Diamond Aircraft Industries is a Chinese-owned manufacturer of general aviation aircraft and motor gliders, based in Austria. It is the third largest manufacturer of aircraft for the general aviation sector, and has manufacturing facilities in Wiener Neustadt, Lower Austria, and in London, Ontario, Canada, as well as further production lines operated as joint ventures in other nations, such as China. The company was founded by Austrian aircraft designer Wolf Hoffmann in 1981, at which point it was known as Hoffmann Flugzeugbau. Its first aircraft, a motor glider initially known as the HK36 Dimona, became a commercial success and led to improved models and further types of aircraft derived from it. Following several changes in ownership and naming, the company received the name Diamond Aircraft Industries in 1998. By this point, Diamond was producing a range of light aircraft, including the Dimona, the Diamond DA20, and the in-development Diamond DA40. In 2004, Diamond introduced its first multi-engined aircraft, the Diamond DA42 Twin Star. Demand from government operators led to the development of the Aeronautics Defense Dominator, a medium-altitude long-endurance (MALE) unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) used for aerial surveillance. For several years, the company was developing a single-engined very light jet, the Diamond D-Jet, intended for both private and military customers. However, due to the Great Recession, development of the jet slowed and was ultimately discontinued in 2013. Diamond was acquired by the Chinese company Wanfeng Aviation in 2017. History 1980s In 1981, a new company, Hoffmann Flugzeugbau, was founded by aircraft designer Wolf Hoffmann in Friesach, Carinthia, Austria; it was formed with the ambition of becoming a major aircraft manufacturer for general aviation purposes. According to Michael Feinig, a future managing director of the company, the firm's leadership had recognised that there was a market for a range of modern light aircraft, and that the general aviation sector had been then dominated by mostly old designs from established manufacturers. By taking advantage of innovations in avionics and manufacturing technologies, the market could be entered by a capable competitor. Hoffmann Flugzeugbau quickly set about the development of a suitable aircraft to launch its product range with. Accordingly, during the early 1980s, the company launched production of a two-seat all-composite motor glider, initially known as the H36 Dimona. The H36 demonstrated the company's ambition to raise both the quality and performance of such aircraft while making them available at competitive prices. The type