Diamond DA-50

[MooneyMitch]

1 hour ago, wcb said:

@Mooneymite my not be that hard of smack(from those that want raw speed), but it will certainly take a hit (taking just one plane out of the Mooney sales would hurt them since they are producing so few).  Most people buying a brand new Mooney want the speed.  The issue is getting something from stable company that is moving forward vs a company that seems to be in a constant state of flux.  (Put it this way with my mission today I would pick an Acclaim or Ultra over the DA50 but I would certainly consider it)

Man, such great looking airplanes (the Mooney’s).

My opinion, they don’t look dated ( even though I’ve previously posted that Mooney builds antique airplanes).  

To me, it just looks fast!  It looks timeless, like a P51 looks.  

Hope!!! 

[David Lloyd]

Went to the US Aircraft Expo near Raleigh yesterday to look at pretty new airplanes. There was Diamond, Kodiak, Husky, Carbon Cub, Tecnam, Honda, Pilatus, TBM, Cirrus, and a few more with odd names.  No Beech. No Piper. No Cessna. And no Mooney.  Guess that says something.  Think Garmin glass was in every panel except the Icon jet ski, round gauges in that.

Sat in a Diamond DA62, pushed some buttons on the display and made motor noises.  Turbo Mercedes diesels, water cooled.  Hand holds molded into the airframe to assist boarding  Man,  that thing is slick.  All parts looked like they were molded to fit, not hammered in place.  1.2 to 1.4M.  A Baron is about the same money, designed in the middle of the previous century with no cup holders.

[tmo]

But is it as cool as a Duke?

[David Lloyd]

Not much is cooler than a Duke.  Especially if it has cup holders.

[marcusku]

With 300 hp I would have expected it to be a little faster.  I wonder what "normal" cruising speed at 8-10k will be, 160-170 maybe?  I suppose it's quite a bit bigger than a Mooney.

[aviatoreb]

2 minutes ago, marcusku said:

With 300 hp I would have expected it to be a little faster.  I wonder what "normal" cruising speed at 8-10k will be, 160-170 maybe?  I suppose it's quite a bit bigger than a Mooney.

I think it is a larger frontal area maybe since it can hold 3 adults on a bench in the back and the front seat is rather wider.  That is my impression of the DA62 which I have seen and this is mostly the same fuselage.

 

[aviatoreb]

How heavy is the 300hp engine?  I wonder if it could be put on the nose of a Mooney?

[exM20K]

3 hours ago, aviatoreb said:

How heavy is the 300hp engine?  I wonder if it could be put on the nose of a Mooney?

AE300, which is approximately equivalent to an IO360, is 30% heavier.  I don’t know a lot about the new Austro 300hp, but assuming the same relative weight difference, it will be porky: IO550 is 460#,  130% of that is 600#.

The bigger issue, though, is W&B.  The DA40 lycoming is slightly aft CG biased, as you probably recall.  The DA40 NG is very nose heavy as I recall from flying it.  The long body planes start nose heavy, requiring the dual batteries in the tail for balance.  Plus the fuel tanks are slightly aft, so even though diesel has more go per pound of fuel, it would be really hard to balance on the long body.  Not saying “it’ll never work,” but... it’ll never work.

-dan

[EricJ]

6 hours ago, aviatoreb said:

How heavy is the 300hp engine?  I wonder if it could be put on the nose of a Mooney?

This sez it weighs 548 lbs:

http://www.continental.aero/diesel/engines/cd300.aspx

Elsewhere I'm seeing that it is essentially a rebadged Thielert engine, so not really much new there and I'm a little surprised that Diamond would go down that road again.   Maybe there are significant differences.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thielert_Centurion

[Ibra]

I flew all DA birds (not D-jet though ), there is a good spirit of fuel efficiency but they do feel underpowered and tight on load, the best of the fleet so far is DA62 which is really a badass aircraft !

Maintenance can be a nightmare on diesel ones with electric ignition, sensitive batteries & Garmin avionics, so they may only make sense in school environment, also I don’t think any of the Diamonds Aircrafts need a chute: HK36 is motor-glider, DA40 goes down with stick fullback way better than Cirrus on chute (except 40kts forward speed) and DA42 is one of the easiest twin/single aircraft to land 

Will wait to see what DA50 has to offer 

Edited June 28, 2020 by Ibra

[marcusku]

Diesel engines don't actually have an ignition system.  They have glow plugs but those are only for starting when it's cold out.

[Ibra]

Yes there are “no mags”: JetA ones are FADEC with 2*ECU and voter A/B switches, the fuel pump is still engine driven but one has to watch out fuel temperature & battery state as it regulate fuel flow, pressure & temps, engine starts on plugs though, but people just like to call that “electric or electronic ignition” 

“2*ECU FADEC JetA engines” are flown exactly the same way as “2*mags ignition 100LL engines”, except when electrics are switched off the former goes down (something to keep in mind when pulling few CB for avionics fail practice)

Edited June 28, 2020 by Ibra