What about the DA50 with whatever engine, turboprop or big diesel?
Indeed. What about that one??
First unofficial news about DA-50 came in December 2006, according to Wiki. Now there is a youtube:
Looks great. A roomy 5-seat 260 HP diesel (SMA!) going 200+ KT.
But try googling it, or finding anything on Diamond’s own websites. It’s a stealth aeroplane …
Annoyingly, no BRS
huv wrote:
But try googling it, or finding anything on Diamond’s own websites. It’s a stealth aeroplane
Diamond has also launched at the [Friedrichshafen] show a family of light aircraft, based on the DA50 platform and powered by Safran/SMA diesel engines.
The line-up will consist of five models: the four-seat 230shp DA50-IV; five-seat 260shp DA50-V; and seven-seat 360shp DA50-VII. The -VII series will be available with a 375shp Lycoming petrol engine and in a turboprop version – powered by an Ivchenko Progress/Motor Sich AI-450S.
First to market will be DA50-V – which was on display at Aero. The variant made its first flight in March and is scheduled for certification in 2018.
I wonder what the empty and MTOW of the DA50-V are. 260 HP does not sound much for that kind of airplane. Sounds a little bit like a 135 HP DA40 compared to the 180 HP.
I am also curious as to how far from certification they are.
Peter wrote:
So I wonder what they are using?
Perhaps a version of the iE2 used in the Piston Evolution? The single button start and single lever operation would mean all the Diamonds would be the same to operate, regardless whether the engine was Austro, SMA, Lycomming… I can’t imagine they’d build a version with an ancient Lycomming like the IO-580 / 720 with all their levels and starting issues…
So we shall have 5 versions of the DA50. How many of them get a proven engine?
The writing is on the wall. Buy one of those and get yourself Thielerted PROB120.
Besides, the market for such aircraft is so small, it would be a huge challenge to make a profit on a SINGLE version.
Certifying five different ones with five completely unproven powerplants and setting up the support framework is nothing short of an April’s fool.
And did you notice? Not a single one of the powerplant options is made by Diamond’s very own engine manufacturer. April’s fool I tell you!
Flyingfish wrote:
And did you notice? Not a single one of the powerplant options is made by Diamond’s very own engine manufacturer. April’s fool I tell you!
Probably because that part has been sold to the Chinese along with the DA40 and 62 lines.
Not to mention that a 185hp engine for a 7 seater would be ahem complicated.
Today’s word from guru Paul Bertorelli gives some answers. It is intriguing. On one hand these are engines with a questionable history – or no history at all. On the other hand this is one of the currently most successful GA manufacturers on the globe. The DA-62 is apparently selling well.
