Climb into your WABAC machine and set the dials for the mid-1990s. Once the whirring sounds and flashing lights stop, get out and glance around at what was then your local airport. Very different from today, huh? A lot of all-metal airplane designs, which hadnt changed much in 40 or so years, right?
If youre lucky-or if you mis-set the machines controls for a couple of years later-you might see a curiosity: A T-tailed, all-composite, canopied two-seater
with sailplane-like wings pulling duty as a trainer. Thats Diamond Aircrafts DA20-A1 Katana, a sleek little machine with unmistakable European roots.
The early, 81-HP Rotax-powered A1 Katanas at takeoff sounded like a sport motorcycle with a stuck throttle. Transitioning students steeped in Cessnas carried way too much speed into the flare. Good times.
Since then, the DA20-in its C1 version-has evolved into what some might consider a more serious contender, thanks in part to a Continental IO-240B sporting 125 HP.
Today, the DA20 soldiers on, training the next crop of pilots in fleet situations and in the traditional FBO/flight school environment. Gone is the Rotax, which on hot days made climbing to altitude a time-building experience, although you can still find A1 versions powered by it.
On the used market, its years of service and by-now well-known maintenance and pilot requirements make it a worthy contender among the two-seat, tricycle-gear competition for a personal airplane.
A New Trainer
Stepping out of your WABAC machine back in the present day, its a good time to reflect on North Americas general aviation market in the mid-1990s. The general economy was strong and GA was showing signs of a modest recovery in the wake of disastrous sales figures posted in the late 1980s. The watershed General Aviation Revitalization Act and its 18-year statute of repose on product liability lawsuits became the law of the land in 1994, but Cessna wouldnt re-enter the piston-single market until 1997. Simply put, there were few new trainers on the market.
The company that eventually became Diamond Aircraft had been building composite aircraft for quite some time before the DA20. Austrias Hoffman Flugzeughbau was formed in 1981 and began producing the H36 Dimona motorglider, which has evolved into the HK36 and HK36R Super Dimona, better known in North America as the Katana Extreme motorglider. Diamond says its now the best selling motorglider in Europe.
With that motorglider as a base, the companys management bought the fledgling airframer and renamed it HOAC-Austria Flugzeugwerk in 1989. Two years later, HOAC was acquired by Diamonds current owners, a family well-established in the automotive business in Europe. The new owners soon began developing the Katana DV20 by shortening the HK36s wings, adding flaps and tricycle landing gear. This design evolved into the DA20 Katana.
The company set up shop in 1992 in London, Ontario, as Diamond Aircraft Industries. The intent was to develop a North American version of the Katana. The next year, DV20 production went into full swing in Austria. In late 1994 and based on its European paperwork, Diamond received full FAA certification of the DA20-A1, and U.S. deliveries began.
Basic Design, Safety
Even with its slightly bulbous nose, one way to describe the first Katana is “Eurosleek.” Diamond has improved and tweaked the basic DA20 over the years, but it seems the Katana was mostly right the first time.
The “plastic” design includes a pair of fuselage halves joined longitudinally down the airframes center. The wings are similar in construction, with upper and lower halves joined in a lay-up and vacuum-bagging process. These methods yield accurate, consistent airframe parts. After assembly, the parts are hot-cured in ovens.
The wing spar carries through the fuselage in a box structure designed to accommodate the spring-steel landing gear. Both seats are essentially attached to this structure, which has proven itself over 14 years in the rough-and-tumble world of flight training.
Although the DA20 has suffered its share of accidents and incidents, only two have been fatal, according to the NTSB. As sister publication Aviation Safety said in an August 2006 look at trainer safety, “Diamond has set the standard.” It is a very strong, well-built aircraft, in our view.