Diamond DA62 for Sale

“Why this innovative twin could make inroads in the single-engine market…”
Excerpts from "Plane & Pilot Article" By Robert Goyer

Twin Diamond DA62. I know that other aviation journalists have described the “sleek” and “sexy” look of the new DA62, but that’s not how it strikes me at all. With its long, angular and jutting lines, the DA62 looks to me more like a scorpion than a swallow, and if fate is kinder to Diamond Aircraft with this product introduction, it might just wind up being that kind of silent stalker. The prey, in this case, could be the high-end, high-performance single-engine airplane.

The Diamond DA62 is the only next-generation piston twin. Unlike mature all-metal products from Beechcraft and Piper, the DA62 takes innovative approaches to propulsion, with its economical and fuel-smart Jet-A diesels and materials, including all-carbon-fiber construction.

While the DA62 looks like a version of the DA42, it is, if not a clean-sheet airplane, then for all intents and purposes, a brand-new model. Everything about it is different. Its wing is even longer than the already wide wing of the ’42, its tail is taller, its cabin is wider, and its heft, at just over 5,000 pounds max weight, is heftier.

Entry is easier and more substantial a process. There are twin gull-wing doors up front and one in back that allow for easy entry and egress, and the third-row occupants simply have to step in over the middle-row seats, the backs of which fold down for easy in and out for the rearmost passengers.

That’s right, I said, “third row.” The DA62 is not only larger than the ’42, but it seats nearly twice as many people. That’s right, the DA62 seats up to 7 people, with two in the front, three in the middle and two in the back. And the rear seats are usable by adults, unlike some of the compromises you see in some six-seat singles or the tiny middle seat in the ostensibly five-place G5 Cirrus.

They’re usable operationally as much as ergonomically. That is, not only can a grownup fit in the seat, but once they’re in it, the airplane can still take off legally. Angel City Flyers, a Long Beach, California flight school and Diamond dealer, has a cute video demonstrating that it, indeed, can.

As multi-engine pilots know, there’s nothing especially different about taking off in a twin, except that you do just about everything differently just in case an engine fails. We were lucky, whew, and the takeoff was uneventful, except that we used very little runway thanks to the big wind, and we climbed away, thanks to the big wing and powerful engines, at quite an angle and rate, around 1,200 feet per minute (though we were admittedly pretty light that day; book rate of climb is around 1,000 fpm).

It’s not often that the bigger version of an existing airplane, if that is, indeed, what the DA62 is, flies better than the smaller one, but that’s the case here. The ’62 feels better harmonized than the DA42, which is a good flying airplane, too. The visibility in the DA62 is nothing short of spectacular, and with the availability of air conditioning, pilots have a fighting chance of fending off the dreaded greenhouse effect that most scientists agree contributes to global cockpit warming. The climate control worked great.

We flew a number of maneuvers—steep turns, stalls, slow flight—and there were no surprises, except that the airplane feels much lighter than it actually is. The sailplane-like wing surely helps in that regard.

I was really looking forward to flying the airplane on one engine, so the nice Mr. Mustard talked me through the simple process of shutting down an engine in flight. As soon as you shut it down, the FADEC automatically feathers the prop for you. There’s no chance to feather the wrong prop, another great safety feature. I found that the plane flies much better on one engine than the DA42 does, and that’s surely because of the greater power and giant rudder. With the left engine shut down and around 95 percent power on the right engine, I was able to coax 400 fpm climb out of the airplane at 6,500 feet, and with an Alps-friendly single-engine ceiling of 14,000 feet, the new Diamond has terrific safety margins when operating on a single engine.

Landing the DA62 is about as easy as can be. The trailing link landing gear is forgiving of all but the most dramatic arrivals, and the speeds are very similar to those you’d use for a high-performance single, and with so much glass, it’s a lot easier to see the other traffic than it is in some other planes. In our case, we had the airport to ourselves, well, except for a lot of big birds, including, and this is a Texas first for me, a bald eagle. He avoided us on short final. Though it had been years since I’d landed a Diamond twin, I still managed a couple of very serviceable arrivals even with the gusty conditions, using very little runway in the process.

The Value Proposition - The DA62 would be an easier airplane in which to tackle the multi-engine rating than the DA42, or Seminole, for that matter, though it remains to be seen how much interest the airplane gets from flight schools, as it’s substantially more expensive to buy than the DA42.

The airplane I flew was outfitted with air conditioning, TKS and built-in oxygen, all three of which I’m guessing just about every customer will opt for, bringing the total to around $1.3 million, about $400,000 more than a tricked-out SR22.

For a million-plus-dollar airplane, you want ramp appeal, and the DA62 has it, with its distinctive, aggressive styling that oozes carbon-fiber cool.

The Ultimate Flying Machine  -  Our Diamond DA62 for Sale, moves more passengers and equipment further and faster than anything else in its class, with exceptional fuel efficiency, luxury and twin-engine security. Space. Performance. Efficiency. Luxury.

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