Diamond Aircraft has delivered the first DA62 into the Australian market, following the handover of a single unit on 18 July to local distributor Hawker Pacific.
The six-seat piston-twin made a 60h, 10,000nm (18,500km) ferry flight from Diamond’s headquarters in Wiener Neustadt to Hawker Pacific’s base at Bankstown airport, near Sydney.
The business aviation services provider will embark on a five-week demonstration tour of Australia and New Zealand in mid-August to highlight the capabilities of the Austro AE330-powered type.
Demonstrating the DA62s suitability for the Australian market, Diamond test pilot Thomas Wimmer says he flew the 1,800nm coast-to coast journey from Perth to Sydney in a single day. “With a 40-50kt tailwind, the DA62 consumed only 117USgal of fuel,” he says.
The diesel-fuelled DA62 entered service in late 2015 as Diamond’s top-end product. By the middle of April, the company had delivered 11 units, and it says production is sold out for the rest of this year.
Source: Flight International
