Going the Extra Mile
With its sleek lines and efficient high-aspect ratio wing, the four-seat DA-40XLS cruises at 150knots TAS on the 180 HP of the IO-360. This equates to about 16mpg while eating up the distance at over three miles a minute. The composite construction results in a smooth airframe. Fuel capacity has been increased to 50 gallons in a pair of wing tanks. (Diamond Aircraft) DA-40XLS Flight Report
By David Brown
The long-winged Diamond DA-40 has been steadily entering the market in the four-seat fixed-gear general aviation aircraft, which has been long dominated by the Cessna 172. With sleek and sturdy composite construction, the DA-40 can show a clean pair of heels to the competition.
Diamond has not been resting on its laurels but has been continuously improving the DA-40. I was eager to fly the latest version, the DA-40XLS. I met up with the XLS on the ramp at Long Beach Airport in Southern California. The day did not seem promising for our mission with a thick overcast blanketing the area, but Robert Stewart, my demonstration pilot, was not dismayed. With a full avionics fit and integrated autopilot, the DA-40XLS was fully IFR capable, and the inclement weather would give us a chance to see the advantages of the system under instrument conditions.
A walk around of the sleek composite aircraft revealed a number of obvious differences from the previous generation of DA-40s I had flown. The most noticeable was the three-bladed scimitar-shaped MT propeller, driven by the familiar 180 HP IO-360, now coupled to a distinctive chromed Powerflow exhaust. Although the rated HP is still 180, the improved efficiency of the Powerflow exhaust gives better climb rate and cruise speed.
High aspect ratio always promises aerodynamic efficiency for the wings. Based on its Diamond sailplane heritage, the wings on the DA-40 also sport small winglets, which further improve the aerodynamics of the wing. On the safety side, the long and efficient composite wings have double spars, which also protect the aluminum fuel tanks. Tank capacity is increased to 50 gallons in the two-wing tanks.
The sleek fuselage provides adequate capacity for the four-person cabin.
Stewart pointed out that in the XLS, the whole cabin was now higher and wider with a larger cabin area. The canopy sides bulge out further to give more elbowroom.
This gives better headroom and more room for the occupants. I am over six feet tall, and I must admit that in flying the earlier Diamond DA 20 Katana and the DA-40, I had found the cockpit size rather constricting.
Entry to the DA 40XLS is exceptional. The canopy hinges open, with the front seaters stepping up the leading edge of the wing and then down into the cockpit. Entry to the rear seats is via a huge door on the left hand side of the fuselage. The sturdy fixed gear with its speed pants is low drag, while the castoring nosewheel provides the ability to maneuver easily on a crowded ramp. (Diamond Aircraft)One aspect of the DA-40 I had always liked, in addition to the entrance being on either side for the front seats, there is the huge gull-wing door on the left-hand side for the rear seat occupants. Having first-hand experience of the contortions required when climbing into the rear seats on other aircraft with only two doors or (horrors) only one door, good rear-seat access has always been high on my requirements list. There is extra baggage space behind the rear seats. If the mission calls for no rear occupants, the rear seats fold flat, and bulky or long items can be carried in this flying SUV. The characteristic T-tail of the DA-40 is unchanged.
It was time for us to board. We started by opening the canopy. The canopy incorporates the windshield and is hinged at the leading edge. I found it to be an exceptionally easy entrance to the left seat, using the step at the leading edge of the wing to climb up onto the walkway then step down into the cockpit. Meanwhile, Stewart mirrored my actions to slide into the right seat.
The cockpit is roomy and luxurious with leather seats and trim. The twin sticks are built into the seats, so it frees up the all-important view of the various panels and controls. The instrument panel is dominated by the two screens of the Garmin G-1000, although it is soon revealed that this is much more capable than the standard G-1000 capabilities that I have been flying in other aircraft. This system is fully integrated with the GFC-700 autopilot and is WAAS capable.
The twin 10-inch screens of the Garmin 1000 dominate the instrument panel. The center console contains engine controls and the fuel selector. The leather seats and trim seem transposed from a high-end luxury automobile, but the two control sticks are pure high-performance aircraft. (Diamond Aircraft)The cockpit is by any standards luxurious with leather upholstery and finished with plenty of polished wood… just think about BMW. I particularly like the electric adjustment of the rudder pedals. The seats do not adjust, but the pedals can be driven through an impressive range. Ergonomically, the cockpit is comfortable and just feels right. The short sticks are unobtrusive but effective with each stick containing the usual trim, radio, and autopilot disconnect buttons. Airbags are built into the seat harness for extra safety, and a hefty roll cage protects the occupants. The DA-40XLS is built for survival.
Once strapped in, it is a simple process to go through our pre-start checks; bring down and lock the canopy in its partially open position with the lever near my left elbow and then start the engine. The center console has the fuel selector together with the trio of engine control levers and the Throttle, Prop and Mixture. A trim wheel is inset into the console in addition to the electric pitch trim. I use the usual procedure for starting the IO-360, priming first, mixture back while I key the starter, and then forward on the mixture lever once the engine fires.
ATIS confirms the ceiling at 1,200 feet over the field with the maritime layer persisting as an overcast south of us to the coast and out to sea. Stewart calls up clearance delivery and requests an IFR departure to VFR on top. We are cleared for an IFR departure with a left turn to PADDR intersection and to report reaching VMC on top. The Bose noise-canceling headsets give us crystal-clear communications. Now switching to ground control, we are cleared to taxi to runway 25L via Taxiway Foxtrot to Delta intersection. I am grateful for the SAFETAXI display on the MFD, which depicts the designated taxiways and runways of this complex airport.
We taxi with the canopy cracked open for ventilation with the rear edge up a foot or so. This is standard DA-40 practice. On a normal California sunny day, it’s a very good way of keeping the temperature down to acceptable levels. The castoring nosewheel, with a touch of differential brake, makes it simple to maneuver from the ramp to the taxiway. At intersection Delta, I turn into the run-up area and complete the standard engine and control checks, including cycling the prop. With all in order in the engine department, I lean the mixture and set up our simple flight plan from KLGB out to PADDR on the Garmin 1000 and set up a target altitude of 3,000 feet on the G1000. On my PFD I tune in the LAX VOR frequency of 113.6 and the 145 radial from LAX. Then I input our squawk code.
Stewart points out a nice touch. This is the takeoff/go around button on the throttle, which biases the flight director bars seven degrees up to give the correct climb attitude, another example of Diamond going the extra mile.
I complete my pre-takeoff checks, which includes lowering takeoff flap.
We wait a few seconds for our IFR release while a JetBlue A 320 lands on the intersecting runway 30 and noisily crosses in front of us. We are cleared for an intersection departure on 25L
A touch of power moves us past the hold-short line onto the runway. I line up and push the throttle forward. Some right rudder is needed to keep straight. I rotate at 63 knots, follow the FD cue on my PFD for the seven-degree nose-up pitch, and accelerate to 80 knots for our initial climb. With flaps up and trimmed out, our climb rate settles at over a thousand feet per minute.
At 800 feet, I turn left to 200 degrees. Once on course, I engage the GFC 700 autopilot with Heading mode selected and 3,000 ft as our target altitude. By now, moisture is streaming back over the canopy. We plunge into the mist, and the ground below disappears. I monitor the PFD with the autopilot, maintaining our attitude as we climb through the cloud deck. The MFD map display confirms that we are tracking toward the coast. At two thousand feet, I get an audible warning that we have 1,000 feet to go to our target altitude. By 2,300 feet, the clouds thin. Then we are speeding through the tops of the maritime cloud layer and emerge on top into brilliant sunshine. A minute later, we cancel IFR and start checking for traffic, as we are heading into the busy Long Beach practice area. The Traffic Information System (TIS) uses radar returns from the radars, which blanket the LA Basin and we have three or four targets displayed in our map view on the MFD with one actually holding at PADDR in front of us. The traffic is also displayed on my PFD with the correct orientation, either below, above or at our level, giving a good cue where I need to look to spot the bogies.
I scan the sky to confirm the traffic and am struck once more with the amazing visibility from the cockpit with the extensive transparencies. At the same time, I am aware of the extra headroom and elbowroom in the revised cockpit. No banging my headset on the roof or side-window in the DA 40XLS!
The synthetic vision (SVT) also depicts, in addition to the aerial traffic, the rocky coastline of Catalina, hidden under the cloud deck in front of us. I select PATHWAY on my PFD soft key to display a line of rectangular boxes tracing our path out to sea to PADDR intersection. As we reach 3,000 feet, we intercept the line of rectangles; however, due to the density of traffic ahead, we curtail our leg outbound and reverse course back to the coast, climb to 4,000 feet, and I reacquaint myself with the DA 40’s handling in medium and steep turns. Then I slow for a stall series with and without power, which confirms the innocuous behavior I remember from earlier DA-40s. Behavior clean and with flap is fairly innocuous. Full aft stick results in the DA-40XLS just sitting there with the nose bobbling up and down. Stalling in the turn under power in other aircraft can sometimes be dramatic. This is not so in the DA-40XLS. In turning flight with the stick full aft and stall warning blaring, we are now into buffet, in turning flight and still under complete control. No problems.
Handling with the short stick is a pleasure. The ailerons and elevators use rods and the rudder uses cables. Control inputs and the resulting maneuvers are smooth and precise. By this time, we are heading north to the coastline on the mainland where the rapidly thinning cloud has broken to reveal the slate-gray Pacific now visible below us. Stewart points out the long horizon line and flight vector on the PFD, which help with SA during maneuvers. I embark upon a series of medium and steep turns from cruising speed. The G1000 certainly helps in maintaining the correct attitude. I realize that I’m really having fun flying this aircraft as I reverse from a right to a left bank, keeping altitude locked on 3,000 feet.
Then, as I am pulling into a steep left turn, Stewart looks across the cockpit past me and says, ”Let me have it for a minute; you might want to look down there.”
I relinquish the stick and turn my head to the left, looking down to the surface of the Pacific. Down below the left wingtip as we turn is the streamlined shape of a blue whale, eastbound at three knots. On cue, the whale spouts, and a cloud of vapor drifts back over the whale. It’s a majestic and impressive sight. I muse that maybe the FAA should consider testing for “turns around a whale ” rather than the more prosaic turns around a point for us California-based pilots…before I return to my pursuit of perfection in the steep turn.
It’s time for the speed run to see how fast we can go. I set up 75 percent power, and we accelerate to 150 knots without fuss. It’s an impressive number for any fixed gear four-seater. Then I look at the latest capabilities of the avionics. We have an impressive list of capabilities with satellite data link, WAAS, TAWS-B for terrain avoidance, and the TIS traffic capability.
To try out the system, I push the NRST soft key on the PFD, which identifies the nearest airport as Torrance Zamperini Field (KTOA). While the radios automatically switch to TOA frequency, the synthetic vision on the PFD displays the rugged coastline, marks and identifies the airfield as TOA on the perspective view on the PFD, and more importantly, shows that there is a hill (Palos Verdes Hill at 1,500 feet) in between us and the airport (we have TERRAIN selected on the MFD and PFD for extra insurance).
As I head toward the hill, now clearly visible out of the canopy, we near the coast and the terrain on the PFD. The MFD goes yellow as our vertical clearance decreases. I angle in toward the hill only to see the display turn red, and I get an audible TERRAIN, PULLUP audio warning as we close with the rising ground. This is enough to convince me that the system works, and I pull round out to sea again. We head eastbound over the Pacific, for a look at the approach capability of the system.
Rather than the usual ILS approach into Long Beach, we choose to sample the WAAS capability of the system and select the RNAV (GPS) Zulu approach for Runway 30. Stewart brings up the Approach chart on the MFD so that I can review the approach and set the minimums on my PFD. SOCAL clears us for the RNAV (GPS) for Runway 30 at Long Beach, and we are vectored over waypoint DRIFY, heading 120 degrees and down to 2,400 feet while we input the procedure for the approach. We will do this all on autopilot. I input the 290 feet minimums for the LPV mode of this WAAS approach. The system will effectively generate localizer and glide slope inputs, which replicate the usual ILS signals. We head for the Initial Approach Fix at ALBAS. With APPROACH mode selected, the autopilot turns us at ALBAS, heading north east, in over the coast near Huntington Beach, finally turning us at OYSUP to the final approach course of 301 degrees M, with LPV mode presented on the HSI.
Once established on the localizer, we switch from SOCAL to the Tower on 119.4, and I set up speed at 80 knots and approach flap configuration. The glide slope becomes active and automatically directs us into a descent. I reduce power. We are at 1,600 feet at the FAF of GUNEY, and we come down to the DA of 290 feet (and we get an audible warning-female voice “minimum altitude”) while I monitor the approach. Synthetic vision gives a perspective view of the runway and even identifies the runway, in this case RW 30. At minimum, I disconnect the autopilot and land. It’s all commendably simple and accurate. After landing, SAFETAXI is useful again. I am grateful for the depicted plan view of the field on the MFD as we are directed by ground control through a maze of taxiways. We hold momentarily for traffic before we can cross 25L again. Then we are finally cleared back to the ramp to shut down.
I’m impressed. Diamond has coupled good performance with a safe, rugged aircraft with avionics that are comparable to that found on a bizjet. And it’s undeniably fun to fly.
Specifications of the Diamond DA-40XLS:
Engine Lycoming IO-360-M1A
With Power flow Tuned Exhaust 180HP at SL
Propeller 3 blade constant speed composite MT
Fuel 50 gallons
Seats 4
Weights
Max takeoff weight 2645 lbs
Useful load 860 lbs
Baggage 100lbs
Dimensions
Span 39 ft 6 inches
Length 26 ft 5 inches
Height 6 ft 6 inches
Cabin width 45.5 inches
Performance
Cruise speed at 75% power:150 knots at 10 gph
Range at 75% power (45 minutes reserves) 720 nm
Max speed (KTAS) 157 knots
Best rate of climb at SL 1120 fpm
Service ceiling 16,400 feet
Takeoff ground roll 1175 feet
Landing ground roll 1155 feet
Landing over 50 ft obstacle 2093 feet
