Announcement Made At Lakeland 2007

Diamond Aircraft launched its Diamond Flight Center (DFC) program at the Sun N Fun fly-in at Lakeland, FL this week.

"We have heard for some time that flight schools wanted a fresh alternative to the status quo," said Diamond Aircraft Industries President Peter Maurer. "There were several key elements we wanted to have in place before launching the program, and we are delighted that today is the day that we can confidently say we have a very comprehensive and competitive program. As good as the DFC program is today, we see it as the foundation on which we are building the industry's leading flight training and airplane rental network."

Maurer tells ANN the Diamond Flight Center program includes all the elements of current pilot centers, plus some additional enhancements and highlights -- such as a non-restrictive policy that permits DFCs to operate competitive brand airplanes.

Additional features of DFC includes a partnership with Jeppesen to develop on-line Diamond-specific flight training materials that will replace the current paper, DVD and CD-based syllabus. DFCs will also feature Diamond's full aircraft line, from the two-place DA20, through the glass cockpit DA40 series, the DA42 Twin Star, the D-JET. The recently announced DA50 high-performance single will also be featured in the program, as well as modern and sophisticated Diamond-specific simulators (FTDs).

"Through the DFC program, student and rental pilots have access to the most modern equipment and training tools, while flight school operators have a new opportunity to modernize their operation and grow their business," Maurer said. "The response to initial advertisements has well exceeded our expectations.

"We are presently distributing program details to over 140 applicants. We expect the program to be a huge success and anticipate establishing over 200 DFCs in the USA over the next  four to five years."

Potential applicants can receive their program packages by filling out the on-line request for information form at the FMI link below.

FMI: www.diamondflightcenter.com