All Hail The Aero-Heroes of 2008!

Final Compilations by ANN Editor-In-Chief/Corporate Insomniac, Jim Campbell

It is both the most "fun," and most difficult, task facing the ANN staff at the end of every year -- determining who, or what, did the most to promote the cause of aviation in the past 365 days... while also chastising those people or entities that did all they could to undermine the many successes the aviation/aerospace community has managed to accomplish.

Thankfully, 2008 was a year in which we saw the best and brightest among us step forward and work tirelessly on behalf of us all. No doubt about it... the challenges we faced in 2008 were numerous, and ongoing... so was the quality of expertise and passion brought to our defense by those who heroically demonstrated to the world the very best side of aviation... via their deeds, words and actions.

It is ANN's honor to recognize Ten persons/organizations or groups that qualify as our Aero-Heroes for 2008... in something of an informal order, starting from the 1st to the 10th. Let us know what you think of our selections... whom YOU would have liked be included or omitted from such a list. In the meantime, we thank the folks who made this year's list. Thank you, folks... we really needed you this year, and you didn't let us down.

Diamond Aircraft

There was a minor character in the Charlie Brown comics, as I recall… a poor little guy who walked around with an ever-present cloud over his head… well, if you ever wondered what happened to him when he grew up, it seems he went to work for Diamond Aircraft last year.

One of the superstars of the general aviation world for the better part of a decade, Diamond Aircraft seemingly could do no wrong. They've come up with airframe after airframe, great idea after great idea, meeting specific needs within the general aviation community, and always seemed to hit a home-run with each new product introduction. They have been innovative, professional, demonstrated extraordinary marketing savvy, and were just plain good for all that we love about aviation.

However; 2008 was not their year. Not by a long shot. Despite all the smarts and excellent planning that have been accomplished at Diamond over the years, we have little doubt that they didn't have a whole lot of warning of problems coming their way and that most of what truly vexed them was well out of their control. 

We speak, of course, of the troubles that Diamond incurred as a result of the failures of the Thielert engine program. We've written quite a bit about what went wrong at Thielert, but few could have seen the speed with which that program came apart, and the complications that followed it, as governmental entities made a slow and laborious process far more painful than it could/should have been. This left Diamond holding the bag, if you will, for a whole new generation of exquisitely designed airplanes -- specifically the quite properly renowned DA 42, as well as the single-engine DA 40s that had been previously Thielert equipped.

The failure of a critical supplier, especially one that seems irreplaceable, has been the downfall (or the start of) for a number of aircraft manufacturing programs. No aircraft company encountering the failure of the supplier as critical as a unique powerplant vendor can possibly emerge unscathed and undamaged… but Diamond, God bless them, seems to have a plan.

Diamond has been involved in the development of a replacement engine series for quite some time (which is a MONUMENTAL undertaking) and seems destined to see certification of a Thielert-equivalent engine (the Austro, shown above) within the next year -- and if that isn't enough for those who are now permanently soured on the diesel aircraft revolution, they have Lycoming replacements for the DA 42 already certified and in the pipeline for the future. Engine replacement programs for those birds already in the field, and grounded either through the lack of parts, or costs that went from reasonable to astronomical with the failure of Thielert, have been made available for surprisingly swift implementation.

There are a few unhappy folks (mostly lawyers, it seems) who will say the Diamond had this coming, that they should have seen this failure much sooner, and that they have failed in their responsibilities to their customer base… but honest-to-goodness, we just don't see it. This company could easily have closed its doors over this mess - it could easily have thrown its hands up in the air and claimed no responsibility for what was, definitely, something that was not their fault - but each time they are presented with a problem (no matter how insurmountable it may seem at the onset), they come up with a solution. Some of the solutions are a bit raw, some of them are certainly not going to be cheap, and none of them happen overnight -- but this is a company that does not sit around and bemoan their fate… it finds solutions.

Yeah… we can all Monday-morning quarterback every decision that they've made, and I'm sure there are lots of things that could have been done better -- but after watching a number of companies fail to deal with far less critical issues, and especially in a climate where the aviation world seems under attack at every corner, Diamond Aircraft has marked itself as a survivor, an innovator and a firm that just does not know the meaning of surrender.

We remain impressed, and optimistic, for the future of Diamond Aircraft, and with time, its customer base. And heading into 2009, that's not an easy thing to say--about anyone.

FMI: www.diamondair.com