I've been flying a Diamond Star DA40-180 for a few months now and
wanted to post my thoughts on it. I transitioned from a 172 to the
DA40 and my FOB rents out both for about the same price. However the
DA40 is much nicer: faster, more room, standard fancy electronics, and
definitely sexier (sorry high wing people). If I'm up to take pictures
I'll take the 172 but otherwise it's the Diamond. However I do have a
few bones to pick, these could continue on with the new Diamond
TwinStar too.

based on using N138DS and N440JP (guestimating 800hrs and 400hrs
respectively)

Canopy scratching: problem. The canopy gets scratched ever so slightly
every time the standard sunshade is put into place. The edge of the
shade rubs the plastic and over time the scratches build up. If the
plane is only flown once a month no one will ever notice, but at the
FBO the plane is used daily and the constant removal/replacement of
the shade is noticeable.

Tail skid: minor. Note that these planes are used at a flight school
and take a beating. There is a nice chunk of aluminum to handle the
occasional scrape but the non-structural composite skid holder has
cracks.

Window hinge: minor. The plastic hinges are glued to the canopy and
after constant usage one of hinges came off last week.

Electronics: minor. Moving from a 172R w/ older King avionics to a
plane w/
a 10 inch MFD (garmin) I about died. However fancy toys comes with a
price: complexity. I think there are 4 or 5 adjustments possible for
volume control alone (incl squelch and my headset). My first flight
with 138DS I thought that the left seat mic jacks had gone bad and I
switched over to the passenger jacks(a pain w/ PTT). I just got the
settings wrong. Granted this was a user issue, but it does increase
workload. (Note I'm trying to not let the moving map let me get lazy
with navigation : )

Pedal adjustment: minor+. Every time you jump in you have to re-adjust
the pedals. That's because the control lock bar requires you to pull
the pedals all the way back. This is just annoying, but the pedals
stuck for many people. Of course for me the pedals moved in flight
once (and scared the bejeesus out of me). Note: when adjusting the
pedals don't push on the pedals, push on the crossbar at the bottom.

Ventilation: minor. there are lots of vents for everyone and fresh air
can rushing in (good). But it's kind of noisy and all the mics seem to
pick it up. So we usually close off all the vents : (

Tow bar: minor. It just doesn't stay on the nose gear.

Canopy: minor-. If you startup with the canopy locked but not fully
closed (for ventilation while taxiing) it will shake noisily and scare
the pants off your passengers.


This is all that I can think of now. These are just my nit picks, this
is a great plane and I would recommend it to anyone (w/ a ppl. Not for
students- too easy). I just hope that some these small issues can be
remedied in the not too distant future.

-lance smith