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All was well as we sat in business class aboard the big Boeing 767 to Eu- rope, but upon landing, I found my phone inundated with phone calls and texts. It was a “good news/bad news” sort of message that got my attention. The bad news was the India ferry flight was pushed back at least a month and I had to return home. The good news was a DA62 needed to be moved from Austria to Florida. My first response: “What is a DA62?”
Deanna’s Perspective: I was so ex- cited to be accompanying Joe to pick up the two King Airs in India, as this was to be a sort of “supervised solo” through the region, with him in one aircraft and myself in another. When we got the word that we’d be heading to Austria to pick up a DA62 instead, I just remember both of us looking at each other and asking, “Have you ever f lown a DA62? Nope. Me either. Ask them to send us a POH to read on the way to the airport.” There wasn’t a question as to whether we could safely fly the plane, simply the excitement at getting to discover a new airframe and the enjoyment of flying it out of Europe and to the U.S.
Yes, I was that much of a Diamond Aircraft rookie. The Diamond lineup of airplanes simply was not on my
ever made. This was going to be a fun diversion.
Upon arriving at the LOAN Airport, we found N62KZ, our steed for the North Atlantic flight. N62KZ is a gor- geous dark gray color with light gray accents. I found it to be particularly stunning in the dense fog of Austria. Deanna and I quickly found IFR de- partures are not allowed out of LOAN and the weather upon our arrival to the airport was seriously low IFR. This bought us time, time which we used to learn as much as possible about the DA62. And what’s the best way to gain knowledge of the DA62 while in LOAN? Go on a factory tour.
Diamond Factory
Now, I’ve been inside several air- craft factories, including Piper in Vero Beach, Beechcraft in Wichita, and even the Huey Helicopter Fac- tory in Amarillo. But this place was different. Instead of the rivet-filled, aluminum-everywhere scene found in the typical aircraft manufacturer facility, Diamond was filled with lots and lots of composite materials.
We started at the beginning and saw sheets on sheets of composite material beginning the formation process. The sleek lines of the Diamond aircraft
The Diamond facility was clean, modern, organized and a bit hot. The ovens that cure the composite pro- cess throughout the plant provided a bit of warmth that contrasted nicely to the rainy, coolness outside. This is hard to describe, but the Diamond factory sort of “fit” the Austrian loca- tion. When I think of Austria, I think of the classic movie, “The Sound of Music.” Gorgeous mountain scenery and a European country that is one of the gems of the region. I think the same of the Diamond Aircraft. It is a beautiful airplane that is on the cut- ting edge of aviation. I gained an im- mense appreciation for the process and precision that the employees applied to the process.
Flying the DA62
Deanna and I f lipped a coin to deter- mine who would get the left seat, then decided that we’d switch places each day. I ordered a gob of deicing fluid for the FIKI airplane and soon discovered that it was one of the best decisions of the trip. The icy North Atlantic was in our future and I wanted all the ad- ditional fluid I could find. The DA62 has plenty of storage space, and we found the useful load sufficient to load up luggage, deicing fluid and top the fuel tanks with jet fuel.
Yes, you read that right: jet fuel. The DA62 is a multi-engine, diesel- burning airplane and jet fuel works perfectly. In fact, I learned to love those FADEC (Fully Automated Digital Electronic Control) die- sel engines.
We launched from LOAN late in the day and were soon on the way to Hamburg, Germany (EDDH). We had a short tech stop (quick-turn stop) there, then continued to Stavanger, Norway (ENZV). Darkness dominated the leg to Norway and we used up a ton of deicing fluid in our attempts to thwart the ice and its bad aerodynamic effects. I used the deice f luid liberally, but knew I had plenty. We saw nothing but clouds the whole f light from Germany to Norway until our descent. Upon breaking out of the clouds, the small villages nestled in the fjords gave us our first view of this ridiculously beautiful country. Even at night I knew we were some- where special.
Garmin G1000 avionics suite.
radar screen, but I was about to get a baptism into the Diamond world. There was a nearly new DA62 at the Diamond Factory in Weiner Neustadt (LOAN) and Deanna and I were to fly it back to the United States. I googled “DA62” and discovered pictures of one of the sleekest airplanes
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were just starting its formative stag- es, but you could see the plane taking shape as we moved throughout the plant. Flight controls, avionics, win- dows and interiors were all installed as the aircraft moved through the facility. Toward the end, the wings were bolted into place and paint applied.