Aircraft
Diamond Aircraft Flies a New Turbo-Trainer
The Austrian company is entering the civilian and military trainer market with a claimed lower-cost offering.
The Dart-450 made its first flight from Diamond’s airfield at Wiener Neustadt in Austria on May 17. (Photo: Diamond Aircraft)
The Dart-450 made its first flight from Diamond’s airfield at Wiener Neustadt in Austria on May 17. (Photo: Diamond Aircraft)

Diamond Aircraft has made the first flight of a tandem-seat turboprop trainer that is designed to offer low-cost competition to existing offerings in that category. The Diamond Aircraft Reconnaissance Trainer-450 (Dart-450) flew for 60 minutes on May 17. The Austrian company claims that the Dart-450 is the world’s first such aircraft constructed entirely of carbon fiber, and with a sidestick and pneumatic ejection seats.