On Hand For 'Jet Day' On Thursday

Diamond will be flying D-JET prototype 003 to Oshkosh on Thursday July 26th for the “Jet-Day” static display at Phillips 66 Plaza. “The D-JET program has continued to make steady progress through the industry wide turbulence of the past several years,” said Peter Maurer, President and CEO of Diamond's Canadian operations. “We are nearing 700 hrs of D-JET development flight test time and are very pleased with the results.

The company says its recent flights have focused on verifying compliance with the FAR 23 Flight requirements, specifically handling, stability and control throughout the weight and balance envelope, tests of stall speeds and stall characteristics at various weight and balance points and with different system configurations, basic system testing, expansion of the speed envelope to Mmo of 0.56 (= 346 ktas), and much detail development work, such as fine tuning the control forces and determination of the stick pusher activation point.

"At this point the aerodynamic configuration is frozen and visitors to Oshkosh will see one specific detail change that not only has a positive effect on the stall speed and roll control, but also the overall aesthetics,” Maurer said.

“Our work in the air is only part of the story. In parallel to continued flight tests we have successfully completed significant ground tests, including limit load pressure tests and over 30,000 maximum cabin pressure cycles on a full scale test article fuselage, testing of the engine bleed air and cabin pressurization system, structural testing, landing gear tests and composite material qualification testing," Maurer continued. "We are now focusing on the production of tooling for S/N 004 and subsequent. Once 004 is flying, it will take approximately another year to achieve Type Certification with initial deliveries scheduled in the fall of 2014. We look forward to the day that we start deliveries of the D-JET and are most grateful for the patience and loyalty demonstrated by our customers, our business partners, and our employees.”

Diamond's piston airplane models, including the new jet-fuel Austro Engine powered DA42, are on display at the Diamond display.

FMI: www.diamondaircraft.com