Sporting a snazzy colour scheme, Diamond’s DA50-V prototype made its public debut at the AERO Friedrichshafen last week, just two weeks after its maiden flight. It will be, claims Diamond, ‘the most modern, most efficient single-engine piston aircraft with the widest body and highest payload in its class’.
Burning just 25.8 litres per hour of Jet A-1 at 50% power, the 260hp SAFRAN/SMA diesel gives the DA50-V a maximum operating altitude of 20,000 ft. The aircraft has reached a maximum speed of 173kt TAS in testing and offers a maximum range of 1,020nm. Maximum take-off weight is 1,800 kg, allowing a payload of 570 kg.
Diamond says the DA50’s cabin is wide, comfortable and luxurious. Fitted as standard with Garmin G1000 NXi ‘glass cockpit’ and GFC700 autopilot, ‘it will please private pilots, flight-training organizations and air charter companies alike’.
“The DA50-V sets the benchmark in luxury, comfort and economy in General Aviation. It’s the perfect aircraft for the demanding pilot wants to go far without cargo restrictions,” says Christian Dries, CEO and Owner Diamond Aircraft Industries GmbH (Austria).
Optional customised painting offers customers the possibility to stand out of the crowd with a scheme of their own. The eye-catching DA50-V shown at AERO Friedrichshafen was done by one of the top European designers, Knud Tiroch, famous for his artwork for the Formula1 cars of the team Toro Rosso.
The DA50 will be available in three different variants: the four-seat 230hp DA50-IV, the five-seat 260hp DA50-V, and the seven-seat DA50-VII with several engine options. Certification and start of serial production for the four- and five-seat models is expected in 2018 and the seven-seat version ‘soon thereafter’.
