If your goal is to fly around Scandinavia, you should consider the lack of 100LL at most airports. That would make the DA42 the best choice in my mind.
I am not sure about the short field performance of the DA42. If similar to the SR22 it would be ok. Maybe you don’t want to go the shorter(<700 meters) grass strips, that is probably not ideal with any of these two. Yes, it works with low weight and precise flying.
Fly310 wrote:
you should consider the lack of 100LL at most airports.
Not that it helps with the SR22, I guess, but in Sweden you’ll find lots of airports with 91/96UL and some with UL91.
I’ve had my DA42-VI for 8 years & flew an SR-22 too.
Nothing much to add – the pros & cons on both aircrafts in this thread are quite accurate.
Perhaps passenger capacity needs to be highlighted. I fly solo 75-90% of the time, so space is obviously fine in my DA42. Also the premium seats (& reclinable) in the DA42-VI are just as comfortable as the SR22’s.
However, if you’re actively planning 3-4 people in the cabin on all flights, the SR22 is definitely a passenger’s airplane; very comfortable, especially in the back. No contest if you ask me. You’d need a DA62 if you’re looking to splurge on passenger space.
Conversely, I’d call the Diamonds more of a pilot’s plane. The Diamond’s push rod controls & large “low level VFR cruiser” canopy enhances this quality greatly. Also I do find crusing at 1000-1500 ft in a twin slightly less stressful than a single. It’s a poor photo plane, though, wing mounted engines block the side view..
Another thing I’d like to highlight on the DA42-VI/DA62 is the on-board wx radar.
Personally I’ve found this to be one of the DA42-VI’s most useful features for “serious” IFR touring. No longer will you be sitting in IMC (day or night) wondering whether you’re flying into a full blown CB. Especially useful in regions without sat wx.
Seeing as both aircraft are highly comparable & either will definitely fit your mission, I think there’s just one thing to do:
Choose the one you instinctively like the most & just get it. You won’t go wrong with either one.
My reasoning is that if you’re based in Norway, it would be nice to be able to go direct to UK or Ireland etc and would you really do that in a single in winter? I wouldn’t. But with a DA42 I wouldn’t think twice about it.
With either of these (both great), you would really benefit from having an instrument rating, especially when flying around in Scandinavia.
Be sure that the SR22 (if you end up with one), is FIKI-certified (flight into known icing), as not all of them are.
And you don’t mention if you have an EASA or FAA licence. That could mean some different pros/cons when it comes to finding a suitable aircraft (in Europe).
DA42 will definitely give you better fuel availability here. 200h is plenty IMO. Most people here start flying around as soon as they get their licence (or they don’t, and never will). Besides, even 20000h in CAVOC in the prairie doesn’t mean much in the terrain and weather here anyway. If I had the money I would get myself a DA42 
Excellent advices. Just to be sure we talk about the same amount of money…you say 1m…what currency?
From my experience I can just recommend a Seneca.
You say you don’t need a six-seater but trust me – there is never too much space in a plane when planning long multi-day trip.
If you have another pilot with you – you can go to the back seats during the flight and then go back after you rest or use the toilet (installed instead of one of the back seats). Good proven traditional engines without fadec and gearbox are in my opinion more reliable than the new fancy single lever digital control converted from cars. They just need a bit more attention from the pilot’s side but I think that GA is here for us to have some fun and that’s also a part of it. Short field perf. of Senecas are bit better especially on the grass than DA-42.
One important thing is the Avgas availability of course.
Raven wrote:
From my experience I can just recommend a Seneca.
They are a bit more expensive… And attract enroute charges while IFR (unless the 2T STC is applied). DA42 runs on 16USG/hr of Jet-A at high speed cruise… Should be much cheaper!
If we don’t care about the costs, then C340 or C421C could be an option – they even include pressurisation. :)
Raven wrote:
From my experience I can just recommend a Seneca.
Seneca’s range is non-comparable to DA42/62 – some 800 NM zero fuel while Diamonds have more than 1000 NM under same conditions and speed.
