Click Here To Help Improving This Blog !This is the time before the next flight I planned in a light aircraft. This will be the longer interruption in my flying activities ever. Before starting training for my IFR, I went through a shorter non-flying period, to put enough money aside.
We have been living in Frankfurt area for one month now, and thing […]
Someone recently attracted my attention to an interesting part of the DA40 aircraft flight manual: the maximal landing mass. Large airplanes (business jets and airliners) often have can’t land at the maximum take-off weight, because of landing gear structural constraints. If the landing has to be anticipated, the crew must dump or burn fuel, to get the weight within limits (read this […]
Diamond received approval from both EASA and Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) to produce DA40-TDI airplanes in its new facility in Binzhou, China. According to Diamond’s press release, the 400′000 square feet factory will deliver 80 G1000 equipped DA40-TDI in 2008. The planes produced in China will be delivered to customers on the Asia […]
When I wrote the post about all planes I flew, I dropped a few lines about each, without any kind of classification. As all pilots, I however have preferences. My favorite plane (amongst those I flew) is the PA32 Saratoga , because of its speed, performance, and because those I fly are well equipped.
The DA40 […]
If you ever wanted to know more about me but never dare to ask, this post is for you. To share more of my experience I decided to list the eight types of aircrafts I flew, in chronogical order.
At first, the swiss built AS-202 Bravo, the basic trainer on which I got my private […]
It’s winter time in Switzerland, as in half of world, and we go through the first very cold days of the season, with temperature below freezing 24 hours a day. This has many consequences for pilots, like frozen fingers when towing planes, an absolute necessity for light aircraft flying IFR to stay out of clouds […]
This post presents what you can expect from a DA40 (plastic engine) differences training under JAA rules. I talk here of a DA40, with classical instruments, not G1000.
The theory part will focus on diesel operations, but that’s easy, and on electrical system, which is of paramount importance when a plastic engine is part of the […]
One other thing in DA40 that makes it match my criterions for a modern aircraft is the ease of access, and cabin layout. All of those who flew a PA28 with passengers on the backseat know what it is about… DA40 access for front seats an back seats is easy, specially because a rear side-door […]
I had this interesting comment as an answer to the “Trust the FADEC… but monitor it”
“Hi, yesterday a plane crashed into a bay in Flensburg - north Germany, and 4 people died. If the press ist right it was the DA40 with the Thielert-Diesel from a sports clup in Flensburg. So I googled the word […]
This post is the first of a series about the DA40, partly about the plastic technology, but more generally.
What is noticeable with the DA40, but also other plastic planes (Cirrus, Columbia, …) is that they are a brand new generation of planes, designed from scratch, taking full advantage of plastic. This has impact on how […]
