Morgan Aeroworks Diamond (Single seaters)

[ExJourno]

Fellow Forumites...

 

After a decently long discussion with two of the Morgan clan, hours of procrastinatory time at work spent "researching" and frustratingly-endless discoveries of likeable single-seaters that prove too damned narrow, I am about to arrange a visit to Taree to take the third last last step towards beginning a build - taking a look at a built one at the kit factory (the second last is making a final decision, the last is putting money down).

 

However... before arranging that trip down and back, I want to talk to anyone who has any experience (even if just sitting in one or watching one fly while you gaze jealously) with any of the Diamond aircraft (I, II or III Twister).

 

While I'd welcome the usual subjective conjecture this site is excellent for and any fact-based detail anyone wishes to send my way, what I really want is a direct contact so I can probe your brain and (probably confuse mine in the process of) get(ting) the final bits of info together that will help me make a final decision when I go down to the MA shop.

 

I know there are not many out there. I know at least one is no-longer flying. Yes I can ask Gary Morgan for contact with the few builders who have made one... I've sent that email (today) and will speak to them too.

 

Cheers in advance.

 

And for those who enjoy the banter this will cause... if I do this,(IF... it is never "will" until it is started) it will be a slow process, but my thinking is upgrade the coverings to all metal and, seperately, stick a Camit 120hp up the front. Yeah. How ridiculous - but why not, right?

 

Anyway... come at me. I wanna know everything.

 

 

[DrZoos]

Cant offer specifics, but i will throw this into your brain....I own a low wing and i would like to own a low wing in a climate as warm as yours...Im down at port macquarie nsw and it gets pretty warm inside in summer months

 

 

[Yenn]

Why build a single seater? Think what you are going to do with it and for how long. When you want to grade up to a bigger plane what will it be worth. I love single seaters, they are fun and economical, but just about impossible to sell.

 

 

[ExJourno]

Well, well... such negativity.

 

Let's pretend I managed to weigh up the drawbacks of single-seaters and found my discomfort with those factors to be at levels best described as insignificant.

 

Besides, I've had a one seat motorcycle for years that carries just enough fuel to have emptied out all over yourself, upside down, winded, 50km from where you started, far behind your mates and in that middle of certifiable nowhere... That machine is more impractical than asking a eunuch to be a sperm donor... resale is horrific on account of it being more than a couple years old and a high-performance model enduro bike. But I still have it. Lately I ride it about twice a year. I grin like a twat for a few minutes, every time, then generally go sailing over the bars and into lantana/mud/creek beds/log piles/rocky steep slopes/trees that don't bend/other riders/cacti/ant mounds/etc. KTM 525s're stupid like that. I may never sell it. And I don't care. Actually, I never advertised it and there's no one in a position to try to make me... so I don't even need to pretend.

 

Where was I? Oh yes... yeah yeah, single-seat planes are poor value-for-money (unless you buy a built one second hand) and blah blah blah. Wives are a truly horrible investment too... but one you like will enrich your life, if she chooses to... see where I'm going, here?

 

Meanwhile, how's about those Diamond experiences... gimme.

 

And if you want to try to convince me to not go a single seater (which I may not, yet, it depends on those last couple of factors including whether I like them in-the-flesh), please... start a thread entitled "Adam should not even contemplate a Diamond because..." and I'll check it out if I do proceed, a year or three after I have owned it in flying condition (so sometime around 2030, probably) and see how right you all were or were not. ;)

 

 

[kgwilson]

One thing I know is that the Twister has been where no Ra-Aus aircraft has ever been allowed to go or will ever be allowed to go unless Red Bull has something to do with it.

 

 

[ExJourno]

I lovehate Red bull.

 

Love: the ridiculous kick from having one.

 

Hate: the ridiculous crash as the kick ends.

 

Vicious circle. Hail Red Bull, amen.

 

I wonder if Red Bull will chip in if I promise to have them paint it the right shade of blue, add logos and commit myself to some activity that is so stupid and ridiculous that even Miss 7 will tell me I'm being "silly"... and which can be filmed... perhaps I could include that KTM in it, somehow.

 

Hmmm... over renthal bars, 3/4 pivot, pike and a triple twist landing in the cockpit with my foot shoving the throttle to the fire wall for an inverted climb-out 25ft into the ensuing take-off roll? Red Bull would pay for that, right? Even it it were RAA rego'd. They may even get me trained up to a standard where I'd only die 99pc of the times I tried to perform this stunt.

 

All jokes aside, Red Bull pilots do some bloody amazing things. I watch the red bull races and can feel the faintness of g-force induced black outs merely by watching on the TV.

 

I think I need some sleep.

 

Okay, so far:

 

1. Can do illegally-awesome tricks and Red Bull should get involved.

 

2. Some people reckon I shouldn't for reasons I shall label as 'mature, sensible and prudent' but also 'to be summarily ignored, because logical and rational thoughts have no place in this decision'

 

3...

 

Still need some hard info that's useful (but it has been pretty entertaining, so far)... useful info like, I dunno... "it handled like... it landed like... I flew one to.... not one rivet fell out despite... my dad's mate's step-daughter's boyfriend's fourth cousin's granddad built one and I'll get you in touch with him...' etc.

 

 

[Ignition]

Have you looked at the http://flywithspa.com/panther/pantherspecs.html

 

http://flywithspa.freshdesk.com/support/articles/123165-how-big-is-the-panther-cockpit-will-you

 

 

[ExJourno]

I sure have. Nice to see they have finally put a price on it.

 

 

[Yenn]

I wasn't trying to put you off a singleseater. just pointing out one little known drawback. As I said I love them.

 

 

[seb7701]

There is plenty of fun to be had with the single seater and whilst the drawback is the obvious, the fact is, if a Diamond takes your fancy, then I would say 'bring it on'! They are reasonably priced and cheaper than the 2 seaters and look like a ton of fun!!

 

In many ways, I would love to have a cheap single seater hotrod in the shed (if the initial outlay was sufficient consolation for the missing seat) and then go hire a 2 seater if need be. Exactly the same reason I am looking at some singles now!

 

 

[ExJourno]

It's all good, Yenn.

 

I am a sardonic prick at the best of times.

 

Which was the little known factor? (Serious question). I'd have thought most pilots would be aware of the drawbacks... I certainly was/an. (Not poking fun, I'm wondering if I assumed something to be common knowledge that isn't).

 

Meanwhile, I'd be disappointed with humanity if I tried to sell a single seater, or anything for that matter and buyers didn't try to rape me on the price - I do that on everything and was especially nasty negotiating on a beaut single seater I had fell in love with only to learn, with bitter disappointment, I didn't fit in it - felt like a waste of the efforts I had made in pillaging the owner on price to the point I had all but burned her financial-village to the ground, so to speak.

 

Like most here, if money was no object, I'd own a dozen planes. For me, I think the most cost effective and fun way to keep flying is my own single, and cross hiring when I need a passenger... (there's a reason I'm avoiding another experimental 2-seater).

 

 

[seb7701]

The Vampire in the mag at present DEFINITELY does it for me....location on the other hand is a little problematic in SA...