DIAMOND AIRCRAFT IND INC DA 40

The Diamond Star is a composite four-seat single with a long glider-like wing, a forward-hinged canopy for the front seats and a separate rear door. It cruises at 150 knots on nine gallons an hour with only 180 hp, which is efficiency in the Mooney class achieved with fixed gear, and it is unusually pleasant to fly — light, responsive, and with a stall that is about as benign as certified aeroplanes get. Flight schools and universities buy them in quantity. The first American-built aircraft, from 2001, have conventional instruments with dual Garmin GNS 430s and a KAP 140 autopilot. Diamond announced the Garmin G1000 for new aircraft in 2004 and every DA40 since has been built with it. The XL of 2006 was a packaging of options on the same aeroplane; the XLS of late 2007 made the 50-gallon long-range tanks standard where earlier aircraft carry 40, and later aircraft have a 2,646 lb gross weight against the original 2,535 — worth checking on any individual aircraft, because it is 110 lb of cabin load.

Its safety record is the best of any piston single in service by a wide margin, which is attributable to the benign handling, the crashworthy composite structure and the fact that most are flown in structured training environments. The trade-offs are load and cabin. Useful load with full fuel is about 645 lb, so it is a three-person aeroplane, and the rear seats are tight for adults on long flights. The composite airframe must be hangared or at least kept out of prolonged sun, and damage repair is specialist work. Parts come from Diamond in Canada and Austria and can be slower and dearer than American equivalents. Visibility from the canopy is exceptional.