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New Diamond DA42-VI Configuration

Hi! I am looking to order a new DA42-VI. I am new to flying in Europe and it would mostly be used in Scandinavia with the occasional trip to south Europe in the winter. Before I talk more with the sales rep about configuration, I would be happy to get anyones input on what options are smart to get or not! Below are the options and my thoughts, but again I am a beginner, so feel free to let me know what you think!

Honeywell KN 63 DME – ?? Someone said this was required in EU for IFR, but another said only for commercial operations? Without this, I can stil get GPS DME off a point on the G1000, correct? Or?

Becker 3500 remote ADF – No

WX 500 Stormscope – No, seems unnecessary with the Radar

Avidyne TAS 605 – No, have read it conflicts with the ADS

Flight data recorder – No, I think this is for flight schools?

Digital standby altitude module – No

Garmin GWX 70 Radar – Yes

Garmin GSR 56 Iridium satellite datalink – Yes? Anything I should know here regarding usage in Europe?

Garmin Synthetic Vision – Yes? I thought this would be standard on the G1000.

Garmin GTX 345R ADS-B in/out – Yes

Flight stream 510 – Yes

Jeppesen PilotPak – Thoughts? Not sure how this compares to using Foreflight, etc.

Air conditioning – Tricky one here. It isn’t cheap of course and weighs 41kg, and additional complexity. Anyone know if it has proven to be reliable in the Diamond? Of course, on a $1m new airplane I am not looking to skimp on options. But I am mostly flying around Scandinavia and more concerned with -20C temps. I will be doing the occasional trip to Southern Europe, but in the winter months. Skip it?

TKS – Yes

Oxygen – No. Can do an aftermarket later.

Electrically operated rudder pedals – No, Ive read they create more problems than help.

Tablet mount – Yes

Removeable right hand stick – Yes?

Am safe belts with airbags – Thoughts? Are they more/less uncomfortable?

Bubble canopy incl sun protection – ???

After that its colors and styles. If there’s anything I should know let me know.

Norway

sedatedokc wrote:

Avidyne TAS 605 – No, have read it conflicts with the ADS

No, it doesn’t (when wired up properly, that is the TAS is connected to the GTX). The GTX 345R merges the two sources (TAS and ADS-B). If it fits your budget, get it! In light GA, by far not everyone has ADS-B out, but far more people have at least a mode C transponder.

sedatedokc wrote:

Honeywell KN 63 DME – ?? Someone said this was required in EU for IFR, but another said only for commercial operations? Without this, I can stil get GPS DME off a point on the G1000, correct? Or?

Yes and no. As far as I remember, GPS substitution for DME is not as widely legal in EASA than in FAA, but that has recently improved. I don’t remember the specifics, sorry. Also, it is IMHO part of a nice “backup” for GPS failure: ILS+DMS.

sedatedokc wrote:

Garmin GSR 56 Iridium satellite datalink – Yes? Anything I should know here regarding usage in Europe?

Look at the coverage map for radar, satellite and more. Look at the pricing for the service.

sedatedokc wrote:

Garmin Synthetic Vision – Yes? I thought this would be standard on the G1000.

I like it. Price is a rip-off in “normal terms”, but… aviation.

sedatedokc wrote:

Jeppesen PilotPak – Thoughts? Not sure how this compares to using Foreflight, etc.

Not sure if you mean the subscription for avionics data (you need that, but you can also get it from Garmin) or the ChartView unlock key. The latter unlocks the possibility to have Jeppesen SID/STAR/APP charts on the MFD. It is far cheaper (also in the yearly subscription) to have it “only” on the iPad. The choice between FliteCharts (georeferenced AIP charts packaged by Garmin) and Jeppesen charts is… preference and economics. AIP charts vary in quality depending on country, from abysmal to 100% competitive with Jeppesen. Jeppesen is not perfect either. <shrug>

sedatedokc wrote:

WX 500 Stormscope – No, seems unnecessary with the Radar

Opinions differ.

ELLX

It will daft to fly a LOC/ILS without DME, it’s always required for LOC “GS out”, if you fly RNP only you will not need it but DME useful when you fly ILS in tight weather, it catches many operational errors: wrong altimeter, wrong minima, wrong visibility, wrong glide path, getting lost with vectoring….to be honest something that reads 0NM on the active runway threshold is worth it’s price when visibility is about the size of the runway (GPS distance does not do this unless you input manual points or load proxy procedure)

ADF you can throw it away, it’s easier & safe to fly on GNSS overlay or DIY IAP or SVFR on tablet than the NDB on raw data

The rest of the options no idea but looks like nice to have vs DME which is a must have for me, I am not sure about EU rules but for approaches it’s required if it’s in the plates, for en-route it’s not required but it can be used as GNSS backup

Last Edited by Ibra at 27 Mar 08:45
Paris/Essex, France/UK, United Kingdom

I would definitely advise TAS and DME for reasons explained by Ibra and lionel.

I would advise GSR56. It’s great. Price is less than 100 USD per month. You get phone calls, sms, email and weather. GSR56 also gives you lightning strike, so it may be an excuse not to go for the storm scope. I had both in the TBM and always chose to display Garmin Connext strikes. They’re delayed but more accurate.

Oxygen – what are the aftermarket options? Will the tubing be nicely hidden like in OEM installation? If not, then go for OEM.

Last Edited by loco at 27 Mar 09:52
LPFR, Poland

Electric rudder pedals – yes. Zero problems and nice to have. Manually moving pedals in 1M aircraft will look pretty weird.

Air-condition is tricky question (I didn’t know it’s so heavy) – people who use DA42 in warm climate say that it’s not efficient but the ones who use it occasionally say it’s ok. I don’t have it so I can’t give you first hand experience.

Oxygen – I would always take it. I have it and I can recommend it. Adding MH pulse devices and you ease logistics of filling – one tank can cover multi-day trip for all occupants. Maybe portable is easier to take out and fill somewhere but built-in is simply nicer and you can fill it at your base airport and have it for 20+ hours at FL160.

DME – yes.

TAS – yes. But you’ll maybe able to choose Garmin solution – it might be certified when your delivery is scheduled.

Last Edited by Emir at 27 Mar 09:58
LDZA LDVA, Croatia

sedatedokc wrote:

Honeywell KN 63 DME – ?? Someone said this was required in EU for IFR, but another said only for commercial operations? Without this, I can stil get GPS DME off a point on the G1000, correct? Or?

Becker 3500 remote ADF – No

Depends on your mission and target airports, just spent a few months talking to UK CAA for example.
Some airfields say “procedure not available without xxx DME or yyy NDB”, so its illegal to fly it without that navaid.
While its less and less frequent for NDB, DME is still very common, especially if the radar is down today and you get procedural service.
It might change – fix substitution was proposed for most of the procedures, but! Except Final Approach Track.

sedatedokc wrote:

Oxygen – No. Can do an aftermarket later.

In some regions access to airways is not available without oxygen, @Peter and @Emir will advise.

GSR 56 – ADL by Golze is much cheaper and some say much more convenient. All you loose is satphone call if you use ADL instead of GSR. (10K vs 1K and 100/month vs 40/month)

EGTR

DME – You guys have convinced me to get it.

TAS – This is a quote off the Diamond forums, I hope that is okay! If in doubt I prefer to make my plane simpler and cheaper (but of course appreciate any input!)

- Leave off the TAS605 Active Traffic. I got it on my plane back in 2017 because I was forced to wait until 2020 for the GTX345R transponder (with ADS-B IN traffic) to finally be certified for the DA62. But now that I have both types of traffic systems, the active traffic is practically worthless. ADS-B traffic is SO much more accurate and (unlike active traffic) draws vectors on the screens to show the direction that traffic is moving. In the US it’s very rare to ever encounter a target that is transponder equipped, but doesn’t have ADS-B Out installed — or isn’t picked up and relayed by an ADS-B ground station. Save yourself $19,190.
- However MANY TIMES, I’ve seen a TAS transponder-only diamond target that shows up temporarily, only until the GTX345R has had a chance to correlate it with a nearby (more accurate!) ADS-B target — causing the TAS diamond target to disappear on PFD/MFD screens after about 5 seconds. If you had only the GTX345R (without TAS), you wouldn’t see all these false targets.

Oxygen – I have read some people saying aftermarket options like mountain higher are better than built in. In particular I would prefer an oxygen concentrator like INOGEN. But this would be years away from me, I plan on staying below FL100 for now.

Emir wrote:

Electric rudder pedals – yes. Zero problems and nice to have. Manually moving pedals in 1M aircraft will look pretty weird.

Thanks for your reply Emir! I think it will be very rare for someone other than myself to be flying. Im again looking at a quote on the diamond forums shown below. Me being a single user, would you still recommend it?

Why does anybody ever buy this option? Adds expense, adds weight, adds maintenance, adds complexity. Plus you have to put the electric master on to move the pedals when you need to apply parking brake while standing outside the cockpit. I have never seen the slightest advantage to it.
Norway

Re “double bubble” canopy – look at it; it gives more headroom and better view upwards, but many people think it looks ugly.

You got avionics comments from more competent people above, but here are my comments on the other items where you have question marks.

  • Oxygen – YES, as said above. It is not a roomy aircraft, you don’t want to clutter it up with handheld bottles and tubing. Also, while the operating altitude is limited to FL180, you get 85% power up there, and decent climb to the higher flight levels. If you normally fly at FL100-120 unless weather forces you higher, Oxygen will make this less tiring for you, even if the passengers don’t need/want it.
  • Removeable right hand stick – Yes? – YES. Depends on what kind of passengers your have in your family, but with somebody sitting there who doesn’t have a real connection to flying this will make a much more comfortable experience.
  • Am safe belts with airbags – Thoughts? Are they more/less uncomfortable? – YES. Would you buy a car without airbags?
  • Bubble canopy incl sun protection – You need to look at it and sit in the aircraft; it gives more headroom and better view upwards, but many people think it looks ugly. Personally I would pass.
Biggin Hill

sedatedokc wrote:

Oxygen – I have read some people saying aftermarket options like mountain higher are better than built in. In particular I would prefer an oxygen concentrator like INOGEN. But this would be years away from me, I plan on staying below FL100 for now.

Just seen that. Two comments, and of course it all depends on what you want to get out of flying. But what I found in my personal flying is that once I had the capability to fly high without spending hours getting there (moved from normally aspirated to turbo-charged), I used it nearly every flight where I wasn’t low for sight-seeing. It got me out of the weather (or turbulence if VFR) and got me there faster (depending on wind). Also, how high you flight has nothing to do with how many flight hours you have, the air is not really different. ;-);

Re INOGEN and others – with MH pulse demand regulators on the built-in system, the bottle should last more than long enough, getting it filled will be a bit tricky, though. I don’t know if you can hook up a portable bottle to the internal plumbing as a spare. Do not underestimate the bulk and awkwardness of portable equipment in a very tight cabin.

Also, as a general remark, don’t think of stuff being years away from you. The only thing you need to start IFR training is enough proficiency in the aircraft that you no longer use your brain capacity to fly the aircraft but to think ahead and make decisions. And because real-life IFR flying is actually much less demanding than what you have to do in training unless you choose to fly somewhere with marginal weather, I would get on with it as soon as you are comfortable in the aircraft.

Last Edited by Cobalt at 27 Mar 12:11
Biggin Hill

sedatedokc wrote:

In the US it’s very rare to ever encounter a target that is transponder equipped, but doesn’t have ADS-B Out installed — or isn’t picked up and relayed by an ADS-B ground station. Save yourself $19,190.

Says it all. In Europe, it is very rare to encounter a target that HAS ADSB-Out installed, and ADS-B ground stations don’t exist. Just buy it.

Biggin Hill
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