flyingcheesehead
Touchdown! Greaser!
I was about to post a message on the relative merits of the DA40 in another thread, but I figured I'd just start a new one here.
Some general descriptive stuff: The DA40-180 (I'm not gonna talk about the DA40-TDI as it's not certified in the US) is an all-composite, all-electric, low-wing, T-tail, 4-place, center-stick control, 180hp fuel-injected airplane.
It was certified in 2001, and either Garmin or King avionics were available. In 2004, they added glass panels as well and had the somewhat-unique distinction of having four different avionics packages: King steam, Garmin steam, Avidyne glass, or Garmin glass. That said, the vast majority of the 2001-3 planes were Garmin with steam gauges, and the vast majority of 2004 and later planes are G1000 - I've only ever seen one King steam plane and one Avidyne glass plane in all of my looking at ads and such. Also, in 2003 the panel was re-done to allow for more legroom for us tall folks.
In 2007, the DA40XL was introduced, with some mods to the landing gear, PowerFlow exhaust, and the GFC 700 autopilot added. In 2008, the XLS was introduced, which added a new canopy that increased headroom. These models both fly about 5 knots faster than the earlier ones.
Also, in 2005 a DA40-FP was added to the line with a fixed-pitch prop and carbureted engine, aimed at flight schools. In 2007, the DA40-CS, a "budget" version of the plane without the XL mods was introduced for those who didn't want to pay the extra dough for a new plane with all the bells and whistles.
Popular options include:
* Extended baggage. On early planes, this consisted of a "ski tube" to allow for carrying long objects. On later planes, this is the "four-way baggage compartment" which has an under-the-floor type section for carrying oil, tow bar, etc. as well as the main baggage compartment and another compartment that extends further into the tail. The back seats also fold flat in seconds, allowing for a very large cargo compartment with two seats up front.
* Autopilot. This is the KAP 140 on the earlier planes, and the GFC700 from 2007 onwards.
* Avionics: Most of the early buyers opted for a 530/430 setup instead of the standard 430/430. Many planes, especially the G1000 ones, have the Garmin GDL69A weather datalink.
* Interior: Cloth is standard, but most planes have the premium interior which includes leather and a few other things (such as electrically-adjusted rudder pedals in the XL/XLS models, cupholders, etc)
Okay... Now onto the pros and cons:
Pros:
* Safety & Strength. The DA40 has two main wing spars, but structural testing was done with one of them missing. Also, the fuel tanks are located between the spars. There has never been a post-crash fire in a DA40, which is a huge survivability factor. There have also only been two fatal crashes (One flew into power lines on a botched instrument approach, the other was a highly-fatigued black-hole approach into the ocean). The DA40 is one of the few (only?) composite aircraft certified without an airframe or wing life limit.
* Visibility. With the bubble canopy, high aspect ratio wing, and sloping cowl the view is incredible. You can look straight down from the front seats despite the low wing because the leading edge is near the front seat backs. I can see about 30º down from level out the front, and the left to right view is about 210º of unobstructed glass. Beautiful - And it gives you more of a sense that you're flying rather than just riding in a little tin can in the sky.
* Efficiency. Depending on power setting, weight, and altitude, I've seen 135KTAS on 7.5gph, 140KTAS on 9gph, and 145+ KTAS on 10gph when lighter, and ~135KTAS on 8.5gph when we were loaded up heavy last week. Probably the best efficiency of any certified, 4-seat fixed-gear aircraft.
* Entry & Exit. With the canopy and the rear door on the left, three of the four seats can be directly entered from outside. Also unique among 4-seat airplanes.
* Glide performance. With the long glider-like wing (Diamond built gliders before they started building airplanes) the glide performance is excellent - The glide ratio on ours is 13:1! That allows for better choices in an engine-out situation. The nice thing is that it doesn't float much either, as the flaps have a section about 2 feet long on the inboard site of each that acts as a split flap (the rest of the flap span is normal), the flap span is quite long, and the flaps extend to 42º so with full flaps the plane also slows down nicely.
* Climb performance. It's no 182, but it climbs at 1000 fpm down low with only 180hp. The high cruise speeds for a 180hp fixed-gear bird indicate that drag is very low, and that lack of drag also allows for more excess horsepower in the climb.
* Flight characteristics. Hard to describe - It's light on the controls, but not twitchy. It's also very well-harmonized. Despite the lightness of the control forces, it's very stable, especially in pitch. Steep turns are really fun - They're almost effortless without even re-trimming. Diamond did a really good job of making this plane easy to fly, but also fun to fly.
Cons:
* Weird fuel measuring system(s). With the long, skinny wing and the tanks between the two main spars (see safety above), the tanks are long and skinny. With the dihedral of the wing, by the time you burn ~5 gallons from a tank, you can no longer see the fuel in the tanks by looking into them. So, on preflight, there's a contraption you use to measure the fuel level that works by putting it in a certain spot on the leading edge of the wing, connecting a hose to the sump drain, and waiting for the fuel to flow into a vertical glass tube so you can read the level. Kludgy, although I think it's worth it for the safety that the tank design provides. Also, there are 2 (regular) or 3 (long range) tanks per wing, and the 2nd tank does not have a fuel sender. So, there is a portion of the fuel that's un-gauged - On the standard tanks (40 gal) the portion from 20/side (full fuel) down to 17/side is un-gauged. On the long range tanks (50 gal) the portion from 19/side down to 16/side is un-gauged. Kind of weird.
* Rudder pedal adjustment. The seats in the Diamond incorporate the sticks and are not adjustable. To accommodate pilots of differing heights, the rudder pedals move fore and aft. Earlier models do this by pulling a cord between the pedals, which can be awkward. Later models (2007+) did add the option to adjust the pedals electrically instead, but that introduces the potential for the motor to break too.
* Hard to hangar. The long, skinny wing is, well... Long. The wingspan is 39'6" and it is difficult to impossible to fit the DA40 into a standard 40' wide hangar.
* Hot. With the bubble canopy, there's quite a greenhouse effect when it's sunny. However, this is mitigated somewhat by a couple of things: On the ground, you can latch the canopy partway open for excellent ventilation (provided the engine is running). In the air, the vents pump a LOT of air into the cabin. However, it still sometimes isn't enough - But for those of you in warmer climates, there is an STC'd air conditioning system.
* Turbulence. The DA40 doesn't cut through turbulence as well as the 182, though they have similar wing loading. The long wing means that it'll catch a few extra bumps, and there's more of an arm on those that get caught by a wingtip. The bumps aren't sharp - It's more of a pitching, rolling movement - But there are definitely more of them, and they upset the aircraft more than the 182.
"Meh"s:
* Room. Some things are great - At 6'4" I fit in the back seat very easily due to the bubble-shaped fuselage, so the back seats are the most comfortable I've come across in GA. There are also holes under the front seats for your feet to fit in if you're in the back seat, and very strong handles to get in and out. Also, shoulder room is excellent, even wider than the 182. However, legroom is merely "OK" and headroom is a little tight, so it could be bad on a turbulent day.
* Noise. If it's a nice cold day, the DA40 is very quiet. However, if you need to open the vents, they create a LOT of noise. At least you get very good ventilation as well.
* Center stick. Great fun to fly, but passengers may not like it (especially if they're wearing a skirt/dress!), and you can't remove it.
Overall, though, the DA40 is one of the nicest airplanes around, certainly the nicest in its class. It does have its quirks as stated above, and some of those quirks are unusual compared to similar airplanes, but the cons are pretty easy to live with while the pros make the plane a real joy to fly.
Some general descriptive stuff: The DA40-180 (I'm not gonna talk about the DA40-TDI as it's not certified in the US) is an all-composite, all-electric, low-wing, T-tail, 4-place, center-stick control, 180hp fuel-injected airplane.
It was certified in 2001, and either Garmin or King avionics were available. In 2004, they added glass panels as well and had the somewhat-unique distinction of having four different avionics packages: King steam, Garmin steam, Avidyne glass, or Garmin glass. That said, the vast majority of the 2001-3 planes were Garmin with steam gauges, and the vast majority of 2004 and later planes are G1000 - I've only ever seen one King steam plane and one Avidyne glass plane in all of my looking at ads and such. Also, in 2003 the panel was re-done to allow for more legroom for us tall folks.
In 2007, the DA40XL was introduced, with some mods to the landing gear, PowerFlow exhaust, and the GFC 700 autopilot added. In 2008, the XLS was introduced, which added a new canopy that increased headroom. These models both fly about 5 knots faster than the earlier ones.
Also, in 2005 a DA40-FP was added to the line with a fixed-pitch prop and carbureted engine, aimed at flight schools. In 2007, the DA40-CS, a "budget" version of the plane without the XL mods was introduced for those who didn't want to pay the extra dough for a new plane with all the bells and whistles.
Popular options include:
* Extended baggage. On early planes, this consisted of a "ski tube" to allow for carrying long objects. On later planes, this is the "four-way baggage compartment" which has an under-the-floor type section for carrying oil, tow bar, etc. as well as the main baggage compartment and another compartment that extends further into the tail. The back seats also fold flat in seconds, allowing for a very large cargo compartment with two seats up front.
* Autopilot. This is the KAP 140 on the earlier planes, and the GFC700 from 2007 onwards.
* Avionics: Most of the early buyers opted for a 530/430 setup instead of the standard 430/430. Many planes, especially the G1000 ones, have the Garmin GDL69A weather datalink.
* Interior: Cloth is standard, but most planes have the premium interior which includes leather and a few other things (such as electrically-adjusted rudder pedals in the XL/XLS models, cupholders, etc)
Okay... Now onto the pros and cons:
Pros:
* Safety & Strength. The DA40 has two main wing spars, but structural testing was done with one of them missing. Also, the fuel tanks are located between the spars. There has never been a post-crash fire in a DA40, which is a huge survivability factor. There have also only been two fatal crashes (One flew into power lines on a botched instrument approach, the other was a highly-fatigued black-hole approach into the ocean). The DA40 is one of the few (only?) composite aircraft certified without an airframe or wing life limit.
* Visibility. With the bubble canopy, high aspect ratio wing, and sloping cowl the view is incredible. You can look straight down from the front seats despite the low wing because the leading edge is near the front seat backs. I can see about 30º down from level out the front, and the left to right view is about 210º of unobstructed glass. Beautiful - And it gives you more of a sense that you're flying rather than just riding in a little tin can in the sky.
* Efficiency. Depending on power setting, weight, and altitude, I've seen 135KTAS on 7.5gph, 140KTAS on 9gph, and 145+ KTAS on 10gph when lighter, and ~135KTAS on 8.5gph when we were loaded up heavy last week. Probably the best efficiency of any certified, 4-seat fixed-gear aircraft.
* Entry & Exit. With the canopy and the rear door on the left, three of the four seats can be directly entered from outside. Also unique among 4-seat airplanes.
* Glide performance. With the long glider-like wing (Diamond built gliders before they started building airplanes) the glide performance is excellent - The glide ratio on ours is 13:1! That allows for better choices in an engine-out situation. The nice thing is that it doesn't float much either, as the flaps have a section about 2 feet long on the inboard site of each that acts as a split flap (the rest of the flap span is normal), the flap span is quite long, and the flaps extend to 42º so with full flaps the plane also slows down nicely.
* Climb performance. It's no 182, but it climbs at 1000 fpm down low with only 180hp. The high cruise speeds for a 180hp fixed-gear bird indicate that drag is very low, and that lack of drag also allows for more excess horsepower in the climb.
* Flight characteristics. Hard to describe - It's light on the controls, but not twitchy. It's also very well-harmonized. Despite the lightness of the control forces, it's very stable, especially in pitch. Steep turns are really fun - They're almost effortless without even re-trimming. Diamond did a really good job of making this plane easy to fly, but also fun to fly.
Cons:
* Weird fuel measuring system(s). With the long, skinny wing and the tanks between the two main spars (see safety above), the tanks are long and skinny. With the dihedral of the wing, by the time you burn ~5 gallons from a tank, you can no longer see the fuel in the tanks by looking into them. So, on preflight, there's a contraption you use to measure the fuel level that works by putting it in a certain spot on the leading edge of the wing, connecting a hose to the sump drain, and waiting for the fuel to flow into a vertical glass tube so you can read the level. Kludgy, although I think it's worth it for the safety that the tank design provides. Also, there are 2 (regular) or 3 (long range) tanks per wing, and the 2nd tank does not have a fuel sender. So, there is a portion of the fuel that's un-gauged - On the standard tanks (40 gal) the portion from 20/side (full fuel) down to 17/side is un-gauged. On the long range tanks (50 gal) the portion from 19/side down to 16/side is un-gauged. Kind of weird.
* Rudder pedal adjustment. The seats in the Diamond incorporate the sticks and are not adjustable. To accommodate pilots of differing heights, the rudder pedals move fore and aft. Earlier models do this by pulling a cord between the pedals, which can be awkward. Later models (2007+) did add the option to adjust the pedals electrically instead, but that introduces the potential for the motor to break too.
* Hard to hangar. The long, skinny wing is, well... Long. The wingspan is 39'6" and it is difficult to impossible to fit the DA40 into a standard 40' wide hangar.
* Hot. With the bubble canopy, there's quite a greenhouse effect when it's sunny. However, this is mitigated somewhat by a couple of things: On the ground, you can latch the canopy partway open for excellent ventilation (provided the engine is running). In the air, the vents pump a LOT of air into the cabin. However, it still sometimes isn't enough - But for those of you in warmer climates, there is an STC'd air conditioning system.
* Turbulence. The DA40 doesn't cut through turbulence as well as the 182, though they have similar wing loading. The long wing means that it'll catch a few extra bumps, and there's more of an arm on those that get caught by a wingtip. The bumps aren't sharp - It's more of a pitching, rolling movement - But there are definitely more of them, and they upset the aircraft more than the 182.
"Meh"s:
* Room. Some things are great - At 6'4" I fit in the back seat very easily due to the bubble-shaped fuselage, so the back seats are the most comfortable I've come across in GA. There are also holes under the front seats for your feet to fit in if you're in the back seat, and very strong handles to get in and out. Also, shoulder room is excellent, even wider than the 182. However, legroom is merely "OK" and headroom is a little tight, so it could be bad on a turbulent day.
* Noise. If it's a nice cold day, the DA40 is very quiet. However, if you need to open the vents, they create a LOT of noise. At least you get very good ventilation as well.
* Center stick. Great fun to fly, but passengers may not like it (especially if they're wearing a skirt/dress!), and you can't remove it.
Overall, though, the DA40 is one of the nicest airplanes around, certainly the nicest in its class. It does have its quirks as stated above, and some of those quirks are unusual compared to similar airplanes, but the cons are pretty easy to live with while the pros make the plane a real joy to fly.
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) We'll see how it works when I head to Texas in a few days...