A New Way to Fly: Diamond Aircraft DA42-VI Featured in Journal #369

Forget what you know about air travel because Diamond Aircraft Industries is changing how the world flies.

Diamond Aircraft Industries is a Chinese-owned aircraft manufacturer that was founded in 1981 and is located in Weiner Neustadt, Austria with facilities in Canada. The company is best known for its production of the Diamond DA42, which was first manufactured in 2004. Improvements were made to the aircraft over the years, resulting in the release of the DA42 NG in 2009, and then the latest model, the DA42-VI, in 2011. As a result of seven years of upgrades, the DA42-VI has great aerodynamic improvements in comparison to the original DA42.

Reaching a maximum operating altitude of 18,000 ft, the DA42-VI can hold up to four passengers and travel up to 365 km/h TAS. Diamond Aircraft Industries ensures both active and passive safety of the DA42-VI with a carbon composite airframe that provides efficiency and durability that can even withstand extreme conditions. It’s so safe, the Airbus Flight Academy in Europe chose to train 200 pilot cadets with this exact model.

The DA42-VI includes many other amenities and features for both the pilot and passengers. Inside, one would find climate-controlled seats, LED interior lighting, and a Garmin G1000 NXi glass cockpit with a wrap-around canopy, which allows all on board to have a panoramic view of the world below. On the outside, buyers have the option to customize the exterior color. With such distinct safety features and sleek design, no wonder Diamond Aircraft Industries has labeled the DA42-VI as “perfection.” Plenty of people have realized this, given that nearly 1,000 units have been sold worldwide at the manufacturer’s base price of $869,000.

“The DA42-VI is wonderful,” says Brian Meese, a DA42-VI owner from Sweden. “She does everything you [Diamond Aircraft Industries] promised…I don’t think there is any other piston twin that comes close price/performance-wise. For those of us who don’t want to spend what it takes to fly a turboprop, the DA42-VI is the perfect airplane.” The critics also agree with Meese, as Diamond Aircraft Industries was awarded the 2020 Golden A’Design Award for the DA42-VI.

To learn more about Diamond Aircraft Industries and the DA42-VI, preorder Graphis Journal #369 now!