Decarli 1/72 Diamond DA-20-C1 Falcon Trainer

[hsr]

This is my build of the Decarli 1/72 Diamond DA-20-C1 Falcon. The DA-20 is the de-facto USAF primary training aircraft. As I understand it the USAF no longer trains personnel how to fly. Instead it contracts that job out to Doss Aviation under the Initial Flight Training (IFT) program for personnel that do not already have a pilot's license and Doss uses the DA-20.-C1. Since it is a civilian contractor it does not have military markings of a military designation. The Declari kit is an excellent resin offering with the parts having a nice smooth finish and no pinholes. There were however some bubbles along the wing leading edge where the pour was. These were easily fixed. The only other issue is that it definitely wants to be a tail sitter and there is nowhere to put any weight in the nose. I ended up boring out the nose with a Dremel tool and filling is with #10 lead shot. I even hollowed out the spinner and was able to get another shot in there. Even so I had to either use some double face tape or some shims under the main will to get the nose to stay down. The decals are Alps printer printed and the instructions say to give them a coat of Microscale decal film. I did that and they worked perfectly. On the whole a pleasant  quick build

 

So here it is:

 

 

Up next will be the Italeri T-45 Goshawk. Will try to follow the corrections in the Paul Boyer Oct 2009 FSM article to convert it from the kitted prototype to the production model.

 

Enjoy

[VolkerR.]

That is a pretty rare model. Well done!

[janneman36]

A lovely build aircraft and something out of the ordinary, 👍👍👍

 

cheers, Jan