Has anybody flown or if you haven't a Diamond DA-42 Twinstar please list your experiences and your opinions.

Answer 1

The local dealer here has one and has sold a bunch so far. One of my clients has one on order. I've sat in it, played around a bit. If you buy one make sure you get the factory installed oxygen. The plane isn't that fast but looks very well built and I think it will become very successful. I also think they have it very reasonably priced when compared to a factory new Baron at $1.2M. But.... Baron is in a whole other class of twin.

Cockpit layout is very well thought out, and you'd instictivly learn how to fly it. The single power levers are a major help for a low time twin pilot. Only inherant dangers I see in the plane are if you do loose one engine, and are loaded it is going to come down. The older 6 cylinder twins are great entry level and better value, however they are more complex to fly. But when you have the big 6 cyl continentals there is plenty of power to continue on one engine.

Answer 2

I haven't flown it but I heard it's a good aircraft. I heard a diesel one crossed the Atlantic west-bound on $200 worth of fuel (back when it was a little cheaper).

I don't know how the diesel would be single-engine though since it has less power than the gas one (for all those power vs torque people out there, it's power that determines climb rate).

The cockpit is to die for and I would imagine it would be worlds ahead of any aging twin in its class (Seminole, Dutchess, Twin-Comanche) but far more expensive.

Answer 3

Hi. I get "Flying" and they reviewed it a month or two ago. Running a Diesel on Jet-A seems like a good thing but it was underpowered on a single engine IMO. FADEC is always a good thing and the Diamond was no exception. Not a licensed pilot.

Answer 4

No, but I would like to fly a D-Jet though !