Diamond Aircraft’s new Dart-750 turboprop trainer is making its public debut at the Paris Airshow just days after completing its first flight. The aircraft took off from the company’s Wiener Neustadt headquarters for its inaugural sortie on June 12. Head of flight test Sören Pedersen and senior test pilot Niko Daroussis flew the aircraft for 30 minutes and performed basic maneuvers and handling checks.
“This flight marks another major milestone in the Dart-750 program and demonstrates the entire team’s hard and excellent work in getting it achieved,” said Robert Kremnitzer, head of Diamond's design organization. “The positive results make us confident in moving forward with the program as intended.”
The Dart-750 is the latest and most powerful iteration of the Austrian trainer evolution that began with the Dart-450, which first flew in 2016 powered by a Ukrainian Ivchenko-Progress AI-450S engine. The Dart-550 followed in 2018 with a 550-shp General Electric H75-100. In January 2022 Diamond announced a strategic decision to switch to the 750-shp Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-25C turboprop, resulting in the Dart-750.
In addition to the new engine, which drives a five-blade composite MT propeller, the latest Dart trainer comes with Garmin G3000 avionics. The cockpit features dual 14.1-inch high-resolution displays, a 5.7-inch high-resolution GTC 575 touchscreen controller, and synthetic vision technology. The aerobatic all-composite airframe is rated for +6/-4 g loads. It can fly for 3.5 hours and reach a top speed of 265 knots. The aircraft can include Martin-Baker ejection seats as an option.
Diamond is offering the Dart-750 as part of a basic training platform that also includes a proprietary Dart FNPT II simulator and computer-based training systems. The aircraft is one of the types under consideration for Belgium’s requirement to replace the SIAI-Marchetti SF.260. The company expects EASA certification in 2024.