Diamond Twinstar

Probably one of the coolest experimental aircraft twin-engine aircraft is the Diamond DA 42 Twinstar. The Twinstar is propelled by twin diesel engines which burn Jet A or even conventional diesel fuel. Sounds cool; doesn’t it? Think of the money you can save? The Diamond Twinstar was a huge hit at Oshkosh 2005 and for good reason; it is sleek and sexy and the performance is unmatched. The new four-seater twin has retractable landing gear and will cruise at 18,000 feet on 11.8 gallons per hour at 201 Kts, YES! Even down at 10,000 feet ASL it will cruise at 180 kts TAS on only 10.7 gallons per hour at 75 percent power.

With long-range fuel tanks at seventy-five percent power it has a 1251 nautical mile range. With standard fuel tanks it can go 880 miles. At fifty percent power it can fly for 19 hours and 2200 nautical miles? This would even make an excellent UAV for military patrols. It is a sexy bird on the exterior and on the inside with the new Garmin Glass Panel makes a perfect package ascetically speaking. Although it looks like a twin trainer, yet a little racier it is not intended for training, however the price is quite attractive if you are comparing it to any new modern day high-performance single engine aircraft and you get the safety of two-engines.

Since the aircraft is all-composite, it is light and fast. The slow airspeed characteristics are great and low stall speed range is certainly a plus. It is fun to fly as the visibility is great and at full power on take-off; boy oh boy will she climb.

Lance Winslow IV