definitely not lead. When I bought mine (second-hand), I bought the ballast at the same time, and had my mechanic install them as he reassembled the plane. They are a very shiny metal, one is rectangular, the other is a sort of L-shape. They are also extremely hard. When I had to replace the starter motor, it didn't quite fit. The mechanic tried filing the ballast to make room, and couldn't even manage to scratch it. He filed the starter instead.
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Don
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Re: Do I have the 17# Ballast?

Post by Don »

I finally was able to get to the hanger, open up the factory sealed box of nose ballast and take a cell photo of it.
No wonder why these are so expensive. You are looking at 17 pounds of beautiful stainless steel, not lead like I heard many times on this forum. In addition, each separate plate is individually finely machined to Aerospace type specs. I actually took them apart to admire the machining quality.
Also, they are made to be adjustable as you can remove individual SS plates if you wanted less nose ballast which I did not know before. You might even say they are overbuilt for the task, but I would prefer it that way to the alternative.
17 POUND STAINLESS STEEL BALLAST.jpg
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Ian Sage
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Re: Do I have the 17# Ballast?

Post by Ian Sage »

We did have our first aircraft with the ballast come in with the ballast installed. The previous verbal description we received of them being lead weights is indeed incorrect. They are identical to the images posted by Don above. The only noteworthy difference I would add is that if you include the mounting hardware our postal scale has the total weight of the ballast at 17lbs 8oz.
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Re: Do I have the 17# Ballast?

Post by waynemcc999 »

Not sure if this helps anyone infer what they have in their aircraft, but the aircraft Ian references is my little girl... 40.922, 2008 DA40 XLS, G1000W, PowerFlow, 50 gal tanks, 3-bladed MT prop... and she's soon to be enhanced in a "super" way thanks to Ian and Rod.
Wayne McClelland
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Rick
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Re: Do I have the 17# Ballast?

Post by Rick »

waynemcc999 wrote: Tue Jun 25, 2019 11:07 pmNot sure if this helps anyone infer what they have in their aircraft, but the aircraft Ian references is my little girl... 40.922, 2008 DA40 XLS, G1000W, PowerFlow, 50 gal tanks, 3-bladed MT prop... and she's soon to be enhanced in a "super" way thanks to Ian and Rod.
Wayne, your gal is equipped much like mine, so I will be very interested in a PIREP once you are flying in "super" mode!
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