Da40 vs C180, 1st plane,225hr IFR student

S

stretanski

Filing Flight Plan
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Central Ohio , KOSU, KMFD
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MikeStretanski
I love the 40 and the center stick. Not a cirrus fan after one flight.

I am an Ame and can deduct 50 hrs of flight time per year. Not married, No kids, live 30 min from home airport. enjoy 100$ hamburgers and will never get a hanger here in Ohio:confused:

180 is high wing and I am doing my IFR in a Da40 with G1000
Had a flight in a Da 42 as a "necessary evil" due to anti-ice and an now in love with twins. lots of twins in the 99 to 175 K range and Bonanza is in there too. I fly local VFR and fly one hour to two offices but have a condo on Sanibel Island, FL

It's a lot like trying to pick a wife.:mad2:

I welcome any and all thoughts
 
stretanski said:
I love the 40 and the center stick. Not a cirrus fan after one flight.

I am an Ame and can deduct 50 hrs of flight time per year. Not married, No kids, live 30 min from home airport. enjoy 100$ hamburgers and will never get a hanger here in Ohio:confused:

180 is high wing and I am doing my IFR in a Da40 with G1000
Had a flight in a Da 42 as a "necessary evil" due to anti-ice and an now in love with twins. lots of twins in the 99 to 175 K range and Bonanza is in there too. I fly local VFR and fly one hour to two offices but have a condo on Sanibel Island, FL
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Welcome aboard, Mike!

I'm in a club where we have a DA40, C182, and an Archer. I've got over 400 hours in the 182, and a bit north of 60 in the DA40 (we just got it in October). Love them both, for different reasons... The 182 is better for hauling a load or going into grass fields, the 180 would be similar. But, the visibility, efficiency, and flight characteristics of the DA40 are hard to beat! Having the club allows me to fly whichever one fits the mission of the day and still have a plane available when one's down for maintenance, so I like it a lot.

If you like efficiency like I do, and would like a twin like I do, I suggest you take a look at the Piper Twin Comanche (PA30, or PA39 for the counter-rotating prop version). From the factory, they had a Lyc IO-320 160hp on each side, and will do about 165 knots on 16 gph. Standard fuel capacity was 90 gallons, though there are many that have tip tanks which gives you a total of 120 gallons (and an extra 125 lb on your max gross weight, as long as you use it by putting 125 lb of fuel in the tips).

There are a lot of mods - 200hp engines, speed mods, turbos (which were available from the factory as well), Robertson STOL, longer nose with baggage compartment, longer engine nacelles with baggage lockers, etc. but they're not available any more except the speed mods so buy a plane that has what you want. Tip tanks can still be retrofitted as well - EdFred got a pair of those added to his Comanche 250.

There are a couple of "Twinkie" owners hanging around here, I'm sure they'll tell you more if you're interested.

Again, welcome aboard, hope you hang around and enjoy aviation's online front porch! :)
 
If you mean the tailwheel 180... then if your plans involve non-paved runways that might be a factor favoring the tailwheel.

I've got 200+ hours in 182s and the same in DA40. I'd frankly have a hard time choosing between the two. 182 is a somewhat more comfortable IFR platform, it doesn't roll as much as the long-winged DA40 does when the air is bumpy. The DA40 is more fuel efficient/economical, offering 140+ knots on 10ish gallons per hour. The 182 has more load available. The DA40 is cheaper than a 182 of the same vintage. You begin to see a pattern here? It's tough to choose between the two.
 
What're messing around with a DA 40 for, if you're single. Even if you could get the claimed 150 kts out of the DA40, it's too slow to go to the coasts or the rockies.

You're either looking for a cross country multi FIKI (Flight into known icing) travelling bird, or a Cessna 185 that you can equip with floats, skis, and a 430W for non ice IFR.

Or maybe you want the 85-100 hp taildragger knockabout AND a crosscountry cruiser! BTDT.

But having supported a daughter in Columbus, if you live in OH you want FIKI.
 
bbchien said:
What're messing around with a DA 40 for, if you're single. Even if you could get the claimed 150 kts out of the DA40, it's too slow to go to the coasts or the rockies.

You're either looking for a cross country multi FIKI (Flight into known icing) travelling bird, or a Cessna 185 that you can equip with floats, skis, and a 430W for non ice IFR.
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Ah, how our own birds color our opinions. ;)

Bruce, I wouldn't say a DA40 is "too slow to go to the coasts or the rockies." After all, I've done exactly that - In the 182, which is slower than the DA40.

In the DA40, I easily made it from the gulf coast (Houston) over to the west of D/FW to get BBQ with the D/FW PoA crew and back to Wisconsin in a day.

Or maybe you want the 85-100 hp taildragger knockabout AND a crosscountry cruiser! BTDT.
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Ah, the dream of all of us. Lance has it good. :yes:
 
Mike,
I do not know enough about your requirements but I love my DA40. I have about 400 hours in a 2003 steam gauge DA40 converted to Garmin G500 glass with all sorts of bells and whistles. I would not be enthusiastic about keeping a composite airplane unhangared although some owners do. You can get a complete set of covers including wing covers so it may not be unreasonable. The DA40 is a very efficient airplane which is important in these days of high fuel costs. There are some maintenance quirks and you can learn more about them in the free Diamond forum http://www.diamondaviators.net/forum/. Feel free to PM me for more of my biased opinion.
 
stretanski said:
I love the 40 and the center stick. Not a cirrus fan after one flight.

I am an Ame and can deduct 50 hrs of flight time per year. Not married, No kids, live 30 min from home airport. enjoy 100$ hamburgers and will never get a hanger here in Ohio:confused:

180 is high wing and I am doing my IFR in a Da40 with G1000
Had a flight in a Da 42 as a "necessary evil" due to anti-ice and an now in love with twins. lots of twins in the 99 to 175 K range and Bonanza is in there too. I fly local VFR and fly one hour to two offices but have a condo on Sanibel Island, FL

It's a lot like trying to pick a wife.:mad2:

I welcome any and all thoughts
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The C-180/185 is a lot more fun... specally on amphibs. gotta a dock?
 
Tom-D said:
The C-180/185 is a lot more fun... specally on amphibs. gotta a dock?
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Are you kidding? The C-180 may have more utility than the DA40 but not nearly as much fun to fly, like a truck compared to a sports car.
 

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flyingcheesehead said:
Ah, how our own birds color our opinions. ;)

Bruce, I wouldn't say a DA40 is "too slow to go to the coasts or the rockies." After all, I've done exactly that - In the 182, which is slower than the DA40.

In the DA40, I easily made it from the gulf coast (Houston) over to the west of D/FW to get BBQ with the D/FW PoA crew and back to Wisconsin in a day.
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...now, Kent, you gonna remind us just what the winds aloft were that day? :D

Not a slam at the DA40, of course.
 
YGMSM. How do you define fun, short-britches?

Gary F said:
Are you kidding? The C-180 may have more utility than the DA40 but not nearly as much fun to fly, like a truck compared to a sports car.
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Floats, central Ohio...

laughing20smiley1.gif
 
wabower said:
YGMSM. How do you define fun, short-britches?
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I've never flown a 180, but from my experience with a variety of Cessna products, I can say that in all likelihood, the DA40 is going to be more fun to fly. Might not be quite as comfortable, but its a great airplane.
 
What do you consider the most fun of the airplanes you currently fly? How do you define fun? What makes one airplane more fun to fly than another?

KSCessnaDriver said:
I've never flown a 180, but from my experience with a variety of Cessna products, I can say that in all likelihood, the DA40 is going to be more fun to fly. Might not be quite as comfortable, but its a great airplane.
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wabower said:
YGMSM. How do you define fun, short-britches?
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Short-britches, eh? The OP asked my opinion and I gave it. I did not think my post would be so controversial, perhaps we need to move this thread to the SZ. I have about 400 hours in SE Cessna aircraft, 400 hours in a DA40 and about 20 hours in various other aircraft. I had the most fun during a 2 hour intro to aerobatics in a Pitts S2 but it would not be practical for my usual needs. I like the control stick, flying characteristics and the fantastic view in the DA40. This is only my personal preference. I believe my pickup truck vs. sports car analogy is reasonable. I own a VW Passat with turbo and manual transmission, a Chevy Avalanche and a Jeep Wrangler. The VW is by far more fun to drive in good weather but the truck excels in bad weather and payload and the Jeep off-road. Since I got my DA40 flying a Cessna reminds me of driving a truck.
 
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wabower said:
What do you consider the most fun of the airplanes you currently fly? How do you define fun? What makes one airplane more fun to fly than another?
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And that is just the issue, Wayne... What is "fun"?

The C180 is fun because of what it can do - go damn near anywhere and do damn near anything.

The DA40 is fun because it has delightful flight characteristics and an incredible view of the outside world - Unmatched by nearly any other airplane. (The Extra comes to mind as a "match" - less out the front, but you can see equally well out both sides with the tandem seating.) It's fun to FLY, moreso than fun because of what it can do. It doesn't haul four people and bags into the backcountry for the weekend, but it's more fun to fly while it's in the air.

That's why I am really glad that I'm in the club I'm in. I get both the amazingly-capable C182 and the amazingly-fun-to-fly DA40 and can choose the right plane for the mission. And there's not much of anything that can't be done with one or the other.
 
they both have towhook options so what's it matter? :)
 
SCCutler said:
...now, Kent, you gonna remind us just what the winds aloft were that day? :D

Not a slam at the DA40, of course.
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Yes, I had a 40-knot tailwind - However, I also made two completely unnecessary fuel stops because y'all have some really cheap 100LL down that way - I think we were paying ~$4.60/gal at the time, and the most expensive fuel I bought on that trip was $3.73/gal in Iowa. In TX and OK there were three places where it was under $3.50/gal.

You want to know what's truly amazing? I fueled up at Baytown, TX (near Houston, spitting distance to the gulf coast), flew to Stephenville for lunch with you guys, and flew to Meacham to drop Ali off. Had I gone directly home from Baytown I could have made it non-stop, and I also could have made it non-stop from Fort Worth. So, subtract the 40-knot tailwind and the cheap bastard in the front seat, the plane can easily make it home with one stop from either the Houston or D/FW areas - Even with a 35-knot HEADwind (from Baytown, or a 49-knot headwind from Fort Worth). With the tailwind, I spent about 6 hours in the air that day. For the fuel stops, add a couple hours. Without the tailwind, if I got rid of the extra fuel stops it'd have actually taken less time... Just woulda been more expensive.

Therefore, your honor, the tailwind was irrelevant to the airplane's capabilities. :D
 
I can't get into this as I have only experience in my 170 tail dragger and my Cessna 182 straight tailed airplane. But I have always wished that my 182 was a 180 for the prop clearance that it has over a 182. I know I love my 182 for the load it will haul and the places it will take me.
Welcome to the POA Mike.
 
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