DA42 as a true four (and a half) seater?

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dgger
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Re: DA42 as a true four (and a half) seater?

Post by dgger »

robert63 wrote: Sun Feb 09, 2020 9:43 am We have a true 4 seater now. Our DA42NG has been converted to a MTOW of 4407 lbs at Diamond.
Now that is an interesting one. I had inquired about this upgrade (more than a year ago, though) and was told that you can effectively get all the aerodynamic features of the -VI but the MTOM upgrade. With my kids growing up this was one of the reasons to part from my trusty DA42NG. Can I ask you how much you paid for the MTOM increase?
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Re: DA42 as a true four (and a half) seater?

Post by carym »

Its been a while since I’ve been on this forum! I just want to see that whatever you hear from Diamond Canada is a moving target. When WAAS became available I asked about upgrading my G1000 to WAAS. I was told they would only do it if I converted to a NG with Garmin autopilot and they would not consider doing with the Centurian engines. That would be more than $150,000 to get WAAS in a DA42.
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Re: DA42 as a true four (and a half) seater?

Post by robert63 »

dgger wrote: Sun Feb 09, 2020 1:33 pm
robert63 wrote: Sun Feb 09, 2020 9:43 am We have a true 4 seater now. Our DA42NG has been converted to a MTOW of 4407 lbs at Diamond.
Can I ask you how much you paid for the MTOM increase?
It is approx. 60 k€ plus the 20% VAT.
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Re: DA42 as a true four (and a half) seater?

Post by Tommy »

I would like to know what the change in performance is after the gross weight increase. I would assume you received an addendum to your poh.
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dgger
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Re: DA42 as a true four (and a half) seater?

Post by dgger »

robert63 wrote: Sun Feb 09, 2020 4:09 pm
dgger wrote: Sun Feb 09, 2020 1:33 pm Can I ask you how much you paid for the MTOM increase?
It is approx. 60 k€ plus the 20% VAT.
Good to know that this is an option. Do you know what work has been done? Anything structural? Or is it mostly paper?
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Re: DA42 as a true four (and a half) seater?

Post by CFIDave »

I'm surprised that it's possible to modify an existing DA42 for the 100 kg weight increase. My 2013 DA42-VI had a MTOM of 1900 kg, and I was told that the later weight increase to 1999 kg (4407 lbs) on newer DA42NG/-VI models required strengthening the landing gear (which could potentially be performed via new parts installation), but also required additional carbon fiber reinforcement of the "roll cage" and fuselage around the cabin (which I was told was impractical to add post manufacture). Because the DA42 was often used for flight training, EASA insisted that these changes were needed for the plane to survive a 10g drop on the gear!
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Re: DA42 as a true four (and a half) seater?

Post by robert63 »

We got completely new main landing gear legs and dampers, and new nose landing gear assembly plus a new airspeed indicator. And yes, it required additional carbon fiber reinforcement of the "roll cage" and at the gear.
The airspeed indicator because the white and the green arc are 2-3 knots different.
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Re: DA42 as a true four (and a half) seater?

Post by dgger »

That is great to know. Thanks for clueing us in.
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