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Diamond DA50

The original design of the DA50 was for either a Continental or Lycoming engine, I can’t remember which. Then along came massive fuel price hikes in Europe so they decided to go diesel.
If I remember rightly it was also designed to have a chute. Don’t know.if it still has.

France

Looks like we’re going to get all the spec tomorrow! https://www.instagram.com/p/CBxfcs4BoUk/

Very excited to see how it performs, it would be wonderful to have some competition for the SR22. Full credit to Diamond for pushing general aviation forward while Cessna, Piper, Mooney etc. try to sell us designs from the 1950s ;)

EGTR

No website? Strange.

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

place your bets!! – who will give me an over and under? my best guess is cruise speed 185 KTAS at 15k feet, MTOW 1999kg, empty weight 1250 – fuel consumption at cruise 12gph -

188 KTAS @ 14,000 ft – max continuous – 18 GPH
170 KTAS @ 12,000 ft – 75% power – 14 GPH

6 hours endurance (86 gallon tanks), range ~ 1,000 nm

@aidanf123 I think you’re right about the useful loading being ~ 750kg!

EGTR

Diamond already has a Cirrus competitor, the DA42. Pretty much the same price, performance specs and a twin instead of a chute.
The DA50 is no Cirrus competition. Single without chute.
The problem isn’t the planes Diamond builds, it‘s their bad marketing and lack of creating a sales, aftersales and training ecosystem.

always learning
LO__, Austria

I still think the turboprop version would be a brilliant idea. At that price level, one needs to do something different, smart, unique…

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

I have never noticed any explicit marketing by Cirrus. (Where does one do marketing for such products in 2020, anyway?) But the Cirrus has always been the plane with the chute and while you could have the chute in some other planes you would always go for the Cirrus if you were a chute type. It’s like an Apple Mac or a Range Rover. The product itself – the Cirrus – is the marketing today, even with the dull look in comparison to other lifestyle products. And keep in mind that this comes from someone who has not only never touched that thing but also never even seen an advert about it. Because of that, I think the DA50 can never compete with the SR22 in the chute category. (The DA42 neither. Or can your non aviation friendly significant other “land” that plane?) I really think the Diesel engine is just not enough to make a difference. A turboprop version however… Its long nose makes it already look so turboprop-is. For the looks, I’d rather take the Mooney.

So, what is the market for that plane?

EDQH, Germany

The big Cirrus marketing process is done in the US and filters its way to the rest of the world from there

We have many times discussed whether anyone can take on the SR22. I think most people agree this is very difficult unless you offer a chute.

Whether this is because the Cessna TTX (which is a very good aircraft by any measure) failed is unclear, because the marketing was crap.

Whether Diamond can do what Cessna failed with, we don’t know.

The DA42 is a different market. It failed to sell to private owners in the US, for various reasons, one of which must be wide 100LL availability. It was financially very successful overall not because of private sales but because it became the standard CPL/IR (airline pilot) trainer. In Europe, the diesel option is great for private owners who go places.

I don’t think a diesel plane will ever succeed in the US all the time they have 100LL, but it could be a success in Europe. Still difficult with no chute; that is a massive selling point – despite the usual controversy

The major challenge is a new engine, especially a new diesel engine. You have to convince customers that it is reliable.

Usually at this point in the discussion those who have no intention of buying, or who have millions in the bank, will jump in and say that somebody has to take risks because without risks no progress will be made, society will collapse, etc

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

Peter wrote:

The DA42 is a different market. It failed to sell to private owners in the US, for various reasons, one of which must be wide 100LL availability.

They sold DA42s initially in the US, but to a similar customer base to that in Europe – I think mostly flight schools. In a few years the engines had so many problems that many owners lost patience. That of course is an individual thing, but regardless used examples were being sold for a fraction of the original price ($150K or less if I remember correctly), I believe needing expensive conversion to different model engines. I don’t know what happened to those planes but I’d guess maybe they were sold back to Europe, where demand existed and the engine conversion could be more easily completed.

A individual I know did buy one of the first new ones. He had an in-flight gearbox seizure, made it to a nearby airport without issue and subsequently installed new liquid cooled gearboxes on both existing engines. His plan from then on was to fly the plane as-is for the rest of his flying career (he was an elderly gent), make no significant additional investment in the plane, and then sell it for whatever he could get. I don’t know what happened in actuality, he must’ve aged out by now.

Peter wrote:

I don’t think a diesel plane will ever succeed in the US all the time they have 100LL, but it could be a success in Europe
The major challenge is a new engine, especially a new diesel engine. You have to convince customers that it is reliable.

A plane with a new Diesel engine is not going to sell in the US, in any significant volume. Too much bad history, too little upside potential. The only hope would be the current re-branding as a Continental product.

Last Edited by Silvaire at 23 Jun 22:07
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