The DA40 is safe, efficient, and has the visibility of a glider and low maintenance costs. Flaps have little or no effect on trim condition, but neither are they as effective as the barn doors on a Cessna 172.Landing a Star isn’t particularly difficult, but the sight picture over the nose requires some acclimation to avoid too-high flares. Incidentally, I just completed the 2014 annual inspection, which included refurbishing the magnetos, for a total cost of around $1500.As for upgrades, I’ve installed AeroLED Pulsar NSP strobe and position lights. The XLS is the deluxe version, with the integration of some options into the standard offering including a Powerflow tuned exhaust, WAAS-capable G1000, GDL69 datalink, and TAS traffic alert system. As noted, cockpit visibility is nothing short of fabulous—the best of any GA airplane, other than the Katana/Eclipse/Evolution series.Of all the GA airplanes we’ve flown and tested, the Star ranks at the top as being the most fun to fly. It’s like a Disney ride; the view is breathtaking. Our trips include one across the U.S., four to Portland, Oregon, 30 landings at Lake Tahoe, plus numerous Bay tours.My goal was to buy a safe, practical and fun IFR aircraft to accommodate at least three adults, with low enough operating costs that my inner cheapskate would not inhibit flying. It’s also fairly light, an advantage in an airframe as light as the DA40. The early Star’s weak landing lights are a point of contention. I perform my own oil changes and participate in the annual inspection. The various model names that the aircraft has been sold under are marketing names and are not officially recognized by the authorities that have certified the aircraft.The DA40 was initially marketed as the DA40-180, powered by a fuel injected In late 2006, the XL and FP models replaced the DA40-180. The rear hatch is on the airplane’s left side and is equipped with a pin release for emergency egress. I fly whenever I can, even if it’s just to go around the pattern. Everybody hates masks, including airline passengers. (Gross weight in early models was 2535 pounds, while newer ones are 2645, compared to 2450 pounds for the Cessna 172 and 3050 pounds for the Cirrus SR22.
News. It’s a bit of a practiced art, requiring gripping the canopy’s tubular hinges to gain purchase, both for ingress and egress. This yielded what we think can fairly be called a world airplane.Hoffman Flugzeugbau began life in 1981 in Friesach, Austria, producing the H36 Dimona motorglider, a popular recreational airplane in Europe.
The noise is due to an outside air resonance across the fuselage NACA intake, akin to blowing across the opening of a glass jug. While my pilot classmates have long been flying desks, I’m flying a fantastic aircraft.My pilot-wife and I owned a DA40 XLS model for four years as our first aircraft before recently trading up to a DA42 twin. The long wing—with its sailplane-derived airfoil—produces more than 1000 FPM climb rates at lower altitudes.
As a newly minted CFI, I soloed my daughter in our DA40.
Repairs were $2500, or $11.85 per hour due to self-inflicted wheel pant damage. I hope that pilots, designers and enthusiasts alike … Specifications (2007 model Diamond DA40 XL Diamond Star)Specifications (2007 model Diamond DA40 XL Diamond Star)New Basic Trainers for Bolivian Air Force, Air Forces Monthly, September 2010, p. 23 I paid $1800 per year to insure myself and three other rental partners. Sales were initially brisk, especially to the trainer market which, increasingly, was turning to Cessna 172s for new training aircraft. News. At 2535 pounds (2635 for newer models) gross, the Star is light; at 14 pounds per HP, its power loading puts it in the middle of its class. N 2 16 DG Aircraft SIN: 4 0 • 6 9 8 This supplement must be attached to the Pilot's Operating Handbook and FAA Approved Airplane Flight Manual for Diamond Aircraft Model DA 40 when the. During that time we flew our Virginia-based DA40 up and down the East Coast, to Oshkosh multiple years and across the U.S. to California and back.We chose the DA40 because of its sleek modern composite design, advanced avionics (in 2008, ours was one of the first G1000 aircraft with Synthetic Vision), plus Diamond’s exemplary safety record.The DA40 is very much a pilot’s airplane due to the outstanding visibility out the bubble canopy, combined with the feel of the stick and pushrod-controlled ailerons and elevators. Today, I have owned my DA40 for a little over a year and have flown just under 100 hours. I’m sure that a parachute would provide bonus marketing points (especially with all-important non-pilots), but with an already best-in-market safety record, I personally don’t think that the cost in weight and dollars makes sense. Fully equipped, the XL model sold for $329,000.In late 2007, yet more versions of the Diamond DA40 appeared, the XLS and the CS. I think the G1000 avionics suite in my 2004 DA40 is a great system. Our one-of-a-kind tailored approach …
Slow flight and stalls are non-events and even deep into the stall, the airplane simply mushes and could probably touch down that way in a survivable impact. I flew it 140 hours last year and plan to tour the southwest with my family.
Only the Tiger comes close in older designs, although the Cirrus SR20—also entry level—is faster by about 12 knots or so on 20 more horsepower.
If it had a parachute, I’d be very unlikely to use it.The safety record of the DA40 yields low insurance costs. It’s a great regional cross-country airplane. Nonetheless, any competent pilot should be able to comfortably operate a Star out of 2000-foot runways, at reasonable density altitudes.Payload-wise, the Star is really a three-place airplane with baggage space, even at the higher gross weights. But the airplane clearly needed more power.
No AirVenture this year, but AVweb is conducting a series of interviews with people and companies we would have talked to had... So far we have very few ADs to comply with compared to other manufacturers.At annual, like any other airplane, we have a squawk list to deal with.
It now has seven more years or 1800 hours of expected life.
The …