Originally Posted by guythorold
Hi, the Da40 Tdi seems as good as the reviews. I haven't seen a plane with as good performance, both in altitude and in fuel burn.
While I agree it's a pretty good aircraft, it's performance (except cruise when you take into account low fuel flow) isn't really top notch. While it seems that it has very good altitude capability, it's not really useful, since the rate of climb seems to be very low and it takes ages to get to FL120 (at Vy, not at cruise climb - which is not very efficient) - I'd imagine i'd take at least the same amount of time to get from FL120 to service ceiling.
And if that weren't the case, a fully equipped DA40D with G1000 (and everything you need for IFR: ECU backup battery, DME, ADF, WX500) has an empty mass of about 830 kg. With MTOM 1150kg this means that useful load is 320kg. Adding a full tank of Diesel fuel (and that is for standard tank - not long range), this is reduced to 230 kg, which makes it a very good 2-seater - but still I wouldn't call performance at MTOM breath-taking.