Aircraft rental at the Eagle County Regional AirportAlpine Flight School offers pilot training and aircraft rental in the Vail Valley.  Our aircraft is a Diamond DA-20 Eclipse, commonly referred to as a Katana and is the later generation of the tried and true Katana aircraft.  The original Diamond DA-20 Katana was equipped with a 90 hp Rotax 912 engine.  The Eclipse version we have at Alpine Flight School is the C1 model equipped with a 125 hp Continental IO-240 that delivers excellent performance especially useful for Mountain Flying.  Our Katana Eclipse, with it’s larger engine delivers similar takeoff distances as a Cessna 172 SP, but provides superior climb performance, a faster cruise speed, and a fuel burn nearly 1/2 that of the Cessna 172 SP and a slower landing speed.  The Katana was originally inspired by european glider design, and also features superior glide performance of 22:1 compared to the 17:1 glide ratio of the Cessna 172 SP as well as excellent visibility through it’s bubble canopy design.