Diamond DA50
 

Hey there,

Anyone got any information on the DA50 yet or thoughts on the aircraft?

VT

There's some information and pictures on Diamond's web site here, and some more pictures here.

Its a nice looking machine. Will be interesting to see how it compares to the Columbia 400 / SR22. Plenty of DA40 drivers out there ready to move on to something a bit quicker. I think they are talking about 200kts @ 75%..
http://www.diamond-air.at/index.php?...780735259f0ff9

It looks like a DA40-TDI but built for four very large (i.e. average) Americans.

I like the DA40 apart from the fact it is grossly underpowered and has the build quality of the average pedalo.

Handling is good, viz good, access ok, noise levels ok. If the DA50 is just a bigger and badder version, it should do well. I wouldn't mind one. (Though they'd have to make it aerobatic and have it stressed to +10 -10!)

I climbed in one at Friedrichshafen, and i found it bigger looking on the outside than on the inside, also i don't know if it was hull number 1, but the one demonstrated at the show was awfully constructed, very very very bad finishing...if they will use that one for testing i'm sure that something will fall off..

they guy told me at diamond that the BRS parachute will be an option...

Diamonds are like that in the detail - a bit like an Ikea kitchen. That really put me off getting a DA40 a few years ago. The current DA42 seems a lot better, but the build quality close-up is nothing like say a new-ish TB20. It's hard to get the detail right with fibreglass, I guess, because making the mouldings just right and trimming them exactly is difficult.

Yes, maybe they ordered their mouldings in their factory in China...

Lifted from aero News network, video of DA-50 at Oshkosh;
http://www.aero-tv.net/index.cfm?do=...1-5134635248df

I don't know what the old ones are like, but my experience of new DA40s is that their build quality is excellent. Much better than Cirrus can manage. However, I'll agree that the TDI could use a bit more power.

It's the strong whiff of fibreglass when you get in!

The DA50 looks very interesting but who wants to be a beta tester for yet another new engine???

I am sure that 5 years from now this will all be sorted. But it's early days. If it had not been for the dreadful Thielert engine problems I would not be saying this.

For now at least it will have a Twin turbo, Twin intercooled Continental IO-550 of 350 BHP.
I assume the 4.0 Thielert will follow at a later stage.

After reading about Diamond's own 170bhp diesel here, I'm not so sure that a Thielert engine is going to be an option in the DA50.

"they are talking about 200kts @ 75%"

sounds reminiscent of the pre production performance figures for the DA42 and didn't they just live up to all our expectations (50kts slower!!).

Rule #1 of basic aerodynamics: Put a big engine in a poorly finished plastic bathtub and you get a far thirstier, slightly faster poorly finished plastic bathtub.

SB

What a difference with.... mooney.. mostly faster in real than on paper...

From:
http://www.airventure.org/2007/8sun29/diamond.html

Cont 550 is pretty much the same engine as used in the Columbia 350/400 series.
No reason to doubt that sort of performance.
Curious about the wing design/airfoil used on the DA-50.

Yeah - damn Diamond for lying to us about real performance! Now if you take Piper or Cessna or Robin or Socata or any of the other plain vanilla manufacturers they never sold us a pig, and they haven't kept at it for the past 40 years either... :rolleyes:
No, I don't work for Diamond and I was equally disappointed when the DA42 didn't deliver on its promise. But I recently learned why that is the case, and it makes me all the more optimistic that we will zoom in our 42s in the not too distant future!
A friend who is connected told me about the first trial with the new 2.0 diesel that incidently wasn't strangled at 135 hp but delivered the certified 155...
The DA42 chase pilot firewalled his engines to keep up with the DA40 and couldn't!! :D
Regarding build quality I find that our 42 feels and looks better than our first 40, but we recently received a new 40 and I have yet to compare. Although I must say quality of certain details is not what you would expect in a 450-500000 EUR airplane. Diamond need to find a better supplier for the chrome plated stuff.

Strictly speaking it's 160..
Well I would argue Diamond didn't..the engine manufacturer did.
There's a reason as to why they are developing their own engine now.You don't need a PhD to figure that one out.:8
One of my points being...the IO-550 is a established engine with a track record.
Columbia's got 'em, Mooneys too if I'm not mistaken so with a clean airframe 200+ KTAS should not be overly optimistic.
Given, it will be in the flight levels but that's the case with all of them.
Diamond is a company which has come form virtually nothing (motor gliders under previous ownership) to number 3 selling in the US in under 5 years.
Competing with companies that exist for over half a century and beating them.
Has anybody ever picked up a new Cessna at the factory? Given that one a good look over? Any idea how much they have to reimburse under warranty the first 2 years?
But then again they make their money with the Citation series...not with the little piston plonkers.
Name two manufacturers that came out with a new twin in the last ten years.
The cost of a new Baron is $1.2 million, the cost of a new Seminole is around $700K. New Seneca $800K. Tricked out DA-42.... $600K with everything.
Performance very similar to a Piper Twin Comanche. It will beat it on fuel cost and endurance. Don't see or hear anybody bitching about the Twin Comanche.
Oh hang on... wait a moment...they haven't been build for over 30 years.
Diamond is a very high profile company right now, always in the news... guess what they get most criticism. Give em a break people..
End of rant...
Will get my coat and another beer.......:bored:

We could, but the problem is the fact that they are so ugly, so slow and so badly finished !!!

And they told us it's gonna be beautifull, fast and high quality. And they're not!