Diamond D-Jet
| Diamond D-Jet | |
|---|---|
|
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| Type: | Business jet |
| Design country: | |
| Manufacturer: |
Diamond Aircraft |
| First flight: |
April 18, 2006 |
| Number of pieces: |
3 |
The Diamond D-Jet is a 5-seat mini -jet manufactured by the Austrian aircraft manufacturer Diamond Aircraft .
General
The business jet, made of composite materials and powered by only one engine, had its maiden flight on April 18, 2006 at London International Airport in the Canadian province of Ontario , the headquarters of Diamond Aircraft Industries Inc. , and was piloted by Gérard Guillaumaud .
The first flight of the second prototype followed on September 14, 2007, the third prototype had its first flight on October 9, 2008, whereby this was the first machine to have the more powerful FJ-33-5A engine now planned for the series instead of the FJ-33-15 . With a target sales price of just under 1.9 million US dollars (as of 2009), the aircraft should be by far the cheapest available jet. In the meantime, the Eclipse 400 has undercut it by around $ 500,000 in terms of retail price . The manufacturer of the Eclipse is in liquidation proceedings in 2011 . The D-Jet is equipped with a Garmin G1000 glass cockpit and a FADEC engine control. Certification by the aviation authorities was expected in 2012.
Interruption of the program in 2011
In March 2011, 213 employees were laid off at the plant in Canada and the project was temporarily suspended due to a lack of funds. In June 2011, Diamond Aircraft announced in a press release that it had found a new investor, not named, and that it wanted to continue with the test series. For this purpose, part of the workforce was reinstated and the test flights resumed on August 31, 2011 with a one-hour flight of the prototype with the serial number 003.
Technical specifications
- Crew: one pilot + four passengers
- Length: 10.7 m
- Span: 11.5 m
- Height: 3.6 m
- Takeoff weight: 2,318 kg
- Payload: 1,016 kg
- Powerplant: 1 × Williams FJ33-5A
- Top speed: 583 km / h
- Cruising speed: 444 km / h
- Range: 1,350 NM (2,500 km)
- Cruising altitude: 25,000 ft (7,620 m)
- Climb rate: 7,620 m in 15 minutes
- Acquisition cost (as of March 2009): 1.89 million US dollars (1.31 million euros )
Similar types of aircraft
Individual evidence
- ↑ FliegerRevue November 2008, p. 8, D-Jet with a new Williams engine
- ↑ flightglobal: D-Jet certification not likely until 2012 from August 9, 2010
- ↑ cbc.ca: Diamond Aircraft lays off 213 employees , from March 28, 2011
- ↑ diamondaircraft.com: Diamond D-JET Program Ramps Up ( Memento of the original from September 2, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. dated June 14, 2011
- ↑ flightglobal: D-Jet takes to skies as Diamond awakens program from September 2nd, 2011
