Unless he has updated it, that article is no longer relevent in many
respects.

Diamond has made many changes in the plane since that was written. Also, I
am told that the Aviation Consumer article used one of the first few made
for their testing as well.

I have flown an older one (2001) and a newer one (2004) and there is a lot
of difference in comfort and a bit in speed. It would take about $ 5,000 to
$8,000 to update an older one, and then you could update the prop when the 3
blade wore out.

Interestingly, I had a hard time with the conclusion that Aviation Consumer
came to. If you read the words, they seem to like the Diamond better, but
the score gave the nod to Cirrus. IIRC they gave the same points to both
planes on safety, which may have made a difference, and appears to be
anything but correct.

I would say that if you are a serious pilot that uses the plane for serious
travel, then the SR20 may win on the mission. If you are realisticly using
the plane for more fun flying, experience getting, and shorter hops then the
Diamond will definitely win. Mission is important here, and most people
overestimate their serious use percentage as part of the rationalization to
buy in the first place.

Lastly, if you are the type whose head is not always 100% in the cockpit -
buy the Diamond!


"Markus Voget" wrote in message
...
Chuck wrote:

Does anyone have any experience with the Daimond DA-40-180? We saw one
at Sun 'n Fun and we're thinking of buying it.

While I cannot claim much experience (except for a short flight in the
Diesel version of the DA40, which a liked a lot), I can recommend the
following extensive report on-line:
http://philip.greenspun.com/flying/diamond-da40


Greetings,
Markus