Aerosoft Diamond DA20-100 Katana 4X BY MIKE CAMERON. Aircraft/Product Overview: The Diamond DA20 Katana is a two seat tricycle fixed gear general aviation aircraft designed primarily for flight training. In addition to being both a civilian and military training aircraft, it is also used by pilot-owners for personal flying. The first DA20, which this product is based, was the Rotax 912 powered A1 Katana and was introduced in Canada in 1994. The A1 Katana was the first Diamond aircraft to be offered for sale in North America. Production of the Continental IO-240-B3B powered C1 Evolution and Eclipse models began in 1998, also at the Canadian production facility. Production of the A1 Katana is complete but the DA20-C1 is still being manufactured. The DA20-A1 Katana is certified as a Light Sport Utility category aircraft which means that the aircraft is approved for spins. Even though the DA20 is available with instrumentation and avionics suitable for IFR conditions; the composite materials designed airframe lacks lightning protection and because of this does not qualify for IFR certification. Also because of the pure composite materials design, the Katana has an upper temperature limit so the primary color of the aircraft is white with a few stripes down the middle. This aircraft features control sticks (as opposed to yokes), the already mentioned composite construction (combination of glass and carbon-fiber reinforced plastic), a bubble canopy, low mounted wings, a single fuel tank, a T-tail and a castering nose wheel. The bubble canopy allows for an above average amount of sunlight into the cockpit which increases the cockpit initial temperature. Small windows are installed on either side of the canopy and can be opened both on the ground and in flight for cockpit ventilation. An unusual feature of the DA20 Katana is that the reclined seats are fixed in place and the rudder pedals are adjustable to accommodate pilots of different heights. The fixed seats also provide better occupant crash protection. Product: Diamond DA20-100 Katana 4X Company: Aerosoft Price as rated: $33.31 USD Flight Simulator: FSX
Installation: Installation of Aerosoft products is very easy. Run the setup program, select the installation language (English, French, German or Spanish), accept the license agreement, and click ok at the warning that All files are personalized during installation, enter your Aerosoft account email and the serial number then click next. I recommend copying the serial number from your Aerosoft account download web page then pasting it in the space provided to avoid typing errors. The setup program should automatically find your FSX install location but if incorrect, browse to the correct location and click next. A summary screen will now display and if everything is correct, click next. After the aircraft is installed a screen will appear asking you if you want to run the Launcher Setup now, and then click finish. If you decided to run the Aerosoft Launcher Setup, that program will now be installed. The Aerosoft Launcher allows you to uninstall your Aerosoft products, informs you if updates are available and has some other functions. The included documentation is located in the Katana directory in the Aerosoft Windows Start Menu folder. I like this because it is easy to locate without having to search for documentation. The first time that you select the Katana in FSX, you will be asked if you want to run the ASC.dll file, click Run, and then select Yes to accept it as a trusted module. Repeat this step for the next two flies. You are now ready to fly the Katana in FSX. 2
My favorite external feature of the Katana is simulated wear & damage that is stored and will be need to be cleaned or fixed before your next flight. Exterior: Nineteen aircraft are included in the package represented by registrations from eight countries. As mentioned earlier in the review, all of the aircraft are painted white with different colored stripes down the middle of the fuselage. Exterior features include a very detailed Rotax engine when the cowling is removed, wheel chocks, tie downs, pitot cover, water bucket, oil drain pan, tool box, removable fuel cap, open & close the canopy, open and close the cowling access door, removable fuel & Oil caps and if you want your aircraft with or without wheel fairings. All of these things can be made viewable, applied or removed from view from different sections of the Katana 4X menu system in FSX and will be explained in greater detail later in the review. The pilot is also viewable from the external views. All of the external features and fuselage lettering are great looking without a single blurry texture. My favorite external feature of the Katana is simulated wear & damage that is stored and will be need to be cleaned or fixed before your next flight. Little things like dirt buildup on the fuselage, bug splats on the windshield and oil stains on the cowling are simulated and add greatly to the experience. The exterior of the aircraft can be cleaned manually with the simulated sponge and bucket of soap & water during prefight or automatically with one click on the maintenance section of the 4X menu. Damage modeling includes propeller damage, controls, flaps, wheel fairings and more. External lighting options include default FSX lights or enhanced more realistic lighting effects. The Aerosoft Katana 4X has the best external features and textures of any general aviation aircraft installed on my system. 3
Interior: The interior of the Katana is equally impressive. Everything is three dimensional and looks very realistic. Interior features include, removable flight control lock, seat belt harness, headset, documents inside seat pockets, carpeting & upholstery, fire extinguisher and a medical kit. All of the above and any interior signage has great looking textures. Aerosoft has even included a flying magazine in the back of the aircraft, a map on the passenger seat and a Pilot Information Handbook which when clicked on moves to the top of the instrument panel and is fastened with Velcro. Stains and other wear are also simulated in the interior, which is great because it makes for a more realistic experience. Just like the exterior the interior can be cleaned with a simulated vacuum cleaner as part of preflight or with a single click as part of maintenance. Personally, I used the one click cleaning for both the interior and exterior because the sponge and vacuum took too long for my taste and I could perform other tasks while the cleaning process was being performed. The only thing that I would like to see changed with the interior is have English language versions of the map, magazine, Pilot Information Handbook and first aid kit in aircraft from English language countries instead of having German language wording. 4
Panels & Systems: The Katana 4X only has a 3D Virtual cockpit and you will not miss the 2D panel because the quality of the VC is excellent. Unlike some of the interior features, Aerosoft has included English language labels on the panels with aircraft registrations from Great Britain, Canada & the United States and has German language labels on the German, Austrian & Swiss registered aircraft. I like this because it adds to a more realistic simulation experience. For me the aircraft loads with the right zoom level and all of the instruments are easy to read and the labels are very clear. I would zoom in on the GPS for easier programming then zoom back out to the default level. All of the gauges are three dimensional with smooth animations. A holder with a secured pen and a place to put your keys when the aircraft is shut down is also included. If you own the RealityXP GNS530, Aerosoft has made it easy to have that GPS installed in the panel instead of the default FSX GPS 500. Another thing that I like about the panel is there are fingerprints on the GPS screen which indicates that again this aircraft has been used instead of always looking like it was new from the factory. Panel lighting is also very good and can be adjusted to your preference. The various systems on the Katana are some of the most realistic simulated systems of any general aviation aircraft that I have ever owned. If you do not operate this aircraft using proper procedures or maintain it, systems will fail on you as if you were operating the real aircraft. Some of these features include, engine damage and wear, carburetor can get plugged, starter can be damaged, pulled choke with a warm engine can cause stress on the engine, simulated oil usage, oil loss during turns if oil cap is off, water in fuel, complex battery system & complete electrical circuits, functional circuit breakers, generator can be damaged, cabin temperature is simulated, icing and much more. Personally, I think the realistic systems are worth the purchase price by itself and everything else is a bonus. English Language Panel German Language Panel 5
Sounds, Animations & Effects: The Katana includes some impressive sound effects. This aircraft comes with over 120 custom sound effects which can only be heard in the Virtual Cockpit. Custom sounds include airframe, power plant, levers, switches, circuit breakers, devices, instruments, avionics, alarms, environment and ground sounds. All of these can be turned off individually or all of them via the Custom Sound Effects section on the Settings page of the 4X Menu. I love that everything in the cockpit has an audible sound effect which greatly adds to the experience. The sound effect of the engine is awesome and you definitely want to move the sound effect sliders to the right in FSX to fully enjoy all of the sound effects. Another impressive sound effect is the canopy opening and closing. Besides the usual animations that you would expect from a quality aircraft add-on (control surfaces, canopy), other animations include the propeller can be turned by hand, propeller pitch can be changed by hand, aileron & rudder trim tabs can be adjusted when parked and the fueling hose becomes visible when fueling the aircraft. Unfortunately, the end of the hose is not attached to anything but this for me is only a minor issue. The animations that I am most impressed with are part of the preflight process, the cowling being removed, the access door on the cowling opening & closing and the fuel & oil caps being removed & replaced. The oil cap has a visible twisting animation which simulates turning of the cap which is very cool. The only special effect on the Katana is a very good one, vibration. The Katana is a very light weight aircraft and because of this the engine and the environment causes the aircraft to vibrate. The vibration effect is excellent and is most noticeable when tuning the radios or working with the GPS. The vibration effect can be enabled or disabled via the Vibration section of the Settings page of the 4X Menu. 6
Katana 4X Menu: The 4x menu which is opened with the Shift+3 keyboard shortcut controls all actions and options that cannot be set from the pilot s seat. There are four sections of this menu and the first three will open sub-menu icons to handle further windows. These for sections are: Preflight: This menu section is only available when the Katana is parked and handles all options for preparing the aircraft for flight, refueling and cleaning. I will discuss this very important menu item in the next section. Maintenance: This section is also only available when the aircraft is parked and is used for maintaining & servicing the Katana and selecting the installed equipment. This software keeps track of the status of all of the systems on the aircraft and this section allows you to keep those systems in working order. There are three sub-menus in the maintenance section, Equipment, Workshop and Service. The Equipment window allows you to select between having the default GPS 500 or the Reality XP GNS 530 (purchased separately) installed in the panel and if you want wheel fairings installed or not installed on the Katana. The Workshop window allows you to perform all repairs on the aircraft and its systems. There are three buttons that are used on the Workshop window. The Inspection button (magnifying glass) allows you to perform an inspection of all the systems and when this is completed may display no color (good working condition), yellow (not in the best condition and needs to be repaired) and red (system is in bad condition and should be replaced immediately). Repairs are accomplished with the tool button (wrench) and can be stopped before completion and system replacement is accomplished with the Replacement button which looks like two arrows moving in a circle and needs to be allowed to finish. Replaced systems are always in new condition. The Service window allows you to work with expendable items such as fluids, brake pads, etc. and allows you to clean the interior and exterior of the aircraft using one click. Unlike the Maintenance window, the replacement button on the Service window can be stopped before completion. I usually stop the aircraft cleaning service before completion because this process seems to take a long time to complete. The cool thing about the cleaning service is that you can see the results of the cleaning process as it is happening. If you operate the Katana in any of the realistic modes it is highly recommended that you visit the maintenance window periodically. I always started with the Workshop & Service windows and used the inspection button whenever I loaded the Katana for the first flight of the day. The only thing I would like to see added in a future update is a monetary system of some kind to know how much that you are spending on your aircraft. Instructor: The four instructor windows are General, Engine & Fuel, Electrical Circuits and Avionics & Instruments and will only display if operating the Katana is operated in Instructor mode. These windows can easily be used to change the status or condition of these systems. The only time that I operated the Katana in Instructor Mode was to be able to see what these windows looked like. If you are doing real world training, Instructor Mode would be beneficial for virtual pilots to practice various system failures. 7
Settings: The Settings Menu allows you to change how you use the aircraft and I have already discussed some of these settings earlier. The sections of the Settings Menu are Operations, Aircraft Initiation or startup, Propeller & Flap Operation, Avionics Realism, Lighting and Sound & Visual Effects settings. All of the settings except Operation Mode & Aircraft Initiation, you can change to your preference when you first load the Katana, then leave them. I want to discuss the Operation Modes and Aircraft Initiation in more detail now. Operational modes include Realistic (aircraft needs to be operated and maintained correctly and can be damaged), Simple (aircraft is brand new each time it is loaded and cannot be damaged) and Instructor (aircraft is band new every time it is loaded, wear & damage is simulated but is not stored and systems can be influenced by the Instructor windows on the 4X Menu). Initiation modes included Automatic, Cold & Dark and Parked. If you select Automatic mode, when you load the Katana the software tries to determine the current state of the aircraft and if it cannot determine the current startup condition the aircraft will be forced into a status with the engine and all systems running. Cold & Dark mode is when the aircraft loads with all systems are off and ready to be powered on. The preflight procedures should be performed when operating the aircraft with the Cold & Dark initiation mode. Parked mode means the aircraft has been parked for undetermined period of time and the service, maintenance and preflight procedures all need to be performed before flight. I have Realistic and Cold & Dark selected for these settings. 8
Flight Model: I am using Version 1.1 of the Katana and every time that you load the Katana an Initiation Startup window appears for a brief time that allows you to quickly pick a startup status for the aircraft. This information is stored by the software so unless you change this setting the next time you load the aircraft, this startup status will remain in effect. Options here include Cold and Dark, Pre Engine Start, Pre Taxi, Pre Takeoff, Climb, Flight, Descend, Landing Approach, Parked, Parked Long Term and Parked Random. These are all self-explanatory and I recommend performing Service, Maintenance and Preflight when starting the Katana from any of the parked modes. Which brings me to the feature that makes the Katana one of the more realistic small general aviation aircraft simulation products on the market, the Preflight Windows on the 4X Menu. All of the other general aviation aircraft that I have installed on my system only include the interior preflight functions, performing the exterior walkthrough is usually only given one or two descriptive lines on the included checklist. When you click on the Preflight Menu item a window opens displaying an exterior drawing of the Katana with several clickable numbers displayed on various areas of the aircraft. Clicking on these numbers will display a list of the preflight actions that are performed for that section of the aircraft, most will simply display OK as being checked but if action is required that checklist item will be displayed in blue. Some of these actions simply require the pilot to mouse click that area of the aircraft which is also displayed in blue, while others requires opening new windows on the Preflight section of the menu in order to perform that action. These two windows are the Fuel Station and Oil and Liquids. I like to perform the exterior preflight from spot view so that I can see the included animations. The Fuel Station Window even allows you to adjust the price of the fuel so that you know how much it is costing you to fuel your plane. One last thing that needs to be performed as part of the preflight process the first time that you load the Katana after purchase is setting the aileron and rudder trim on the ground using the Trim Tabs Window. Once you have the trim set to your liking, you should not have to adjust it again, at least I did not, and your experience may differ. The preflight process really adds to the realism and experience of the Katana. Starting the engine is very easy and you should be able to memorize the engine start sequence without any problem. 9
Taxiing the Katana is very easy but does require using some brake in order to turn properly. The Katana is a very light weight aircraft and is an easy and fun plane to fly but is affected by environmental factors. This aircraft requires a very light touch on the controls and requires the pilot to always fly the plane. Your workload will be greatly reduced by properly adjusting the aileron and rudder trim tabs during preflight. The Aerosoft Katana does not have an autopilot installed but a simple modification to the aircraft.cfg will allow you to have a simple heading and altitude hold function. The Katana is not certified for IFR operations or for flying at night and is primarily designed for flight training & short flights so not having an autopilot installed should not be an issue for most pilots. I am not a real world pilot so I cannot verify the accuracy of the flight dynamics but after putting in over fifty hours flying the simulated Katana, I can say that this is a wonderful aircraft to fly. If you operated it in Realistic Mode, make sure that you follow all of the checklists and operating limits or you will eventually have system failures that will have to be addressed. Conclusion: I hope that I have not bored anyone reading this review because it turned out to be one of my longest reviews. I also hope that I did the Katana justice and covered all of the major features. I really loved this aircraft and especially like that if you treat it badly, systems will fail and they will have to be repaired or replaced. These functions are simulated with this product which greatly adds to the experience. The only thing that I would like to see added in a future update is some form of monetary system so the virtual pilot can see how much it is costing to operate the Katana. This is very minor and would just add to a very realistic and enjoyable experience. If you mostly fly long cross country flights in IFR or night conditions then the Aerosoft Katana probably is not the aircraft for you. This aircraft is only certified for daytime VFR operations and is primarily designed for flight training and short flights. I want to thank Aerosoft for providing me with the review copy of the Katana. Good Points: Lots of great sound effects Realistic vibration effects Preflight, maintenance & service features Excellent interior & exterior textures including wear & damage Program keeps track of time on the aircraft and when operating the aircraft in Realistic mode, systems and devices will need to be maintained Failure to maintain the aircraft or incorrect operation will cause system failures. Bad Points: The Aerosoft Katana does not have anything wrong with it as is. The two things that I would like to see added or changed in a future update (monetary system & English language documents in English registered aircraft), are so minor and are more of a personal preference then an issue. Rating: 10