Bought a Diamond DA20 and flew it from AZ to NC... (v. Lots of pics)

Maciej

Maciej

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Display name:
Maciej
I ended up purchasing an '07 DA20C1 to build some time over the next two years and decided to pick it up myself in Arizona and fly it to North Carolina where I'll be having a G500 setup installed, along with three other Diamond DA20s that were being ferried to North Carolina. The day prior to our departure I met up with one of the pilots that was leading the trip and we did a quick aerial photoshoot of my DA20 as I opted to have some custom Martini style stripes put on the plane. I highly encourage anyone who has the time to do a cross country trip at least once in their life, it was definitely a sight to see observing the country at just 11,500' the entire time. Anyway, the pictures are much better at describing the entire trip than I ever could. Enjoy!

And a huge thank you to John Armstrong and the crew at Lifestyle Aviation for making this happen! :D

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DA20s are fun. I learned to fly in the Eclipse version.
 
Looks like you made a good time of it,good luck with the plane.
 
Very nice plane. Looks like great weather on the trip.
Congrats.
 
Great trip, and I'm digging that Martini Racing livery on the stripes! :)
 
Nice, the DA-20 is definitely a hell of an airplane, a great trainer IMO. Wish you could make them IFR capable.
 
Nice pics! I need some good ones of my new airplane. Jealous.

How long did the trip take you?
 
Sweet! Got my PPL in one and still love them (you might understand my avatar to the left),

Gettin ready to take nearly the same trip in the back of a RJ... Would rather make the trip in the much smaller da20...
 
nice plane and pics! now it's time to update those sneakers to match the paint scheme! :)
 
Wow that is a great looking plane! congradulations!!
 
frfly172 said:
Looks like you made a good time of it,good luck with the plane.
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Seanaldinho said:
Great looking plane, great photos, and a great trip.

Jealous, I am.
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ChemGuy said:
Very nice plane. Looks like great weather on the trip.
Congrats.
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ettsn said:
Great trip, and I'm digging that Martini Racing livery on the stripes! :)
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Datadriver said:
awesome pics
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Thanks!

jesse said:
Nice, the DA-20 is definitely a hell of an airplane, a great trainer IMO. Wish you could make them IFR capable.
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Agreed.

Scott@KTYR said:
Congrats!!
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Thanks!

RudyP said:
Nice pics! I need some good ones of my new airplane. Jealous.

How long did the trip take you?
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If you're ever in the tri-state area I certainly wouldn't mind doing a shoot with your plane. It took about a day and a half in total, we took half hour or so breaks at each airport. First day left at 8am and landed at Utica around 7pm, then left Utica at 9am and got to NC around 1pm.


brian];1758038 said:
Sweet! Got my PPL in one and still love them (you might understand my avatar to the left),

Gettin ready to take nearly the same trip in the back of a RJ... Would rather make the trip in the much smaller da20...
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It's great plane, going to hold onto it for a year or so and then hopefully upgrade to something else.

AdamZ said:
Congrats on the new plane and spectacular photos!
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Thanks!

eman1200 said:
nice plane and pics! now it's time to update those sneakers to match the paint scheme! :)
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:rofl: Yup!
 
Congrats on the new plane. It's a great looking aeroplane...:yes: Your trip looked a heck of a lot better than mine last Tues. Austin, TX to Newport News, VA dodging storm must of the way.:wink2:

Enjoy your new wings,

btw, great pics
 
Got my PPL in a DA20. Loved it. Something about composites that I like.

How much did you get it for?
 
Cool pics, A2A maybe slightly over-photoshopped but hey ho :)

Are you sure your AI is doing the right thing on the last cockpit picture? :D
 
mtuomi said:
Cool pics, A2A maybe slightly over-photoshopped but hey ho :)

Are you sure your AI is doing the right thing on the last cockpit picture? :D
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Only use Lightroom, no photoshop ;)

Good eye, the AI failed part way over Texas, luckily the plane was already supposed to go in for the glass panel upgrade so not that much of an issue.
 
Beautiful photos, nice looking airplane. Maybe a stupid question (I don't know anything about D20's) but do you always fly it right at redline?
 
Congrats on the new plane! I trained in a 2007 DA20 and miss flying it. Really fun airplane.

Just curious why you are spending all that coin for the G500 upgrade if you only plan to keep the plane for a year or so. Either way, sounds like it will be a great setup.
 
Twin_Flyer said:
Congrats on the new plane. It's a great looking aeroplane...:yes: Your trip looked a heck of a lot better than mine last Tues. Austin, TX to Newport News, VA dodging storm must of the way.:wink2:

Enjoy your new wings,

btw, great pics
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CharlieTango said:
Nice plane, nice photos
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Thanks!

ytodd said:
Beautiful photos, nice looking airplane. Maybe a stupid question (I don't know anything about D20's) but do you always fly it right at redline?
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Above 7500' or so yup. At 11,500' across the entire country at just a smidge under redline we were getting 5.8gal/hr or so.

mr_happyland said:
Congrats on the new plane! I trained in a 2007 DA20 and miss flying it. Really fun airplane.

Just curious why you are spending all that coin for the G500 upgrade if you only plan to keep the plane for a year or so. Either way, sounds like it will be a great setup.
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Most likely the flight school I work with will be purchasing it from me once I'm ready to upgrade.
 
Nice photos! I've never flown a DA20 but I have some hours in a DA40, and it's a complete blast to fly, I'm sure the DA 20 is similar. Looks like a fun trip.
 
Great trip, great pictures. I miss flying the DA20.

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Idle curiosity: Why the G500? It would seem (at first glance) that one of the Aspens would make more sense.
 
Congratulations. You now own the finest plane ever built - :yes: I've had mine for 11 years and I'm still totally in love with it.
 
Sac Arrow said:
Nice photos! I've never flown a DA20 but I have some hours in a DA40, and it's a complete blast to fly, I'm sure the DA 20 is similar. Looks like a fun trip.
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It's a lot of fun, I realized the size won't do for my particular "mission", but it'll be a great time builder for the next year or two.

SCCutler said:
Great trip, great pictures. I miss flying the DA20.

Edit:

Idle curiosity: Why the G500? It would seem (at first glance) that one of the Aspens would make more sense.
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I'm a hardcore Garmin follower, nearly all of my training was with a G1000, all personal preference.

N5922S said:
Congratulations. You now own the finest plane ever built - :yes: I've had mine for 11 years and I'm still totally in love with it.
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Thanks! I really like it, it's a genuinely great plane. Although I'm hoping somehow I'll develop the means over the next two years to purchase a DA-42.
 
Nice plane.

Why are you putting a G500 into a VFR only plane? Personally I'd put that money in the gas tanks :dunno:
 
One minor suggestion....red lines are limits, not goals :)
 
SCCutler said:
Great trip, great pictures. I miss flying the DA20.

Edit:

Idle curiosity: Why the G500? It would seem (at first glance) that one of the Aspens would make more sense.
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I flew an Aspen equipped DA20 a few times, it really didn't add a whole lot versus just having the steam panel. Maybe it's because I had so much Garmin experience, but it just didn't do anything for me.
 
Looks like it was a fun trip. The air-to-air photos you took in Phoenix are outstanding.
 
Maciej- are you in nj? I'd love to meet up with you somewhere for some air to air photo stuff... I'm in ohio but come to New York (KTEB ) pretty frequently.
 
RudyP said:
Maciej- are you in nj? I'd love to meet up with you somewhere for some air to air photo stuff... I'm in ohio but come to New York (KTEB ) pretty frequently.
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Hey Rudy, yeah I'm in Jersey based out of KCDW, I'll shoot you a PM with my contact info. :thumbsup:
 
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