Juan Bermudez

Second-time DA40 Owner

"When I bought my first DA40, I had some experience flying the DA20 Katana, which impressed me with its fun handling and great visibility after learning in an older Cessna 172. I did a lot of research on the Cirrus SR20, Cessna 172 and DA40. The decision really was made when my wife and I went to Sun 'N Fun. We sat in another brand aircraft, then walked across the grass to Diamond - there was just no comparison, and it was clear that the DA40 was going to be our plane."

"I recently upgraded from a round-gauges DA40 to a new DA40 XLS. I love the Diamond - and the DA40 XLS with the G1000 cockpit, the extra space under the restyled canopy, a much upgraded interior with a lot of nice touches, 15-20 kts more speed at similar fuel flows, and extra range with the long-range tanks is a great improvement on an already wonderful product."

"When I looked to upgrade from my round-gauges DA40, I looked at a lot of planes - the Cirrus SR22, the Columbia 350. They each cost a lot more money to buy and operate - and wouldn't give me that much more, other than AC and a bit more speed. You really can't beat a DA40 for what it does - 150 kts ture on 10 gph is just amazing."

"I initially used my first DA40 primarily for pleasure and training. Lately, with my new DA40 XLS, I am doing a lot more business travel, around Florida, the surrounding states, and the Bahamas. I feel really comfortable in my plane even on long over-water legs- I flew SN219 from Ft. Lauderdale, FL out to the Turks & Caicos islands, which was about a 5 hour trip with one fuel stop. I expect to make my next visit to the islands nonstop by taking advantage of the increased range and speed of my new XLS. "

"One of the interesting missions I flew with my DA40 was photographing the damage along the Florida coast after the 2004 hurricanes. The DA40 is such a stable platform, and has such great visibility, it made for a great photo ship - and I felt good about providing photographs that many owners of second homes could use to remotely assess damage to their properties and even use to file insurance claims. I even found a "lost" boat that broke away in the storm a few miles down the river."

"I have been very impressed with the sales team at Premier Aircraft, my Diamond distributor. They have gone above and beyond to make things easy for me when I upgraded from my first DA40 to the DA40XLS. They are a great single point of contact for me, and I have 100% confidence that Premier will do everything the right way before and after the sale."

"I am extremely pleased with the service support at my Diamond Authorized service center, Premier Aircraft Service. Wes and the team have been outstanding. I have had experiences at many maintenance shops - and the quality and service of Premier is just a night and day difference."