Some of the earlier pre2007 aircraft were sent out without the FIKI certification as it was not yet approved by the FAA. You may be lucky enough that you don’t need a new placard ( some went out with the correct placard even before the certification) or equipment and it will just be a functional tes...

http://thinkaviation.net/difference-between-jepp-and-faa-charts-part1/ This is a good comparison of both charts. After using the Jeppesen charts for about 7 months now I really like the layout of them over the Naco charts for a few reasons. The briefing strip is easier to read and it's easier to pic...

I have a great carbon fiber repair guy in Rhode Island. PM me your e-mail and I'll send you his contact information. If you are still flying the plane then it's repairable.

Who picked out the color scheme for this aircraft? It's not one that jumps out at me as colors that would sell well. Gold with pink and black striping. I would really like to see the performance numbers for this. If it was the right price point it could be a real Cirrus competitor with the right mar...

I would say after having over 2000 hours in a non WAAS DA40 and many approaches that if there was one upgrade that I would get before WAAS it would be Synthetic Vision. Having had SV in my DA42 which is also non WAAS having guidance of SV is far more beneficial in hand flying approaches than WAAS wo...

I had my magnetometer in the wing replaced once under warranty early on due to the HDG Xing out while taxiing and the issue went away for many years. Then I would get intermittent issues of the same thing. Not wanting to spend the money on a new magnetometer under my own dime I just ignored the nuis...

Ditto on the easy transition. The G1000 being the only part you need to put a lot of time into getting comfortable with. The Garmin G1000 PC trainer is useful for learning. As any aircraft learning the correct air speeds are vital. Once you learn to control the aircraft at the correct approach speed...

Bermuda is a wonderful island. I'm there for business every two weeks or so and flights are reasonable and daily from Boston, NY and lots of places. I would never even consider taking my DA42 there as it's just not worth it. As you said the fees are very high for private flights (in lucky to be able...

I had one of these in my DA40 for powering a marine radio
http://m.aircraftspruce.com/pages/el/vo ... alvolt.php

Very easy install and TSO'd