Diamond officially anounces the DA-52.

http://www.aopa.org/aircraft/articles/2012/120418diamond-shows-off-new-airplanes-and-powerplants.html?cmp=ADV:1

Kudos for driving innovation on the Diesel engine for real worldwide support.

AE500 engines looks promising, but can it be done?

Time to start saving my pennies This is an aircraft I've been waiting for. 300 hours per year at 190knots for 25,000 fuel tab with two engines. Amazing. I assume it will come with TKS.

I don't understand "five to seven seat" plane. I could maybe understand four to five seat, but not five to seven.

I used to think the Cirrus was ugly but, now it looks like a Beauty Queen compared to the DA-52

Things are advancing so fast, this competition must be rough for the manufacturers.

The DA-52 should capture a big share of the light twin market.... If I was in that market, I'd sure look at this one. (I'm not.)

Best day of my life was when I dumped my 06 Diamond for a 68 V35A. I would never ever consider a Diamond in my future flying plans.

lol

And there you have it.

I also moved from an '05 Diamondstar to a slightly older Beech product (1960), but my Da40 was a great machine and looked exactly the same five years after I bought without one single squawk (except the window latches). I love the company, visited the Canada factory, and was blown away. This new plane looks amazing.

Some people see the Thielert story as a black eye, I think Diamond handled it amazingly well. I wouldn't hesitate for a moment to buy another Diamond.

Some may not remember that the were the very first OEM to install the g1000. I think it is clear that they are run by an individual, and a pilot, not GS.

I wouldn't hesitate to buy an older Beech, but I wouldn't buy a new piston Beech.

I flew the DA-20 some for the flight school i worked at during college. In Mississippi in the summertime, that plane certainly taught you to get off the ground NOW! That canopy was a sauna. Other than that I found it to be a pretty benign airplane, and a good one to learn in. Can't remember the V speeds off the top of my head, but I know it took a concerted effort to stall the plane and keep it stalled.

Fully equipped, the DA42-VII should sell for 650,000 to 650,000 euros, or about $732,600 to $850,800.


850K - 100K (for a 55 baron) leaves 750K for fuel and engine overhauls. Heck you might even be able to upgrade the panel too.

love the innovation with lower VMC and Diesels but..........

try a new G58TC for 1.5M vs 150k for a presurized baron. That leaves 1.35M for fuel, insurance, 5 panel upgrades, hotel rooms, rental cars, rental yachts, etc.

gotta compare new to new. old airplanes make more sense to the vast majority of us...but the world of newly manufactured aircraft is its own sphere and should be considered accordingly.

You can't buy a new P-Baron, 421, Duke, Twin Bo, etc., so it's pretty silly and pointless to say "a newly built one would be 18 million" or whatever.

We need new ones in the market, we need a healthy used marketplace too.

+1

Why buy a new Mercedes Benz for $100K when I can buy a 30 year old one for $1K?

I like it!

Good to see someone moving forward.