The first flight of Diamond Aircraft‘s DART-750 aerobatic trainer took place June 12, 2023, at the company’s headquarters in Wiener Neustadt in Austria.
Piloted by Diamond’s Head of Flight Test Sören Pedersen and Senior Test Pilot Niko Daroussis, the maiden flight lasted 30 minutes and covered all basic maneuvers, including performance and handling checks.
“The aircraft and all tested parameters did meet or exceed all expectations,” company officials said in a press release.
The DART-750 will be a certified all composite aerobatic turboprop trainer in tandem seat configuration, equipped with state-of-the-art Garmin G3000 avionics and the 750 shp PT6A-25C turboprop engine from Pratt & Whitney Canada.
The aircraft is expected to be certified by EASA in 2024, with FAA certification soon after.
Looks like a fun one to fly. Too bad that Diamond is owned by the Communist Chinese. The Austrians are helping a repressive regime that persecutes anyone with a different opinion, still does not allow memorials to the 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre.
True enough. But we have to throw Cirrus in the same bin. And Continental. Oh, and Epic isn’t exactly shining with its Russian connection. But, then again, this country is starting to get pretty questionable in the “repressive” department, what with the ruling political party, cooperative media, and compliant social media companies working together to dictate what is and isn’t “disinformation” or “repressive” or “exclusionary”. Basically, it’s hard to know which is the best bad option these days, IMHO. Thankfully, though, the only stuff I would really consider buying that is also potentially affordable is too old to have been made anywhere but here. So, I guess I’m good!?