DIAMOND DA20-A1 KATANA question

[Steve]

I remember reading in the Katana operating handbook that the " aircraft to be flown solo from left seat only". Is that a limitation? Anyone know why this is? It is under that flight crew section, and there is no mention in the W & B section so I assume its not a center of gravity issue? Anyone ever flown the Katana solo from the right seat ?

 

[JohnE]

I remember reading in the Katana operating handbook that the " aircraft to be flown solo from left seat only". Is that a limitation? Anyone know why this is? It is under that flight crew section, and there is no mention in the W & B section so I assume its not a center of gravity issue? Anyone ever flown the Katana solo from the right seat ?

Yeah, its in the book alright. It also lists the minimum crew as 1 person. So maybe its just a translation thing. I haven't tried flying it from the right seat yet, but there should be no weight & balance problem.

 

[spudskier]

I'm sorry, I know Diamond makes other quality aircraft, but to me, the Katana is useless. I wouldn't even call it as having a "usefull load" I'm an average size male of 190 lbs, and I can't even fit a whole other person in there with me

 

[JohnE]

I'm sorry, I know Diamond makes other quality aircraft, but to me, the Katana is useless. I wouldn't even call it as having a "usefull load" I'm an average size male of 190 lbs, and I can't even fit a whole other person in there with me

You can fit 2 200 lb'ers in there with 3/4 of a tank of fuel, which is 3 hours of VFR night time. Depends on equipment installed and the year the Katana was built. Early DA20's were heavier than the later ones (they switched to aluminum landing gear struts which saved around 40lbs).

Cruise speed is 117kts with a fuel burn of 4 GPH, which is 33 MPG!! Visibility is excellent and the aircraft is very responsive and fun to fly. Only real downside to the entire DA20 (A1 and C1) line is that the aircraft is not certified for IFR flight. Other than that, much more fun to fly than most of the Cessna's.

 

[Kenny]

I think the requirement for the AC to be flown from the left seat only, comes from the fact that the nosewheel strut is offset to one side!

 

[FN FAL]

I think the requirement for the AC to be flown from the left seat only, comes from the fact that the nosewheel strut is offset to one side!

Try seeing the fuel lever from the right seat.

 

[Steve]

Thanks for the info guys.

 

[Jafar]

I don't see that in my DA20-C1 POH. Under 2.12 FLIGHT CREW it says, "Minimum Flight Crew: one pilot," nothing about the right seat. I've flown the a1's, but I don't know why that would be in the book. The only real difference in the pit is a prop control instead of a mixture control. (A1's are auto mixture, variable pitch, C1's are manual mixture fixed pitch.) Now that I think of it some instruments are arranged differently between the two as well.

FN- what do you mean by "fuel lever"? Are you referring to the fuel cut-off? That's on the right side. (Well, sort of. If you were in the right seat it is just off your left knee. I guess it might be challenging to reach the fuel prime from the right seat.

I've never flown either model from the right seat, so I don't know. But I could find nothing in the C1 book about that requirement.

 

[blesko]

the fuel SOV is on the left side.

 

[Jafar]

Yeah, this appears to apply only to the A1. I downloaded the A1 manual from here. The fuel shutoff valve is on the left in the A1, but isn't it just to the left of the throttle? Kind of set back if I remember correctly. However on the C1 it's to the right side of the throttle and mixture. Being as it is that this statement is not present in the C1 manual perhaps it is because of the placement of the fuel SOV?

 

[NW_Pilot]

Yea I like the limitation of something like 100.4 degrees F Take Off Temp, Hope the owner don’t live in a warm part of the country where its 101 degrees by 8am or want to fly it during the summer afternoons most places.

 

[LarryinTN]

Yea I like the limitation of something like 100.4 degrees F Take Off Temp

That's not the limitation, at least not on the DA20-C1. The limitation is that when the temperature is over 100° you have to check the spar temperature indicator prior to flight. When the temp is under 100° you can skip that check.

I have no idea how hot the ambient temperature would typically have to be in order for the spar temp indicator to indicate that the spar is too hot to fly (>55°C/131°F). One would expect that the <100° excemption from the check would be rather conservative.

Anyone have any experience with it in >100° temps?