The DA20-C1 is the primary trainer at the university I attend, so all the hours in my logbook leading up to my PPL are all Eclipse entries. I continued to fly it a lot while building time before IFR training. I flew this delightful little airplane on many a cross-country adventure to some of Tennessee's most interesting airports, from Class C down to a 75ft wide strip on a hilltop. Throughout the Private Pilot phase and on into the VFR cross-country phase, the DA20 proved its versatility and rugged resilience on every flight. Here are some of the things that really start to show up when flying the Eclipse a lot... 1) This plane is really, really fun in the pattern. I believe that no one has truly slipped until they have slipped this plane. I have done 13 consecutive touch and goes in the Eclipse, and only stopped because I had to return to base for fuel. 2)The DA20 is not superbly comfortable on a long cross-country. The occupants sit in a leaned back sportscar-like position due to the lack of cabin headroom. Also, the controls are very responsive, so the pilot must always have a watchful hand on the stick as the plane is pretty unstable on bumpy days. But while the Eclipse might give its pilot some fatigue after a couple of hours, it cruises at a decent airspeed, so arrival comes considerably sooner than some other planes in its class. 3) Landing this plane is an art form. If you have 10 extra knots on final, you'll float halfway down the runway. That said, once you understand how to bring it down, this plane is so much fun to land you just might find yourself converting it to a touch and go. --So in conclusion, the DA20-C1 is a well-rounded plane with plenty of fun factor to balance with utility. After flying stick-and-rudder so long in this plane, I will probably be slightly depressed when I switch to a yoke.

My first flight in a Diamond DA 20 was from Flying Cloud Minnesota to Oakland California. I was completely blown away by the speed and efficiency. We were consistently seeing 135 KTAS on 4.2 GPH! That's pretty amazing. A Cessna 152 burns about that and is lucky to break 105 KTAS. The great visibility and standard Garmin 430 all contribute to comfort and safety. If it weren't for the fact that the DA20 is not ideal as a stall trainer, I would have given it 4 stars.