If Successful, Would Be Option On Super Star

It's becoming clearer every day that Diamond Aircraft intends its upcoming, five-place DA50 Super Star single piston aircraft to go wingtip-to-wingtip against the offerings of a certain company in Duluth, MN... and to that end, it's likely the plane will also become the first Diamond piston offering to sport a ballistic recovery parachute, as well.

Larry Williams, CEO of Ballistic Recovery Systems, told attendees at Lakeland 2007 Friday his company is working with Diamond to develop a BRS parachute option for the largest DA model. If successful, the implementation would represent the largest piston single-engine certified aircraft to offer a parachute.

"This arrangement, upon completion, will represent another step that will make our vision of parachutes on more airplanes a reality," Williams said.

BRS also manufactures the ballistic recovery parachute system installed as standard equipment in the Cirrus SR20 and SR22. Diamond says its game plan will differ slightly from its competitor.

"The DA50 Super Star will be certified to fly without the parachute," Diamond CEO Christian Dries said earlier in the day, from the AERO 2007 show in Friedrichshafen, Germany. "A successful program will result in a parachute that will be offered as an option and we are pleased to select BRS as our development partner in the DA50 program."

This isn't the first time Diamond and BRS have worked together. BRS is also working to develop the so-called "5500"-series ballistic 'chute for Diamond's upcoming single engine D-Jet. Williams told ANN tests of the system intended for the D-Jet are progressing nicely.

FMI: www.diamondaircraft.com, www.brsparachutes.com