I'm an industrialist with a factory in Frosinone, south of Rome, and business partners across northern Italy and Austria. My father flew a Mooney — I grew up in the cockpit and got my PPL before university.
I chose the DA50 RG because it's the tool for a specific stage of life. Cabin-class comfort for my wife and the two youngest, five seats for an occasional business lunch with colleagues, Continental CD-300 with Jet A-1 logistics in a country where avgas is increasingly scarce.
Standard routes: Rome-Urbe LIRU → Bolzano LIPB, two hours, valley-bowl approach. Or Rome-Urbe → Samedan LSZS, just under three hours, high-alpine inbound.
Rome-Urbe is my privilege: 1,170 m of asphalt by the Tiber, English-speaking tower, customs by prior notice, twenty minutes to the Pantheon. For Italian GA pilots it's the better Roman airport — ahead of Ciampino, ahead of Fiumicino.
The DA50 RG cruises at 333 km/h, range 1,480 km, avionics Garmin G1000 NXi. Fully loaded with family and luggage a meaningful payload remains — we run the W&B for every mission, and Diamond have made the loading chart honest.
Rome-Urbe LIRU is home — the loveliest GA field in Italy, central and atmospheric. Bolzano LIPB is the valley-bowl break: 1,294 m of asphalt at 794 ft, Italian customs at the apron, lunch in the tower café.
Samedan LSZS for the mountain leg. Mali Lošinj LDLO in summer for the island — short approaches, long evenings, the DA50 sits well on the Adriatic.
My brother flies a DA62 out of Milan — seven seats, two Austro diesels, more range, more maintenance. We discuss regularly whether the difference pays off: for his over-water legs to Sardinia and Corsica yes, for my Italy-and-Alps profile no.
The DA50 RG is the more honest choice for five seats, one engine-type signature, and Jet A-1 logistics in a GA-friendly cabin-class aircraft. Pilots who need two type-signatures buy the DA62 — and they know the aircraft spends thirty percent of its life on the maintenance plan.
“The DA50 is the aircraft I unlock in the morning without hesitating.”
What I'd do differently today: fewer leather colours in the initial spec, but a careful pre-run of the Continental CD-300 maintenance plan. TBR is excellent, but the inspections come in rhythm.
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