Diamond Aircraft says demand from flight schools, flying clubs, and a new generation of GA pilots in general is behind the revival of the aircraft that started it all for the company. Diamond announced Thursday that it will resume production of the DA20 Katana in Europe after a 10-year hiatus. They never stopped making the tiny trainer in Canada for the North American market. The new European model isn’t your daddy’s Katana, however. The DA20i Katana sports a new fuel-injected Rotax iSc3 Sport engine up front and a Garmin G500 TXi glass panel. The North American version will continue to be built with the Continental IO-240-B engine.
The new Rotax in the revived European model replaces the carbureted version of the 912 that was offered in the previous European models. The new Rotax is said to offer lower emissions and better fuel economy than the old engine. As for the panel, the Garmin suite features high-resolution touch screens that include synthetic vision. The sturdy, light, and low-drag composite structure remains the same. “This aircraft has always held a special place in the hearts of pilots and instructors,” Jane Wang, Diamond’s head of sales for Europe, said in a news release. “With its new upgrades, it’s ready to inspire the next generation of aviators.”
I bet the price will be North of 500K Euros. That’s just too expensive for an entry airplane. They already list at 420K with the Continental Engine from Canada. And now Canada is shut down exports to the US.
Poor Canada and the US that they can’t have the Rotax. Is there any other North American manufacturer currently using the Continental IO-240? Not that it matters much. At half the price, Textron’s Pipistrel Alpha Trainer is a much better deal than Diamond’s Katana.
Rotax makes certificated engines, too, and I’d much rather have one of them than an old tech Continental. I used to have a Rotax 914 (twin carbs , turbocharged, and certificated) in a Stemme motor glider and I now have a 915iS (turbocharged and fuel injected) in a home built gyro plane (non certificated). Oh, and a Continental O-470U in a Cessna 180K. The Europeans are putting out some terrific sport planes with Rotax engines.