Diamond DA42 Twin Star

This page describes the Austro-powered DA42 — marketed as the DA42 NG and, in its latest avionics-and-gross-weight form, the DA42-VI. The original Thielert-powered DA42 (2005-2009ish) is covered in the Variants table below but is NOT separately re-sourced this session — see the confidence note for why, and the splitting analysis immediately below for why it stays on this page rather than getting its own.

Splitting-rule analysis, worked explicitly rather than assumed. Step 1 (hard splits) does not fire between the Thielert and Austro engines: both are diesel-cycle piston engines (not a different engine CLASS under the rule's piston/radial/turboprop/jet distinction), same seat count, same retractable gear, same type certificate (A57CE Sections I and II). Step 2 (numeric thresholds): fuel capacity is IDENTICAL between the two engines (both 76.4 gal usable per A57CE) — no fire. Gross weight is 3,935 lb (Thielert, Note 9) vs 4,407 lb (Austro NG, with MÄM 42-678) — a 12.0% spread, under the 15% threshold. Cruise speed, fuel burn and useful load could not be compared because no current manufacturer source describes the Thielert engine at all (Diamond's site sells only the Austro airplane now) and no Thielert-era AFM was located this session — so this page cannot claim Step 2 clears on those fields, only that the two fields it COULD check both fall under threshold. Step 3 (buyer test): the Thielert airplane is effectively a legacy-support question today (most surviving examples have been converted to Austro engines or face mandatory life-limit compliance), not a live cross-shopping decision against the current NG — so this page keeps them together, flagged as a genuinely incomplete rather than a confidently-clean application of the rule.

Fuel burn and range ARE a matched pair; cruise speed is not paired with either. Diamond's current spec sheet gives "Range at 60% (12,000 ft, incl. auxiliary tank)... 1,100 nm" alongside "Consumption at 60% in total... 10.4 US gal/h" — same power, same altitude, genuinely one flight. Separately, the sheet gives "Cruise speed at 75% (16,000 ft)... 175 kts" with no burn figure at 75%. cruise_speed_ktas is stored as the 75% figure (the house-preferred reference power, and the only labelled speed on the page); fuel_burn_gph and range_nm are the 60% pair. cruise_percent_bhp and cruise_altitude_ft are left blank because no single setting describes all three fields together.

Rate of climb is stated at a reduced weight, not at gross. Diamond's figure (1,114 ft/min) is explicitly "Rate of climb (ISA SL) 1,760 kg TOW" — 3,880 lb, not this airplane's 4,407 lb certificated gross. Stored anyway as the best available figure, flagged here so a reader does not assume it describes a heavier, more realistic loaded takeoff.

Two different landing ground-roll figures appear on the same manufacturer page and were not reconciled. "Landing ground roll (ISA SL): 1,115 ft" appears separately from "Landing performance (MSL, ground roll / landing distance): 1,269 ft / 2,122 ft." The second, paired figure is stored because it comes with a matching obstacle distance; the first is recorded in the raw passage as an unresolved second number from the same document.

Single-engine performance is a genuine strength. Diamond states a single-engine service ceiling (50 ft/min climb) of 16,000 ft and a single-engine absolute ceiling of 17,500 ft — both at MTOM. Stored single_engine_ceiling_ft: 16000.

DA42 NG / DA42-VI (2x Austro AE 300, 76.4 gal usable Jet-A, 4,407 lb gross):

1,276 lb useful load matches the manufacturer's own stated figure exactly.

• Flight Training (8): The standard modern multi-engine trainer worldwide; efficient fuel burn makes ME training economics workable.
• Backcountry (1): Not applicable.
• Business Travel (6): Adequate cabin and range for moderate business use; limited by a modest useful load for a twin.
• Aerobatics (1): Not certified.
• Cross-Country (7): Strong range-per-gallon for a twin; genuinely efficient long-leg cross-country capability.
• Cargo Hauling (3): Small cabin, modest useful load.
• Local Fun Flying (4): A diesel twin is not an economical local-flying choice even at its own efficient burn.
• Surveying (6): Twin-engine redundancy and long endurance suit this mission.

Garmin G1000 NXi standard on current DA42-VI production, FADEC engine management integrated into the glass panel.

None found beyond the factory Thielert-to-Austro conversion path (Diamond Service Bulletin OSB 42-068). Fully integrated system otherwise.

• Parts availability: Austro-authorized service centers required for engine work.
• Mechanic familiarity: Specialist.
• Engine overhaul cost: left blank — see validator_exempt above.

Prices are asking-price data from the site's own listings sync (2026-07-14), not a Vref or Aircraft Bluebook considered value. That snapshot alone shows $568,000-$899,900 across 7 priced listings; broadened to include older Thielert-era used examples the practical floor is closer to $250,000. A Vref/Bluebook subscription would settle a considered value, not obtained this session.

• Austro AE 300: Documented service history of ADs over its life; no fresh AD-by-AD search was run this session.
• Thielert-era airplanes: Face mandatory life-limit/conversion requirements from the original manufacturer's bankruptcy-era support collapse; a pre-buy on any Thielert-original DA42 should confirm current engine status specifically.
• Composite repair: requires a certified composite shop.
• Parts lead time: Austro parts source from Austria; lead times of several weeks on non-stock items are commonly reported (not independently verified this session).

No fresh insurance-broker quote sourced this session; typical_hull_insurance_annual_usd intentionally left blank.