The Diamond DA50 is a five seat, single-engine, composite aircraft designed and built by

Diamond Aircraft Industries Diamond Aircraft Industries is a manufacturer of general aviation aircraft and motor gliders, based in Wiener Neustadt, Lower Austria, Austria. It has been a subsidiary of the Chinese company Wanfeng Aviation since 2017. It is the third lar ...

. First shown in 2006, it made its

maiden flight The maiden flight, also known as first flight, of an aircraft is the first occasion on which it leaves the ground under its own power. The same term is also used for the first launch of rockets. In the early days of aviation it could be dange ...

on 4 April 2007. The project has been proposed to be powered by several different engines, but was certified on 9 September 2020 with the

Continental CD-300 The Thielert Centurion is a series of diesel cycle aircraft engines for general aviation originally built by Thielert, which was bought by Aviation Industry Corporation of China's Tecnify Motors subsidiary and is currently marketed by Cont ...

diesel.

Development

The DA50 Super Star

prototype A prototype is an early sample, model, or release of a product built to test a concept or process. It is a term used in a variety of contexts, including semantics, design, electronics, and Software prototyping, software programming. A prototype ...

was unofficially first shown in December 2006 at a Diamond company Christmas party. The aircraft was designed with the intention of fitting it with gasoline, turboprop or diesel engines up to . The initial design goal was that it would have one of the largest cabins of the new generation of general aviation airplanes. The

avgas Avgas (aviation gasoline, also known as aviation spirit in the United Kingdom, UK) is an aviation fuel used in aircraft with spark-ignited internal combustion engines. ''Avgas'' is distinguished from conventional gasoline (petrol) used in moto ...

-powered version of the DA50 was intended to be equipped with a single

FADEC A full authority digital engine (or electronics) control (FADEC) is a system consisting of a digital computer, called an "electronic engine controller" (EEC) or " engine control unit" (ECU), and its related accessories that control all aspects of a ...

-equipped Continental TSIO-550-J powerplant with twin turbo chargers producing . The plane's wingspan was reported as , with overall fuselage length of . The maximum takeoff weight was planned to be . The Diamond DA50 Super Star was intended to be pressurized and to offer a

Ballistic Recovery Systems Ballistic Recovery Systems, Inc., doing business as BRS Aerospace (and commonly referred to as simply BRS), is a manufacturer of aircraft ballistic parachutes. The company was formed in 1980 by Boris Popov of Saint Paul, Minnesota, after he su ...

aircraft parachute system as an option. Diamond DA50 at ILA 2008 PD 814

The DA50 made its first test flight on 4 April 2007 at the Wiener Neustadt East Airport, Austria. The airplane made its public debut at the

AERO Friedrichshafen AERO Friedrichshafen is a trade show dedicated to European general aviation. It is held yearly in April on the shores of Lake Constance at the exhibition center of Friedrichshafen, Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Ger ...

show in Germany on 19 April 2007 and was first shown in North America at

Airventure EAA AirVenture Oshkosh (formerly the EAA Annual Convention and Fly-In), or just Oshkosh, is an annual air show and gathering of aviation enthusiasts held each summer at the Wittman Regional Airport and adjacent Pioneer Airport in Oshkosh, Wiscon ...

in July 2007. The DA50 project was put on hold in 2009 as the economy entered the

Great Recession The Great Recession was a period of market decline in economies around the world that occurred from late 2007 to mid-2009.

and Diamond turned all their attention to the

Diamond D-Jet The Diamond D-JET is a composite, five-seat, single-engine very light jet developed by Austrian aircraft manufacturer Diamond Aircraft Industries. The intended cost for the aircraft was advertised by the company as being US$1.89 million dollars ...

. On 19 January 2015 the prototype, now designated DA50-JP7 and powered by an

Ivchenko-Progress Motor Sich AI-450S The Ivchenko-Progress AI-450S is a turboprop engine designed by Ivchenko-Progress and built by Motor Sich. It is a two-shaft design with one gas generator shaft and one free turbine shaft. The 450 hp AI-450S is used on the Diamond DA50-JP7, Bayr ...

turboprop powerplant, was test-flown in Wiener Neustadt. In 2015

type certification A type certificate signifies the airworthiness of a particular category of aircraft, according to its manufacturing design (''type design''). Certification confirms that the aircraft of a new type intended for serial production is in compliance w ...

was expected near the end of 2016. At the April 2017 AERO Friedrichshafen show, Diamond announced DA50 variants powered by diesel

SMA Engines SMA Engines (Société de Motorisations Aéronautiques) is a French manufacturer of diesel engines The diesel engine, named after the German engineer Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of diesel fuel is cau ...

and other powerplants. These included the four-seat DA50-IV, the five-seat DA50-V and seven-seat DA50-VII - also proposed to be powered by a gasoline

Lycoming engine Lycoming Engines is a major American manufacturer of aircraft engines. With a factory in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, Lycoming produces a line of Flat engine, horizontally opposed, air-cooled, four, six and eight-cylinder engines. The company ha ...

or an

turboprop A turboprop is a Gas turbine, gas turbine engine that drives an aircraft Propeller (aeronautics), propeller. A turboprop consists of an intake, reduction drive, reduction gearbox, gas compressor, compressor, combustor, turbine, and a propellin ...

. The DA50-V model was displayed at that show. It had made its first flight in March 2017 and at that time certification was planned for 2018. By April 2019 no DA50 models had been produced beyond one single prototype. The company then announced a new version of the design with fully retractable landing gear and a

diesel engine, at the 2019 AERO Friedrichshafen show. That

retractable gear Landing gear is the undercarriage of an aircraft or spacecraft that is used for taxiing, takeoff or landing. For aircraft, it is generally needed for all three of these. It was also formerly called ''alighting gear'' by some manufacturers, s ...

-equipped second prototype was first flown on 28 October 2019. At that time Diamond planned to announce its price and start accepting orders at the Aero Friedrichshafen show in April 2020, with European certification and introduction expected in the third quarter of 2020. Diamond Aircraft announced

EASA The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) is an agency of the European Commission with responsibility for civil aviation safety in the European Union. It carries out certification, regulation and standardisation and also performs inve ...

certification of the DA50 RG (retractable gear) on 9 September 2020, with deliveries planned to start in the first quarter of 2021. FAA certification and the aircraft's first U.S. sale occurred in July 2023.

Design

The five-seat DA50 RG

airframe The mechanical structure of an aircraft is known as the airframe. This structure is typically considered to include the fuselage, undercarriage, empennage and wings, and excludes the propulsion system. Airframe design is a field of aeros ...

is constructed predominantly of

composite material A composite or composite material (also composition material) is a material which is produced from two or more constituent materials. These constituent materials have notably dissimilar chemical or physical properties and are merged to create a ...

. It is powered by a single

diesel engine, with a fuel capacity of . The design features double-slotted flaps,

retractable landing gear Landing gear is the undercarriage of an aircraft or spacecraft that is used for taxiing, takeoff or landing. For aircraft, it is generally needed for all three of these. It was also formerly called ''alighting gear'' by some manufacturers, s ...

, a

Garmin G1000 The Garmin G1000 is an electronic flight instrument system (EFIS) typically composed of two display units, one serving as a primary flight display, and one as a multi-function display. Manufactured by Garmin Aviation, it serves as a replaceme ...

NXi flightdeck with

autopilot An autopilot is a system used to control the path of a vehicle without requiring constant manual control by a human operator. Autopilots do not replace human operators. Instead, the autopilot assists the operator's control of the vehicle, allow ...

and single lever power controls. Optional equipment includes a removable right-hand control stick, an on-board oxygen system, electric-powered air conditioning, a TKS de-icing system and a

Garmin Garmin Ltd. is an American multinational technology company based in Olathe, Kansas. The company designs, develops, manufactures, markets, and distributes GPS-enabled products and other navigation, communication, sensor-based, and information ...

GCU 476 input keypad. The aircraft cruises at and has a range, with a

fuel economy Fuel efficiency (or fuel economy) is a form of thermal efficiency, meaning the ratio of effort to result of a process that converts chemical potential energy contained in a carrier (fuel) into kinetic energy or work. Overall fuel efficiency may v ...

of per hour. It has a useful load of .

Operational history

In its first long flight, a factory demonstrator DA50 RG was flown from the factory in Austria to the China AirShow 2021 in

Zhuhai, Guangdong Zhuhai; Yale: ''Jyūhói''; also known as Chuhai is a prefecture-level city located on the west bank of the Pearl River estuary on the central coast of southern Guangdong, People's Republic of China, on the southeastern edge of the Pearl Rive ...

. The flight involved 12 stops en route and took 45 flight hours over eight days, flying .

Variants

;DA50 SuperStar : Pressurized version powered by a Teledyne Continental TSIOF-550J. US FAA

certification Certification is part of testing, inspection and certification and the provision by an independent body of written assurance (a certificate) that the product, service or system in question meets specific requirements. It is the formal attestatio ...

was initially forecast for 2012. ;DA50 Magnum : Unpressurized version, with a standard integral oxygen system, powered by an Austro Engine AE 300 diesel, US FAA certification originally forecast for mid-2010. ;DA50-JP7 :Seven-seat version powered by a

-controlled

turboprop engine. Two sub-variants were planned, one "tundra" version with rugged landing gear, and one high-performance version for training and private customers. Certification was initially planned for the mid to end of 2016. ;DA50-IV :Four-seat version powered by a SMA SR305-230

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after the German engineer Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which Combustion, ignition of diesel fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to Mechanics, mechanical Compr ...

announced at the AERO Friedrichshafen show in April 2017. ;DA50-V :Five-seat version powered by an

diesel engine. It was first flown in March 2017 and introduced at the AERO Friedrichshafen show in April 2017. Certification was initially planned for 2018. ;DA50-VII :Seven-seat version powered by an

SMA SR460 diesel engine, a

Lycoming Engines Lycoming Engines is a major American manufacturer of aircraft engines. With a factory in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, Lycoming produces a line of horizontally opposed, air-cooled, four, six and eight-cylinder engines. The company has built more ...

gasoline powerplant or a

. The model was announced at the Aero Friedrichshafen show in April 2017. ;DA50 RG :Five seat version powered by a

diesel engine. The model received an EASA type certificate on 9 September 2020 and FAA certification on 25 July 2023.

Specifications (DA50 RG)

References

External links

* {{Diamond Aircraft 2000s Austrian civil utility aircraft DA50 Single-engined tractor aircraft Low-wing aircraft T-tail aircraft Aircraft first flown in 2007 Aircraft with fixed tricycle landing gear Diesel-engined aircraft Single-engined piston aircraft