Diamona DA-20 Katana Review (not for the tall!)

Hi,
It was the DA-20 Katana with the (approx) 80hp engine. Starting
'er up was easy, and while not as enthusiastic as a 160hp c172, I was
quite satisfied with climb starting at sea level...

cheers,
Noah

(Malcolm Teas) wrote in message . com...
(noah) wrote in message . com...
Hi,
So I didn't find many reviews of the Katana prior to my 'checkout'
flight 'attempt' in one. This afternoon I took a 1.2 hr checkout
flight with a CFI from Diamond Air (www.ksql.com) at San Carlos
airport (KSQL).

Summing up my opinion: If you're over 5'8", or have a long torso,
forget about the Katana. I'm 5'11" and it wasn't too good.

Thanks for the review. One question though, was this a Katana? Or
the newer Eclipse/Evolution model? The latter two are close to
identical I think, but there was a reasonable amount of change from
Katana to E* models I hear.

-Malcolm

All of the DA20s at SQL are the Rotax-powered ones. The C1/etc.
Continental models have a redesigned instrument panel which provides a
*little* bit more kneeroom, which was my biggest problem (I'm 6"4").
However, I haven't actually flown the aircraft, I just sat in one of
each type and closed the bubble.

It's the same deal with the Euro- and Canado- DA40s. The Canadian ones
have more room.

Dave Blevins

On 16 Oct 2003 17:53:30 -0700, (noah) wrote:

Hi,
So I didn't find many reviews of the Katana prior to my 'checkout'
flight 'attempt' in one. This afternoon I took a 1.2 hr checkout
flight with a CFI from Diamond Air (www.ksql.com) at San Carlos
airport (KSQL).

Summing up my opinion: If you're over 5'8", or have a long torso,
forget about the Katana. I'm 5'11" and it wasn't too good.