Aerosoft Diamond DA-20 Katana X

By Graeme Herbert
31 May 2008

Introduction

The DA-20, produced by Diamond Aircraft in Canada, is a single-engine, two seat trainer powered by a Rotax 912 engine. The real aircraft is made in the heart of London Ontario, right next to London International Airport (CYXU). There are several uses for the DA-20 such as...

Military training for the United States Air Force
Air Cadet Trainer for the Royal Canadian Air Cadets
Trainer for flight schools such as Empire Aviation
Private and Commercial use

The DA-20 is one of the best trainers in the world. In fact I actually got my PPL on a DA-20 when I was in Air Cadets at 94 Squadron. Every experience I had with her was spectacular from taxiing to take-off.

Flight Characteristics

As most of you know the DA-20 is a very good handling aircraft and it's no exception for the DA-20 X from Aerosoft. Everything from the start-up to shut-down is perfect. When you start-up the DA-20 you will get an unexpected lurch forward; this happens because the light airframe for the aircraft is not heavy enough for the 125 hp rotax engine to keep still. When you taxi you will even notice the aircraft tends to turn to the left because of the torque of the engine, though not so much that a little trim won't fix.

During take-off you will use one notch of flaps to get that extra short roll-out run. You won't need to pull up too much because the aircraft has an amazing lift to weight ratio making short take-offs a breeze. When you are in the pattern or just flying around you will not need full power or even 75%, the ideal number is 63% but don't worry 75 will do just fine, but remember to use lots of trim. It's not a modern aircraft you will have to work at this but after two or three circuits you will get the hang of flying this bird.

During landing you will need to bring the throttle back a little more than in the real one because yes it has good flight dynamics. I think Aerosoft put a little too much lift on the aircraft because it took me a whole 12 mile final to slow the aircraft down to get the flaps in the right position for landing. The flaps seem to not provide enough extra lift when down. When you land if you land properly you will not have to flare much because the ground effect will push your nose up for you. Overall the flight dynamics are one of the best I have seen but can be improved by a service pack; good job though.

Cockpit 2D Panel/Virtual Cockpit

Love it. From the 3D gauges to the little country flags on the side it's one of the best GA cockpits I have seen. On the down side I don't like the fact that there is a Canadian flag or any other country flag but there is German on the panel and VC. Yes, Aerosoft is German but if you are going to put a Canadian flag on the panel you can at least put a Canadian magazine in the back baggage compartment (Canadian Aviator). I don't like the GPS in the VC at all, it's totally unrealistic and there is no way that you would need a GPS being that there are maps beside you in the next seat. Helpful yet bothersome, I think that is the reason I kept getting texture lag in the VC after a while. On the good side the VC is fully functional and easy to read if you need to zoom in.

Exterior Model

The DA-20 has a very distinctive shape and I think Aerosoft has done a spectacular job on this one. I have no bad comments about this one; everything is absolutely perfect right down to the wing tip lights. I love all of the paint schemes especially the Swiss one with all the red and yellow. I also like the feature of having the wheel pants option, it adds that eye candy feature that I like on smaller planes but does not impact the performance model.

Conclusion

Overall this is a spectacular model from Aerosoft and Digital Aviation. If you are in the market for a light plane like this then you should really consider this one. You don't need a high performance computer for this one, just make sure that FSX is running well. There are several upgrades that Aerosoft could do in the future but for now this is one on my favorite payware models.

Graeme Herbert
aviator.777@hotmail.com

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