alioth wrote:
I would have thought the Cirrus would be better for a left hander than a right hander, given the dominant hand would be on the stick.
Not really. Most people are used to that category of aircraft (typically with side-by-side seating, flown from the left and with the throttle in the middle) are used to holding the yoke / stick / side-yoke with the left hand and throttle with the right hand; and vice-versa on the right hand seat.
The demo version of the DA50 is on tour in Europe. So I had the opportunity to watch and touch this plane in real life. Unfortunately only from the outside, because I was there after closing time. I really like the livery of this demo.
The delivery of this new plane to its first customer is scheduled for end of this month. Then it will have no color (=white) and will get its livery/striping. Yes, the plane will not be spray painted in its final colors, although that is an (expensive) option. With the use of decals you can easily change its livery if you want something different in the future or when you sell the plane the next owner is not stuck on the color or livery.
Here are some pictures.
DA50, next to a DA62 (PH-VCC), DA42 and a DA40.
Silvaire wrote:
One of the best things about stick controls is that you can rest your arm on your leg and your hand on the stick and you can sit there comfortably for hours.
Agree.
I recently flew a long (for me, 3hrs) leg in the TB10 for the first time in a while. For comfort I wanted to rest my left wrist on my leg/knee, but to do this with a yoke I need to take my feet off the rudder pedals and draw my feet back to flat on the floor in front of me. Luckily the ball is in the middle at cruise power when flown feet-off.
With a stick you can do same/similar with feet on the pedals.
I guess aircraft with a sidestick are on autopilot 99% of the time.
Here she is, ready for delivery!
This is at the Diamond factories in Loan. Still pristine white. She will be flown back to her homebase The Netherlands, Lelystad Airport this friday by her new owner and our instructor. In the upcoming weeks she will get here final colors and striping.
Oh, and the registration has nothing to do with taxes.
Congratulations ! The smell of a new airplane isn’t something a lot of people get to experience 
In my experience the left/right hand thing doesn’t matter at all. I fly my 182 with my left hand on the yoke, leaving my right hand free for throttle, radios etc. When I fly a plane with a stick, I generally fly with my right hand since the throttle is generally on the left. Though in the Robin you can do it either way, since there are two throttles, and in fact I had to make a conscious effort to switch to right-hand on stick.
My 182 has an armrest in the door, which solves that problem. Flying the heli I rest my forearm on my leg. You end up flying left handed at times, e.g. to twiddle the radio, and it makes no difference at all.
Much ado about nothing, I think.
Anyone knows which company does the decals for Diamond ? And the ball park cost for a new job?
PH-TAX looks nice. I’d keep it white, it does look lush.
These guys are set to depart on an RTW tomorrow, in a DA50.
Not without the full social media, sponsoring fanfare (look at their website). Oh, and the trendy climate change motto, of course.
Will be interesting to see how they fare with the tiny standard tanks. They will surely need aux tanks during the pacific phase of the trip.
As we all know, you can organise anything with the right logistics support 
