The Diamond Had a Major Oil Leak
February 1st, 2012: The turbo charger has
been installed, but the engine is still running very
roughly. Diamond may be coming out this week to
actually on the airplane with us. We are still very
hopeful this can be fixed relatively quickly.
January 30th, 2012: The Turbo-Charger part
has not yet arrived, but we are hoping for today or
tomorrow. I (Bill) plan on driving up with Mike (our
chief mechanic) to replace the unit on Wednesday. If
all goes OK, I (Bill) will be flying the airplane back to
Livermore for the 100 hour to be completed.
Keep your fingers crossed!!!!
January 26th, 2012: Last week, one of our
instructors had to emergency land the aircraft at the
Marysville airport because of a loss of pressure.
After landing it was found that just about all of the oil
from the right engine had been purged from the engine.
Ahart maintenance has been out to the aircraft now twice and
all engine systems seem OK to go, except for the
turbo-charger. After a repair to an oil hose, the
engine started up just fine, but the turbo charger was found
to be leaking oil. A new turbo charger has been
ordered and hopefully we will get it either Friday or Monday
morning. Once we receive it, we will be replacing the
turbo charger and running it up. Upon completion we
will expedite the 100 hour inspection and have the airplane
up and ready to fly by the end of next week. That is
our current schedule, assuming no further problems occur.
Why is this happening with this aircraft? The
DA42/NG is a brand new, high technology aircraft. So
to sum it up, we are test subjects on this new aircraft and
we are working the bugs out of the system for Diamond.
With this current issue, we found a hose that should have
been much sturdier than the one installed, and Diamond is
going to fix this design issue. So, we're helping to
make this a better, safer aircraft.
Thanks to all of our customers for their patience with
this new aircraft - we're working hard to keep it up and
running.
The Diamond Twin is Back On-Line!!
October 15th, 2011: The Diamond DA42/NG is
all flight tested, washed and ready to go! The Ahart
maintenance staff had the ENTIRE airplane apart and put it
back together after performing the Diamond/FAA required
1,000 inspection/service. It took us over 300 man
hours, as required by the manufacturer to check out this
high-tech, new aircraft. It can now be scheduled and
flown again, so have fun and Safe Flying!
So, what is going on with the Diamond DA/42-NG?
October 5th, 2011: The Diamond DA42/NG,
previously known as the Diamond TwinStar was upgraded to an
NG earlier this year. But, the airplane already had
about 650 hours of time on it, and Diamond requires a 1,000
hour check for all Diamond Twin aircraft.
Unfortunately, the owner of 342T decided NOT to do the
1,000 check while it was at the factory getting its engine's
replaced, so now that the airplane is at 1,000 hours, we
must do it, at Ahart.
So, what is taking so long? Diamond Aircraft
company, in it's maintenance documents, said that the
airplane's 1,000 hour check would take about 70 hours of
mechanic's time to complete the check. I assigned two
of my most senior mechanics to the airplane to complete it
in one week's time. But, during evaluation of what had
to be done, Ahart's chief mechanic found that there was no
way that we would be able to do this in 70 hours.
After talking with Diamond, it was found that the 1,000
check in all actuality, should really be estimated at 250 -
300 man hours to complete!
Ahart is REALLY sorry for any inconvenience this has
caused our customers, but we don't want this airplane
sitting in the maintenance hangar any more than you do.
Ahart has just recently hired another mechanic to maintain
our other airplanes while three of our mechanics work on the
Diamond. We are doing EVERYTHING we can to get this
airplane completed as quickly as possible.
Again, we are very sorry about this, but Diamond's
inability to estimate correctly has put us in this
situation. We are working as hard and as quickly as we
can.
The Diamond Twin is Busy!
July 18th, 2011: Because of the popularity
of the Twin Diamond, Ahart (and the owner of the aircraft)
would like to keep the aircraft as a 'learning' aircraft.
So, the double-booking and 3-hour maximums are in effect for
the Twin, unless previously agreed to by the customer and
Ahart management. Sorry for this inconvenience, but we
need to make the airplane available to everyone who would
like to fly it.
Ground School
Starting!
June 4th, 2011: Ahart will be holding a
DA42/NG ground school on Saturday, June 4th for any customer
who will be flying the Diamond DA42/NG.
The course will be from 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM and will cost
$250.00. Paying customers will receive:
- Ahart Customized DA42/NG checklist
- Course binder with presentation
- G1000 Status Card
- Cockpit 'flow' Card
- DA42/NG Check-out Written Test
- CD/DVD with the following items
included:
- DA42/NG Owner's Manual
(Adobe Acrobat Format)
- DA42/NG Maintenance
Manual (Adobe Acrobat
Format)
- G1000 Owner's Manual
(Adobe Acrobat Format)
- G1000 simulator
Note that this course is mandatory for you to be approved
to fly the Diamond DA42/NG. If you have already taken
this course, please bring a copy of your receipt and you
will not be required to pay again.
To sign up, go to
http://www.ahart.com, log into Schedule-Pointe and
sign-up, or, call the front desk at 925-449-2142 and have
one of our dispatchers get you all setup.
Aircraft Status
As of May 21st, 2011: The airplane is
running great! Water was found in the left fuel tank
causing the left engine to run roughly, so we disassembled
the fuel tanks, drained them, and let 'em dry out. As
of this weekend, the airplane is running great!
As of March 11th, 2011: The owner of the
DA42/NG has arrived back at Ahart Aviation in Livermore and
brought his airplane with him! The DA42/NG is just
about ready for flying, but there are a few things that
still need to be done.
- Updates to the Ground School is needed
to include new features and changes to the
DA42/NG
- Education and Re-Education of some of
Ahart's MEI (Multi-Engine-Instructor) staff
- The new ground school may begin the
weekend of the 19th of March - Yes, that
soon! All customers who want to fly
the DA42/NG will need to take this ground
school. The cost will be $250.00 and
will give you an overview of all of the
DA42/NG systems and avionics. We will
not talk about what has changed, instead it
will be a full ground school as if no one
has ever taken it again. Customers who
already took this ground school in the past
will not be required to pay again - but -
they must attend to be 'checked out' to fly
the airplane.
- Hopefully, the airplane will be on-line
for student and customer rental sometime
during the week of the 21st of March, 2011.
- The price of the DA42/NG will be higher
than it was in 2007 because of the new, more
powerful engines and the increased price of
fuel. The owner, and Ahart, are
negotiating what that price will be, but
current discussions are circling around $240
- $250 per hour, wet. Flight
instructor time in the airplane is still the
normal rate of $45 per hour.
As of January 2nd, 2011: Diamond has slipped
dates, but the TwinStar (newly named DA-42/NG) will be ready
for pick up by the owner on January 17th, 2011. So,
that means we have to work hard to get the ground school all
setup with the changes necessary because of the new diesel
engines and landing gear! Stay tuned for information
on the DA-42/NG coming back on line!
As of October 20th, 2010: Well, the TwinStar
is in Canada, getting new engines and some additional
features/functions. The airplane will no longer be
called a TwinStar, instead, it will be called a DA-42/NG
(next generation). Since the previous engine
manufacturer had some copyright 'rights' to the name
TwinStar, Diamond decided to drop the name completely.
The airplane is due to be back
in early to mid-November (2010). Because of all of the
changes to the engines, there will be additional education
required by both MEI's and customers. News of that
education will be forthcoming. If you already took the
previous DA-42 ground school from Ahart, you will not be
required to pay the same fee for the new ground school.
Stay tuned for more details as
they become available!
As of June 3rd, 2008, The Twinstar is back in our
parking area at Ahart, but don't get too excited, it's being
tested for a flight to to the Diamond Factory for new
engines. We are hoping that the airplane will be back
on line in September. We are currently working with
the owner to get them current in the aircraft for his flight
to Canada
As of June 3rd, 2008, The Twinstar will be taken
off of the Ahart Flight Line and placed in the owner's
personal hanger. Ahart will be completing repairs on
the Seminole (N98749) to replace the Twinstar to better
service our customers.
As of May 23rd, 2008, The engine manufacturer,
Thielert has declared bankruptcy because of executive fraud
and will not be providing service to its customers any
longer. There is a diesel engine company in Austria
who makes replacement engines for the TwinStar, but they
need to get FAA approval. We are estimating a
September time frame - more to come.
As of May 7th, 2008, a new engine is being shipped
to Ahart, but we have no idea what the date of its arrival
will be. After arriving, it may take Ahart maintenance
staff up to 2 weeks to install.
We will update this web site as new status comes in.
MEI Training Status
| MEI in
Training |
Current? |
| Bill Komanetsky |
Yes |
| Tim Machugh |
Yes |
|
Mike Howard |
Yes |
|
Ryan Baughman |
Yes |
|
Greg West |
Yes |
| Keith Breton |
No |
| Rob Davids - Examiner |
No
|
- Ahart Check-out Test now ready for download.
Click
here to get it.
- Customers will be able to sign up with trained
instructors the week of April 9th, 2007 for their
check-outs (remember, ground school is required first)- limited availability of instructors that
first week.
Requirements to fly the TwinStar
- Current holder of a Multi-engine pilot's or MEI
license
- Meet the minimum training requirements as defined by
Ahart Aviation Services
- Completion of scheduled 8-hour ground school
w/required materials (all available from Ahart
Aviation Services):
- DA-42 AFM
- Max Trescott's G-1000 Glass Cockpit Handbook
- DA-42 Checklist
- Minimum of 5 hours flight time with a TwinStar
certified Ahart Multi-Engine Flight Instructor
- Completion of
Aircraft Check-out test to 100%
- Chief Pilot approval
Documentation
Impatient? You can view/download/print the AFM
(Aircraft Flight Manual) direct from DiamondStar's web site.
If you like, you can purchase a printed copy of the AFM from Ahart Aviation Services after March 29th, 2007 for about
$30.00 (our printing/binding fees).
Topics
We will be placing articles and additional information
about the DA-42 into this list of topics as we come across
them. Enjoy.
Note:
All dates and times indicated on this web page are
preliminary and may change at any time and without notice.
Ahart Aviation Services does not guarantee the accuracy of
any information on this web page as factors out of our
control can change any and all of the information indicated
on this page.
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