There's an option for the co-pilot stick to be removable.
I loved my Da40 center stick.

I honestly had no idea, must have missed it in the options list as well. Oh well.

To each their own I suppose.

Agreed. I love the stick on our da40, it feels so natural to me. I don't care for the seats with no adjustmen on longer flights.
Kevin

It's not hate for center sticks, I love them in a Super Decathlon, Husky, and J3. When I've ridden in a Pitts, T-6, or P-51, the stick felt right too. I even liked it in the DA40 when doing a local sightseeing flight or taking a friend up and having them do some flying. A center stick is great for maneuvering and handflying. I have never been in a Sportsman (I see it as a hybrid backcountry / crosscountry plane with a similar cockpit to the DA40 that is better than the DA40 at both of the missions, and I'd think the stick is right for the backcountry part and a yoke or sidestick would be better for the crosscountry part, but that's just an uninformed guess).

But I don't like center sticks for cross country instrument flying. Flying cross country IFR is about managing the plane, navigation, and weather. A stick gets in the way of the charts, terps, lap board, note pad, iPad, magazine, lunch, stretching, and other forms of entertainment that may include mile high club currency.

Our DA40 had a G1000, SVT, TAWS, HITS, TCAD, and the GFC700 (all total overkill for the performance of the plane) and I generally used to fly myself plus 1-3 pax on trips of 30-90 minutes, typically on an instrument flight plan and often in the typical new england summer IMC. A stick was pointless for this type of flying and for the implied mission of the avionics package. When I took it on trips of over 1000nm, (CT to the Bahamas, for instance) it was even more in the way. The DA62 is a crosscountry, weather airplane with great avionics and autopilot, and I think the center stick is inappropriate for that class of plane and the type of flying for which it's meant.

As an aside, a friend who I haven't seen in years PM'd me last night, having seen this thread. He has a DA40, primarily flies VFR on trips under 200nm, and the center stick truly adds to his enjoyment of the airplane. Different mission, and again, definitely a different mission than the DA62's.

Since you brought it up and I realize this post could create the impression I'd melt without all these toys, my personal record for hand flying without an autopilot was with a yoke. 14.5 hrs from MT to FL, three legs with under 30 minutes for both of the fuel turns, ending at 11:30pm following a B737 between two small thunder cells on an ILS. I was 18 or 19, had more energy then than now and wouldn't do it now, but I liked the yoke for hand flying long cross country in IMC. I could keep my elbow/forearm on the armrest and a finger or a finger+thumb on the yoke. I'd look up at the end of every paragraph in the AOPA or Flying magazine to make sure I was still upright and on course (maybe every sentence or two in IMC).

I agree on the seats, though I was able to make it much better with some custom shaped cushions. Not sure if the DA62 has adjustable seats. I do see in the pictures I've found online that it has the track for the rudder pedals, so I'm inclined to believe the seats don't move fore and aft (though maybe they tilt?)

DA40, DA42, DA62 - all the same HK36 glider roots.
Wingspan, center stick, not adjustable seats, no heating.

In our club we own a DA40 and 42. I have some experience in this planes.
Longer flights for me are just horrible. You are nailed in that seat in a single position, the stick between and without the possibility for any movement. But maybe I'm simply too old for this planes.

We flew the DA42 from south Germany to the U.S., 4-5h legs and in an immersion suit.
A really nice experience....

This thread didn't show up in my Email Digest. Maybe there's a setting where I need to follow this particular forum.

The co-pilot stick can be removable as an option. And there's an STC for it (hmm, might be an SB), to be done to the DA42, which I will be doing in August. My wife has shown little interested in learning to even pinch hit and would prefer to have space for a laptop while we fly.

The seats are adjustable (reclining) on the DA62. The rudder pedals are still the aft-forward adjustment, though.

When I bought my DA40 I had the salesman fly me to Las Vegas and back, about 2hrs. When I actually starting making that flight myself I got a little Thermarest lumbar support and a thin gel seat. It made all the difference. I don't like sitting (at all) for more than three hours, so I'm landing anyway, but those two minor changes made the commutes to Vegas non-events.

I love a center stick. I think I'm more a Cub pilot than an airline pilot. Even if I can swing a move up to something with seven seats I'll be very happy having a stick.

I don't love the scramble over the wing, and I'll be looking for the perfect little step stool for getting parents in and out. One of the things I loved about the TwinBo a friend had was the air stair and then, to my surprise, his next TwinBo is a scramble over the wing.

nice, a bit "out of the box" marketing video from Diamond's web-site..

a little, out of left field, sense of humor goes a long way…( and, yes, we still do have a number of nice old Socata Rally's and Piper Twin Comanches here in good old Austria…but, no, proficiency in yodelling not required anymore since quite a while for the language skills for our FCC licenses..)

[youtube]https://youtu.be/RbT5FdRDLJU[/youtube]