“We were the first U.S. dealer to deliver a new DA50 RG to a customer during last year’s Oshkosh AirVenture, and now, becoming the first dealer to take delivery of our own DA50 RG demonstrator is another milestone for Premier Aircraft Sales,” said Travis Peffer, CEO of Premier Aircraft Sales. “We are extremely proud that our long relationship with Diamond Aircraft has allowed us to be the first Diamond dealer to offer our customers the opportunity to

fly and buy this incredibly efficient, comfortable, and beautiful airplane.”

The DA50 RG is powered by a 6-cylinder, 300 hp Continental Aerospace

Technologies CD-300 engine that runs on jet-A fuel, which has advantages including lower fuel consumption, reduced emissions, and more reliable worldwide fuel availability compared with avgas.

• WATCH: We Fly: The Diamond DA50 RG

The aircraft’s geared, turbocharged, and liquid-cooled powerplant is controlled by two redundant FADEC units. Performance figures include a maximum airspeed of 181 ktas, cruise speed of 172 ktas, maximum range of 754 nm, and useful load of 1,210 pounds. 

• READ MORE: Diamond Aircraft Receives FAA Type Certification for DA50 RG

“Ever since the DA50 RG’s introduction in 2020, it has arguably been the most anticipated new single-engine piston aircraft in history,” said Jeff Owen, vice president of sales for Premier Aircraft Sales. “Now that we have our demonstrator available, we’re excited to give prospective owners a chance to experience for themselves why it’s earned its place as a truly aspirational airplane.”

The company said the aircraft will be on display during the U.S. Aircraft Expo at the Pompano Beach Airpark (KPMP) in Florida on February 2-3.

The post Premier Aircraft Sales Takes First U.S. Retail Delivery of Diamond DA50 RG appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

One place where this is apparent is Continental Aerospace Technologies. The aircraft engine manufacturer currently has 45 team members of the 330 it employs in the U.S. who are either working alongside a family member or have a family member who used to work at the company. The ties are eclectic with siblings, cousins, parents, and grandparents paving the way for the next generation of employees.

Two Brothers

Jorge Alfaro is a welder fabricator in Continental’s experimental department. He joined the company in 2017 when long-time family friend Pernell Wagner, currently a value stream leader at Continental, shared a job opening. Alfaro was working outside the aerospace industry at the time but had been looking for an opportunity where he could grow his skills. The position with the company’s research and development department fit the bill and he has been with Continental ever since.

In May 2022, his younger brother Josh joined the team. According to Jorge, Josh saw the long-term career path that he had been developing and realized he was interested in pursuing a similar one for himself. With some advice from his big brother to “come in with confidence, to keep his head up high, and to give his all every day instilling pride in his work,” Josh secured a position pulling and preparing engine parts for assembly and shipping.

“It makes me feel good to be his big brother,” Jorge said. “I help keep him accountable and can guide him through his professional journey at Continental. I’m proud to show him what it means to be a good leader and great fellow team member.”

The two have yet to work together on a project but are hoping to sometime in the future.

A Father’s Legacy

Dana Durden applied for her position as a customer service representative with a focus on aftermarket engines and warranties on the advice of her cousin, Lori Stanley. Stanley, herself an OEM customer representative on Continental’s customer service team, thought Durden would be a good fit for the role when the company was looking to expand its customer facing support group in 2019.

Durden says joining Continental was nostalgic for her. Her father, Harold Ratliff, had worked for the company from around 1970 until his retirement in the early 2000s. Ratliff took on many roles over the years, serving longest as supervisor of the crankcase line. He passed away before Durden joined Continental.

“It’s fun to be recognized around the facility as Harold’s daughter and that’s usually when they start to share a funny memory about their dad or family member working with my dad,” said Durden. “It really fills me with a sense of pride and thrills me to know that he would have been proud to pass on his Continental legacy to me. He was very proud to have worked for Continental for more than 35 years. Just think of how many engines he touched that are a part of someone’s flying story.”

Three Generations

Tom Howard, who works as a quality team member inspecting engines prior to shipment, represents the third generation of his family to work at Continental. Howard’s grandfather, V.A. Howard, retired from the company in the 1980s. His father, Tom Howard Sr., joined Continental in the 1970s and retired in 2006. V.A. worked as an inspector, mainly for cylinders and the Tiara engine line, while Tom Sr. began with machining parts and went on to become a shop supervisor.

Before Howard joined Continental, Tom Sr. encouraged him to take a machinist course along with teaching him to use hand tools, power tools, reading calipers, and scales. After hearing about the company from his family for years, Howard said, he decided to apply for a job with Continental. Once he’d gotten the position, his father and grandfather told him to “watch and learn, make sure you know the process and product. With this knowledge and a good work ethic you can become a true asset to the team.”

“I remember this one time [my Dad] pushed me to my limit,” Howard said. “I was asked to work on three machines that were down and I had never run them before. It took six days to get them running a blueprint part. There were times in the process that I had gotten ahead of myself and had to back track, but no one ever rushed me or discounted my ability. It taught me that anything done right was worth the effort, to think things through, and that not every idea is the best one for that situation. Some things just don’t work like you think they will but the reward and pride is worth it all.”

Howard emphasized that he takes pride and ownership in the company three generations of his family has worked for. “…as a third generational employee,” he said, “I have a certain outlook on what an employee should do based on the examples of my family and how the company should operate.”

About Continental

Founded in 1905 as Continental Motors, Continental Aerospace Technologies has been making engines for piston aircraft for over 115 years. In 1966, the company moved from its original location in Muskegon, Michigan to Alabama’s Mobile International Airport (KBFM) where it still operates today. While some of the buildings from the 1960s are still in use, Continental recently opened a new facility adjacent to its original location at KBFM.

Continental manufactures engines for both the certified and experimental markets. Among its products are the jet-A burning CD series, avgas powered 200, 360, 470, and 500 series, and Titan experimental series.

The post Across the Generations at Continental Aerospace Technologies appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

The icing on the lebkuchen? I’m with Martin Scherrer, head of flight operations and training for Diamond Aircraft—and we’re climbing away in the new Diamond DA50 RG. We’re speeding towards Diamond’s EU home of Wiener Neustadt, Austria, just south of Vienna, but we have cameras on board the DA62 that’s chasing us. We plan a couple of special stops along the way—those mountains keep soaring up ahead—the German Alps. It would be so wrong not to twirl a couple of turns around a chateau—Neuschwanstein, that inspired a Disney castle, for one. We’ll also tuck into the deep valley that hosts Hallstatt, on the edge of Hallstätter See, often voted the prettiest town in the world for its postcard-envy setting.

But the view from above ranks as the most stunning. As we fly over Salzberg, I can’t help but hum a few bars from the Sound of Music… with a twist: “I am sixteen going on seventeen… time to get my pilot’s license…”

Delivered

While the sweet and swift retract has been type certificated under the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) since September 2020, FAA validation came nearly to a halt during COVID. The company has delivered 38 into EASA-land while awaiting certification stateside. Diamond anticipates that to come through this summer—and one of the production models departs soon for a U.S. tour in coordination with that milestone.

READ MORE: Diamond Aircraft Receives FAA Type Certification on DA50 RG

No small part of the validation process lies in the ac- ceptance of the new Continental CD-300 jet-A burning diesel engine under the DA50 RG’s complex cowl, which looks as though an engineer blew globes in hot glass—fiberglass—and stuck them in place to shroud the massive powerplant. We’ll see glimpses of that engine during our walkaround, but during our visit to the production line a couple of days later we’ll get to contemplate its intricate architecture as it sits on serial numbers 40 and 41 about to leave the line for flight testing.

The FADEC-controlled CD-300 is the largest Continental diesel in the series to make it to EASA certification—and all 560 pounds of it comprise a substantial percentage of the DA50 RG’s empty weight. It potentially creates a long view down the nose for the pilot—but instead of being in the way, I found it helped me gauge my sight picture both during high work and landings.

WATCH: We Fly the Diamond DA50 RG

For pilots seeing the big CD-300 for the first time, it takes a moment to orient yourself. The CD-300 is liquid-cooled rather than air-cooled. Plus, a diesel engine is self-igniting, meaning there are no magnetos—so the combustion chambers must be heated to a certain temperature and maintain that baseline in order to light off. From the aircraft flight manual: “The bypass cooling circuit (cabin heat exchanger) is always active. The short cooling circuit is active at low cooling temperatures.” This ensures that a cold engine will warm up quickly, and also creates a safety benefit, using coolant rather than exhaust gas. When the coolant temperature reaches 183 degrees Fahrenheit, the external cooling circuit is activated by a valve.

Look at the large intercooler radiators on the nose and follow the orange ducting to that system inside—indicating that the CD-300 features a turbocharging system as well, driven somewhat traditionally by exhaust gas collected from a manifold. Excess gases bypass the turbine via a FADEC-controlled wastegate. A pressure sensor behind the compressor allows FADEC to calculate the correct position of the waste gate’s valve.

Diamond has had a long path to certification on its retract—15 years—because of the issues plaguing early engine partner Thielert Aircraft Engines GmbH, which originally produced the Centurion line from which the CD-300 was derived, generally speaking. Thielert went public in 2005, but by 2008 had declared bankruptcy, with its founder Frank Thielert jailed during the fracas. Centurion Aircraft Engines formed from that basis, and Continental Motors purchased those assets, bringing the 300-hp engine in development under the CD-300 moniker.

And there are interesting times ahead as the CD-300 enters service beyond the EU. The in-family engine OEM Austro Engines has had success in the DA42 and DA62, and we noted a couple of operational distinctions between the AE330s in the DA62 when we flew it.

A. The Garmin G1000 NXi suite features ESP and a blue Level button in the lower center of the instrument panel, which returns the aircraft to straight and level on autopilot, maintaining pitch and roll modes when pressed.

B. The fuel system is unique to the DA50 RG and sup- ports the operations of the CD-300 diesel engine. It draws from the left wing tank through a mechanical feed pump into the injectors, which deliver only a portion of that fuel to the combustion chambers. The unused diesel returns via a common fuel line to the right tank, or as determined by the fuel selector position.

C. The load level is managed by the power lever, which meters fuel required, controls prop pitch and feathering, and adjusts the twin turbochargers in accordance with demand, given the altitude and flight condition.

D. The front seats can recline somewhat, but proper pedal position is adjusted electrically on a long rail that accommodates a wide range of pilot sizes.

E. The optional flight management system keypad tucks into the center armrest console and must be stowed for takeoff and landing.

Fuel System

It takes a dedicated system to deliver fuel to a CD series engine, one that’s plumbed and pumped quite a bit dif- ferently than the standard left-right-both (sometimes) that gasoline engines in light singles use. There’s a tank in each wing, but instead of thinking of them as left and right, they are the main and the aux.

The powerplant draws fuel from the main tank in the left wing through an electrical feed pump to the engine-driven mechanical pump into the injectors, which deliver only a portion of that fuel to the combustion chambers. The unused diesel returns via a common fuel line to the main tank via the aux tank for heat exchange, or as determined by the fuel selector position. Normal on the fuel selector draws from the main; the Emergency position takes fuel directly from the aux tank. The Off position cuts off the fuel supply entirely.

Since you’re drawing from the main and only returning part of that fuel to that tank, a fuel imbalance will grow beyond the airplane’s ability to maintain lateral balance. Before the 9-gallon limit, the pilot turns on an electric transfer pump to move fuel from the right wing to the left—but not during takeoff and landing.

Flight Controls

My overall impression of the airplane’s handling finds a good balance between the nimbleness you desire for hands-on flying—to tackle a crosswind, for example— with the stability to make it quite comfortable on a long cross-country flight off the autopilot.

The length of the stick and its connection to the rest of the flight control system may have a lot to do with this. I move regularly between aircraft that utilize a yoke and one with a center stick, and find little transition time is needed for me—but the yoke-controlled aircraft is more of a cross-country machine, while the one in which I use a stick is highly maneuverable.

The stick in the DA50 RG is also a bit taller than the one I usually fly with, putting the push-to-talk trigger-style button and electric trim split rocker switch a wee bit of a stretch for my short thumb if I rested my left arm on my leg. It took me a couple of flights to find the sweet spot—and maybe because this was an almost-confirming prototype, it explains why the stick in the DA62 I also flew during my visit felt a bit shorter and thus just slightly easier to find that spot on.

However—when we got out of the cross-country mode on my first flight from EDNY to LOAN and into a bit of stationkeeping, I really appreciated the stick and its direct feedback—in a straight line to the control cable bellcrank rather than the up and down movement of the yoke. These are fine details, but I think a clear reason why some pilots prefer a given airplane over another.

READ MORE: The Diamond Aircraft Story Continues to Evolve

The idea came home to me the next time I got into the TB-30 model I sometimes fly—that direct control gives confidence in both aggressive and finely-tuned maneuvering flight. In the DA50 RG, it’s somewhat dampened by the aileron actuation—and a bridge between worlds.

Therefore my final assessment makes sense—that if you are looking for a solid performer that makes you feel like you’re still flying an airplane rather than pushing buttons and managing systems, the DA50 RG will resonate with you.

Diamond aircraft take their DNA from the gliders that formed the core product line when the Austrian OEM first launched its H36 then the Super Dimona HK36 in 1980 (see “The Diamond Story”). One out- come? Advanced aerodynamics in the wings add significantly to the DA50 RG’s excellent low-speed handling characteristics and reduced approach speeds.

For example, the DA50’s flaps consist of two pieces—an inner part attached to the center wing, and the outer part to the wing itself. The sections are independently pushrod controlled, and they slide out and back to produce two tiered channels for the air to flow through, ensuring adhesion to the upper surface of the flap along with the increased camber for the wing overall.

Cross-Country Cruising

The DA50 RG has been one of the first new single-engine retracts to hit the category—with the Pipistrel Panthera also currently seeking approval beyond EASA—since the FAA granted type certification to the Mooney Ovation 3 in 2007. Besides looking great, there’s one solid reason to put the gear in the wells—speed.

In cruise, that speed comes to call. The airplane has an operating altitude maximum of 20,000 feet, but most pilots will flight plan below the oxygen-required flight levels—so it’s a good thing that the DA50 RG finds a sweet spot at 10,000 feet msl, where it easily makes its 172 ktas book speed. We conducted formation work for much of our 2.3 hours from EDNY to LOAN at lower altitudes, like 7,500 feet, and ticked off true airspeeds between 160 and 167 ktas at 90 percent load.

Diamonds burn diesel for reasons of efficiency and economy—as well as the ability to source fuel virtually anywhere—and so we also pulled the CD-300 back into economy mode. At 60 percent load, 5,500 feet msl, and ISA plus 8 Celsius, we made 156 ktas, above book—and using 10.1 gph. Pulling back to a loitering speed of 119 ktas and 45 percent load at that altitude and condition, and fuel flow drops to 7.9 gph. Our precise Austrian friends have built on this efficiency philosophy throughout their model lineup, and the DA50 RG fits right in.

On Landings

Sight picture on landing feels straightforward not only for a pilot transitioning up the Diamond food chain, but also from other four-seat fixed-gear aircraft like high- wing Cessnas and the PA-28 series. With a substantial engine out front, you have cowl references to use while determining your height above the runway (the DA50 RG definitely sits tall on its gear) without cheating a glance to the side. I found it easy to find the mains for a normal landing, as well as during the specialty take- offs and landings we performed.

Approach speeds fall firmly where you’d expect them to in the category, and the runway at Wiener Neustadt—a VFR-only airport at 896 feet msl—is 1,067 meters (3,500 feet) long, which the airplane handles easily, flaps or not.

In fact, the no-flap landing demonstrates the power of the flaps, but also the general characteristics of the wing itself. Maintaining a higher approach speed of 94 knots indicated (versus 85 kias with takeoff flaps and 77 kias with full flaps) translates into more runway used—but still comfortably within touch-and-go territory on that 1,000 meters of pavement with a ground roll near book of half the runway distance (1,700 feet) at our lighter takeoff weight (roughly 3,950 pounds, about 500 pounds below the max takeoff weight of 4,407 pounds).

A short-field landing test with full flaps easily placed us with a ground roll of less than 600 feet—the 17 knots less for VREF plus good hydraulically actuated disc brakes combined to improve pilot confidence when taking the DA50 RG into airports of modest scale.

Haul the Whole Fam

We had four healthy adults and a week’s worth of show gear on board the DA50 RG on our departure from EDNY—along with full tanks. There was no compromise required. And the three seats across in the back made for a very comfortable ride for our colleagues enjoying the Alpine traverse. This was one of the more surprising revelations of flying the new model. The time to market with the right engine has meant time for Diamond’s engineering to dial out really important parameters—and the loading capability is one big one.

There is a combination of compartments in the rear cabin to work with, up to 198 pounds total.

For pilots completely satisfied with the DA50 RG’s range and carry-all flexibility, it could certainly prove a worthy companion for a long relationship. But with its honest low-speed handling enticing you to hand-fly more often, and a landing attitude common to both previous aircraft and what you might step up to—say, the Epic E1000 GX, Daher TBM, or Piper M-Series turboprops—it sets the stage for more real piloting to come. 

DIAMOND DA50 RG

Price, as tested: $1,237,650
Engine: Continental Diesel CD-300
Propeller: MT Propeller MTV-12-D/210-56, wood with composite coating, three-blade constant speed
Horsepower: 300 hp maximum power, 272 hp maximum continuous power
Seats: 5
Length: 30.31 ft.
Height: 9.69 ft.
Wingspan: 44 ft.
Wing Area: 176.85 sq. ft.
Wing Loading: 24.91 lb./sq. ft.
Power Loading: 14.69 lb./hp @ 300 hp
Cabin Width: 4 ft. 2.8 in.
Cabin Height: 4 ft. 2.4 in.
Max Zero Fuel Weight: 4,189 lb.
Max Takeoff Weight: 4,407 lb.
Empty Weight: 3,175 lb. (depending on options) Max Baggage Weight: 165 lb./33 lb.; 198 lb. total separated into 4 areas/compartments Useful Load: 1,232 lb. (depending on options) Max Fuel: Usable: 49; Total 51.5 USG
Max Operating Altitude: 20,000 ft.
Max Rate of Climb, MTOW, ISA, sea level: 786 fpm Economy Cruise Speed at 60% Power: 156 ktas, 2,300 rpm, ISA, 10,000 ft., 10.1 gph
Max Cruise Speed: 90% Power: 172 ktas, 2,300 rpm, ISA, 10,000 ft.
Max Range: 750 nm with 30-min. reserve
Stall Speed, Flaps Up: 71 kcas @MTOW
Stall Speed, Full Flaps: 58 kcas @MTOW
Takeoff Over 50 Ft. Obs: (ISA, sea level, MTOW) 2,408 ft.
Landing Over 50 Ft. Obs: (ISA, sea level, max landing wt.) 2,224 ft.

This article first appeared in the June 2023/Issue 938 of FLYING’s print edition.

The post We Fly: Diamond DA50 RG, the High-Performance Retract That Shines appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

Hartzell Engine Technologies announced recently that it will now manufacture Sky-Tec starter adapters as part of a supplier partnership with Continental Aerospace Technologies. As of July 1, all starter adapters for Continental’s factory-new, rebuilt, and factory-overhauled engines will be supplied by Hartzell. The transition of engineering assets and tooling to enable the agreement and support legacy Continental piston engines was completed last week.

“As part of the new agreement, we have been working closely with Continental to complete an engineering transition of the current units,” Keith Bagley, president of Hartzell Engine Technologies said in a press release. “We have also completed the transition of production tooling and manufacturing to our facility here in Montgomery.”

“We are currently shipping the first two models of the new-generation Sky-Tec Starter Adapters for Continental IO/TSIO-360 and GTSIO (geared)-series piston aircraft engines,” Bagley said. “[We] are currently working through production readiness builds on units for the remainder of the engine models.” Hartzell is well positioned to upgrade future product releases as well, according to Bagley.

The line of starter products for the IO/TSIO-360 and GTSIO engines will be available through Aircraft Spruce & Specialty, Quality Aircraft Accessories, as well as through both Hartzell’s and Continental’s normal distribution channels.

The post Hartzell To Manufacture Sky-Tec Starter Products appeared first on FLYING Magazine.