Jeremy,

Last I recalled, ECAC had only 1 Rotax-powered Katana; the rest had the
Continental engine, though I could be wrong. I never trained in them as they
were cut a little too tight for my liking, or maybe I just had a few too
many cheeseburgers over the years.

IIRC the Rotax-powered versions required a lot more TLC to keep happy, and
had a lower useful load to boot. I recall hearing lots of issues relating to
the cooling system. The Rotax experience probably has a lot to do with why
Diamond has generally held off on bringing the Thielert engines over here.

-cwk.

"Jeremy Lew" wrote in message
...
My flight school (http://www.ecas.com) owns 3 DA-20-A1's (Rotax powered
version) . I trained in them, they're lots of fun to fly. I've heard
that
the mechanics there do not like working on them, but can't tell you
specifically why. You might want to contact Adam Harris, the chief
mechanic, to get his impression. I imagine the Continental-powered models
are easier to get serviced since the engines are familiar and don't have
odd
features like dual auto-leaning carbs.