AERO Friedrichshafen Kicks Off April 19

Following its unofficial announcement last December regarding the company's development of a five-seat piston-powered plane, Diamond Aircraft has kept pretty quiet about its DA50 "Super Star"... but it appears the plane will make its official public debut at next month's Friedrichshafen general aviation exhibition in south Germany.

An ANN News-Spy alerted us to the DA50's matter-of-fact listing alongside several other planes scheduled to be on display at the show, on the AERO Friedrichshafen website.

According to figures cited, the DA50 development aircraft, OE-VSO, has accumulated 18 hours on its airframe, and is equipped with a single FADEC-equipped Continental TSIO-550-J powerplant. The plane's wingspan is listed as 38", 4', with overall fuselage length of 29 feet. Those figures are more-or-less comparable to a current four-seat DA40, with a slightly longer fuse but a one-inch shorter wingspan.

The most startling departure from current Diamond offerings, however, comes in the DA50's listed maximum takeoff weight of 3,527 lbs -- over 1,000 pounds greater than a DA40, and only 400 lbs less than the company's twin-TDI-powered DA42 TwinStar. That would appear to indicate a sizeable bump in usable fuel and/or payload over a DA40, even considering the addition of a fifth passenger and larger engine.

Speaking of the Thielert-equipped TwinStar, Diamond is rumored to also be considering a diesel-powered variant of the DA50.

AERO Friedrichshafen runs from April 19-22.

FMI: www.diamondair.com, www.aero-friedrichshafen.com