Diamond Aircraft successfully ferried its first single-engine, retractable-gear DA50 RG across the North Atlantic last week. Flown by Diamond test pilot Thomas Wimmer, the aircraft made the 4,410-NM trip from Wiener Neustadt, Austria to London, Ontario, Canada in three days. The flight was completed in 10 legs, the longest of which was 670 NM, with a total time in the air of 29.4 hours.
“We are proud of this remarkable achievement,” said Diamond Aircraft Austria CEO Liqun Zhang. “We have always known that the DA50 RG is a game changer for General Aviation. This flight highlights the reliability and performance of this amazing aircraft.”
The Continental CD-300-powered DA50 RG has a top speed of 181 knots, range of 750 NM and 1,232-pound useful load. The five-seat aircraft is equipped with the Garmin G1000 NXi avionics suite and GFC700 autopilot. As previously reported by AVweb, the DA50 RG received its European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) certification in September 2020.
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Lovely airplane. Always liked the Diamonds. I like them better than Cirrus.
I’m assuming that, like other small piston single aircraft crossing the North Atlantic, the DA50 RG required the installation of ferry tanks for additional fuel capacity. Does anyone know?
No ferry tanks are needed. A survival suit and raft, I believe. None of the legs are that long.
A nice achievement
But doesn’t hold a candle
To what Lindbergh did
On 5/20-21/27!!
Dave
Great concept; and it can do the flight without extra tanks.
Still; the Diamond twins have more range; how about a couple more hours of fuel for the DA50
And; hopefully some aerodynamic tweaks to increase the cruise speed to make it more competitive with other fast singles.