Diamond Aircraft flew its DART-750 military trainer test article for the first time on June 12 and, as expected, all went well. The longish thin-winged hot rod sports a 750-horsepower Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-25C and is billed as an aerobatic trainer by the company. Diamond test pilots Soren Pedersen and Niko Daroussis flew the plane for 30 minutes and “covered all basic maneuvers including performance and handling checks.”
The aircraft looks something like the Beech Texan II and Embraer Super Tucano trainers that dominate that market (both have PT6 engines) but the similarity ends there. The DART-750 is all-composite and has a Garmin G3000 panel. Countries that buy the plane get simulators and software for a full training solution for military pilot cadets. Diamond thinks it has a winner with the DART-750. “The positive results make us confident in moving forward with the program as intended,” said Robert Kremnitzer, Diamond’s head of design organization.