Published! (well, sort of)

I recently had some of my aviation-centered writing published in the February 2008 issue of Aviation Consumer magazine. They performed a review of the DA40 and asked for owner feedback to complement their review. Since I've been a huge fan of the Diamond Star ever since I taxied out with the canopy open at Appleton, WI for that demo flight in 2006, I was happy to oblige. Here's my contribution:

Overall, the DA40 has a very sleek, modern look that never fails to attract attention from ramp workers and fellow pilots at any FBO where you chock your wheels and fill up with 100LL. Not only has Diamond Aircraft executed a very beautiful and compelling aircraft design, but they have followed it up with responsive and outstanding customer service. Emails or phone calls to the factory are responded to very promptly.

Flight Controls
The coolest thing about flying the DA40 is that there is a stick. That’s right, just like a P-51, just like an Extra300, just like an F-15. The flight controls have a nice live feel with just the right amount of feedback, which is due to the solid control rods used for aileron and elevator control, as opposed to cables that can stretch and give. As such, they give a very direct and immediate feel to the controls in comparison to the spring-loaded side stick of the Cirrus SR20/22.

Cockpit/Avionics Layout
The DA40 cockpit has a very functional and ergonomic layout with the backup steam gages placed in a neat row up at the top, and the main throttle, fuel, mixture, and cabin air controls right in the center console - all within easy reach for both pilot and co-pilot. I have flown a G1000-equipped Cessna 182, and the dash-mounted yoke really gets in the way of the soft-key buttons on the PFD. This is not the case in the DA40, because of the control stick in your lap (see above). The main centerpiece of the dash is the two displays for the G1000, which are awesome, invaluable flying tools. The amount of information that was available on the G1000, from key airspeeds for the aircraft (Vx, Vy, Vr) to accurate fuel levels, and a complete engine management package (cylinder temps, manifold pressure, exhaust temps, oil temps, amp draw). Add to that the real-time XM weather downlink with Nexrad and METARs/TAFs, terrain avoidance, and charting capabilities, and you wonder why you'd ever need a paper chart again! Diamond made the right choice in installing the Garmin avionics in the DA40.

KAP140 Autopilot
We have the KAP140 Bendix/King 2-axis autopilot installed in our DA40. As a King Air first officer in North Carolina commented to me – “Wow, that’s a lot nicer than the autopilot I fly with.” Having an autopilot really helps to hold altitude and maintain heading during high-workload situations and on long cross-country flights, but the DA40 is already very stable and when trimmed properly, and doesn’t really require much control input to maintain straight & level. The KAP140 can also be a little finicky, and the pitch trim sometimes fails during the startup system check. It’s good in one respect that if the servos and clutches don’t register the right torque or current draw, then it kicks it into fail mode. However, it can be a little disconcerting when you get inexplicable intermittent failures associated with the autopilot. Usually keeping your hands off the flight controls and pitch trim during the startup sequence ensures that the system checks out okay. (Note - The KAP140 does not like cold weather. Usually when it's below 20°F in the hangar, you can't get the autopilot to start up until it's had a chance to warm up for about 20-30 minutes of flying. - A small cabin heater fixes this problem).

Initially, our KAP140 autopilot experienced a disturbing tendency to porpoise during autopilot controlled descents. Even if only a 100fpm descent was dialed in, the autopilot would gradually increase in greater and greater oscillations of ±700FPM. The fix was to install a secondary static pressure port, which Diamond paid for (Did I mention that Diamond’s customer support is outstanding?). After the secondary static port was installed, the KAP140 controlled climbs and descents with unwavering accuracy.

Front Seats & Cabin Comfort
The leather-covered seats recline slightly and are extremely comfortable to sit in for long cross-country flights (6+hrs). They are fixed to the frame of the aircraft and certified to 26g’s for crash protection. That's right - no unsettling shift backwards during climbout when the seat pegs come loose from their track and the aircraft seems to “leap forward”. In the DA40, the rudder pedals adjust for different height pilots, so you don't have to worry about seat adjustments. Did I mention they were comfortable? The downside of the DA40 cockpit is that the cockpit is a little on the small side. The comfortable height of a front-seat occupant is practically limited to less than 6’-3” to keep your knees from hitting the dashboard.

Rear Seats & Cabin Comfort
The rear seats are even more comfortable than the front seats, with integrated foot holes for the longer-legged occupants. My long-legged wife loves the “footie holes” as she calls them. The view from the rear is truly panoramic. At no point do you feel like you have been crammed into the back of an aluminum can. The large side door for rear access is a class stand-out in a world of 4-place GA aircraft where you have to squeeze through, climb across, and crouch down into your seat, hoping that a claustrophobic panic attack doesn’t hit you right after takeoff. The large door opens wide and the rear seats also fold down flat, leaving a long (7+ft) cargo bay for golf clubs, skis, snowboards, and other bulky luggage items.

Sight Picture & Cabin Comfort
Aside from the comfortable feeling of sitting in the cockpit (provided you are shorter than 6’-3”), you have a 180-degree wrap-around view from the front seats, which is totally phenomenal. Scanning the skies for traffic and checking the pattern before takeoff are easily accomplished, thanks to the low wing, no windshield pillars, and wrap-around canopy. The downside of the bubble canopy is that it gets rather warm on the ramp and at low altitudes during the summer months. When the temperature hits 90°F, you tend to taxi with the canopy wide open and climb for cooler air as soon as you can after takeoff. Fortunately, the DA40 has a 2-position canopy latch, so that you can “crack” the canopy during engine run-up and on landing rollout to restore some airflow to the stifling occupants of the cockpit. Diamond has also put a nice cutout into the front glare-shield, so that you have good forward visibility for taxiing, even with the canopy wide open.

Cabin Heat & Ventilation
Because of the bubble canopy, the DA40 gets pretty warm on hot sunny days, but is very pleasant to fly on a 60-70°F sunny spring or fall day. The large, anodized aluminum air vents pump a lot of airflow into the cabin when fully opened, but what the DA40 really needs is an A/C unit for handling the hot weather better. I can’t imagine what it would be like to fly a DA40 in Florida in the summer. For cold weather ops, the cabin heat works very well and the door seals keep out stray drafts, even when the outside air temperature was -15°F (-26°C) last winter. The defrost vents work okay, but it can take a while (10-15 minutes) to clear the windscreen of all traces of breath-induced frost.

Flying the DA40
Flying the DA40XL is effortless and quite a lot of fun. With a 40 gallons of 100LL and 3 big people on board, the aircraft comes off the ground quickly and readily climbs at 700ft/min on a 95°F day with high humidity.

The large rudder gives plenty of help on tough cross-wind landings, giving a performance characteristic of 20kts cross-wind component. The large rudder also provides for effective ground maneuvering without the need for much differential braking on gently curved taxiways. It’s a slight transition to move from an aircraft with a steerable nosewheel to a castering nosewheel, but after a few trips down the runway, controlling the aircraft on the ground is very natural. The DA40 has a very wide stance and is very stable on the ground, even when the winds are gusting up to 20KTs.

Slow flight characteristics in the DA40 are remarkable. Even at 45kts indicated with the stall horn wailing away, the controls are rock solid and you can turn the aircraft back and forth without any adverse flight characteristics. The stall characteristics tend to “mush” the aircraft down, but there are no disconcerting wing dips or noseovers to contend with. You can take the DA40 through a 15-20° banked turn at 45-50kts without having anything un-toward happen. Very comforting when you consider your standard approach speeds are 65-75kts.

Due to it’s motor glider heritage and long wings, the DA40 can be challenging to land simply because it wants to fly! Landings are easy enough, but careful attention must be paid to airspeeds on base and final, or you’ll end up floating half-way down the runway. Typically, approaches are made nose low, and a little throttle is held in to slow the descent rate. If you try to land the DA40 with an aggressive flare, you may end up with a tail strike on your hands. However, Diamond Aircraft has thoughtfully provided an aluminum skid plate on the tail to prevent any real damage to the expensive airframe.

Landing Lights
The biggest drawback to the DA40 are the very weak 35watt halogen lights that are a poor excuse for landing lights. Night flying in and out of rural airports can be very challenging and downright scary sometimes, since the dim lights don’t provide much advance warning of nocturnal wildlife hanging out on the runway. They also don’t provide enough light to effectively navigate strange taxiways at night, which is a real drawback. One of the frustrating things about this deficiency is that Diamond offers a HID lighting option on the DA40XL, but has not provided DA40-180 owners a retrofit kit or service bulletin to take advantage of the increased safety that better lights would provide. We contacted the factory to ask if they could provide assistance in filing a 337 form with the FAA to retrofit our DA40-180 with the better lights installed in the DA40XL (same wing, same wiring), and we were told that Diamond didn’t want to provide any documentation to help with this installation. Diamond really needs to offer a service bulletin or optional service letter for this option.

Fuel Pump Troubles
We have had two defective fuel pumps in our DA40. The fuel pumps would simply not turn on when the switch was activated, requiring us to get out of the aircraft, crawl under the belly and tap on the fuel pump to get it going. To Diamond’s credit, they replaced both fuel pumps at no charge, which is really great service, especially when you consider that these pumps are used in a number of other aircraft and aren’t really Diamond’s problem. Good job, Diamond!

Overall, The DA40 is a very efficient and capable aircraft. With the 50kg gross weight increase, the useful load of the DA40-180 is just over 900lbs. That means with the extended range 50 gallon tanks, you can fly with three adults for 4 hours at a fuel burn of 9gal/hr before stopping for a comfort break and to buy a cold snickers bar. The DA40 is not a speed demon, but is reasonably fast at 135-140KTAS achievable with 9gal/hr fuel burn at 7500ft. The engine seems to be happiest when running at about 2350RPM and 22-23inHg of manifold pressure at 7500ft. We have the two-blade Hartzell prop on our DA40 and have experienced no problems whatsoever with it. The swept blades look good on the ramp and the pull the aircraft through the air with no complaints. The DA40 is a great cross-country machine and is a true pleasure to fly.