Dornier Seawings Taps Diamond To Build Seastar Airframe

Diamond Aircraft will manufacture the airframe for the all-composite Dornier Seastar twin-turboprop amphibian, the companies announced late last week. Dornier Seawings, based in Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany, selected Diamond for its experience in composite airframe manufacture.

Diamond will build the Seastar’s fuselage and one-piece wing at its London, Ontario factory, and deliver the components to Dornier Seawings’ facility in Germany for final assembly and completion. An initial contract covers the production of 10 shipsets and tooling work for planned higher-volume production. A Diamond spokesman told AIN that the first airframe components are already in production and will be shipped to Oberpfaffenhofen for scheduled assembly and completion in the second quarter.

Developed initially by Claudius Dornier Jr., the 12-passenger Seastar amphibian made its first flight as a proof-of-concept aircraft in August 1984. Shortly after FAA certification in June 1991, work on the program was halted due to a shortage of funding, but was resumed in 2009 by Dornier Seawings.

The design uses two centerline-mounted Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-112s. Specifications for the Seastar includes a 10,141-pound mtow, 900-nm range and 180-knot max cruise speed.