Diamond DA-42 Twinstar

Aircraft Information
> Aircraft Make: Diamond Aircraft Model: DA-42 Nickname: Twinstar
> Aircraft Mil Civ Description: Airplane ME Piston
> FAA Category and Class: Airplane Multi-engine Land
> Engine Description: Twin piston (diesel)

Aircraft Experience
> As of: 11/3/2024
> Number of Hours Flown: 206
> Number of Times Flown: 126
> Other Aircraft Models Associated: Diamond DA-40, DA-62

First Flown Information
> Sequence First Flown: 159
> Date First Flown: 5/22/2007
> Location First Flown: Boeing Field, WA (KBFI)
> Who and/or What Organization First Flown With: Galvin Training, CFI Dave Cowan

Recollections: The Twinstar is my favorite piston multi-engine airplane.  It is a design that is well ahead of its time, incorporating the Garmin G1000 early, diesel engine that burns jet fuel and hash a Full Authority Digital Engine Control (FADEC) that has a single power lever for each engine (no prop lever, no condition lever/mixture).  And it is amazingly frugal with fuel.  It will fly from Seattle all the way to southern California with ease, if you can stand to sit that long.  An optional TKS ice protection system is very effective in icing conditions, in which I’ve flown the airplane many times.

The first generation of the Twinstar had significant maintenance issues.  For example, it required frequent and expensive overhaul of the reduction gear box.  Many of these issues were resolved in subsequent iterations of the design, including Diamond manufacturing its own engine instead of relying on an engine manufacturer.  The larger DA-62, which I have yet to fly, appears to be a good machine…though you pay for it.

I have flown the airplane quite a bit, mostly for keeping currency with the FAA but I also rented it myself to introduce this design to others.  The pictures show examples of people I’ve flown with.

The plane is super simple to operate (so much so that, when it was initially introduced, many people didn’t think it qualified as a “complex” airplane in the eyes of the FAA.  This was eventually resolved when the FAA stated it was complex, for logbook endorsement purposes), has great performance airborne, and honest flying qualifies.  You need a fair amount of runway and the tires are small-ish so easy on the brakes during landing rollout.