By now, Diamond Aircraft is best known for its sporty little composite trainer, the Katana. Although it might not have taken the world by storm since its introduction eight years ago—yes, it’s been that long—you see plenty of Katanas on ramps here and there.

Yet to tour the Diamond plant in London, Ontario, you could almost conclude that the Katana is an airplane of the past. Indeed, it’s no longer coming off the assembly line, with the current iteration of two-seaters called the Eclipse and the Evolution. (We suspect, however, that any two-seater Diamond makes will always be viewed by ramp dwellers as Katanas.) …