Fri, Mar 30, 2007
AERO Friedrichshafen Kicks Off April 19
Following its unofficial announcement last December regarding
the company's development of a five-seat piston-powered
plane, Diamond Aircraft has kept pretty quiet about
its DA50 "Super Star"... but it appears the plane will make its
official public debut at next month's Friedrichshafen general
aviation exhibition in south Germany.
An ANN News-Spy alerted us to the DA50's matter-of-fact listing
alongside several other planes scheduled to be on display at
the show, on the AERO Friedrichshafen website.
According to figures cited, the DA50 development aircraft,
OE-VSO, has accumulated 18 hours on its airframe, and is equipped
with a single FADEC-equipped Continental TSIO-550-J powerplant. The
plane's wingspan is listed as 38", 4', with overall fuselage length
of 29 feet. Those figures are more-or-less comparable to a current
four-seat DA40, with a slightly longer fuse but a one-inch shorter
wingspan.
The most startling departure from current Diamond offerings,
however, comes in the DA50's listed maximum takeoff weight of 3,527
lbs -- over 1,000 pounds greater than a DA40, and only 400 lbs less
than the company's twin-TDI-powered DA42 TwinStar. That would
appear to indicate a sizeable bump in usable fuel and/or payload
over a DA40, even considering the addition of a fifth passenger and
larger engine.
Speaking of the Thielert-equipped TwinStar, Diamond is rumored
to also be considering a diesel-powered variant of the DA50.
AERO Friedrichshafen runs from April 19-22.
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