I flew a DA42 today!

[Antoine]

... ok... who cares? It's just that I had actually never flown in one. It was an NG retrofit, with a GFC 700,
Startup: easy and fun. Soooo quiet.
Taxiing felt just as heavy as with the Extra 400. When one is used to the free castoring nose wheel of the DA40, it feels unnatural. I used differential power to help in the turns. Fun.
Take-off: Nice acceleration but I did not slam the throttles so it was not a maximum power 0-60 test.
There was some crosswind and I was caught drifting left more than I would have in a DA40. I was expecting the 42 to be much less sensitive.
Rotation (80 KIAS): I eventually managed, but it really wanted to be pulled up. Miles from the DA40 jumping in the air. Actually felt like the Extra 400.
Climbout (100 KIAS) . Wow nose really up and climb rate solidly above 1000 fpm ( we were almost at gross)
Much less bumpy ride than in the 40. Smooth and quiet engines even at 92%. We were at or above 1000 fpm all the time, up to FL 120. This is a match to the E400.
We used TKS to punch through a broken layer and cruised in glorious sunshine, at a not-so-glorious 160 KTAS @ 70% power, burning 12.2 GPH (FL 120).
Landing. Fantastic. Sooo much easier. But 85 KIAS in short final!
All in all I liked it, but I think Mr Dries really should make a de-iced DA40-155 with 1200 Kg MTOW...

[Colin]

Differential power on the taxi is the way to go. Using the brakes apparently encourages the tires to roll of their beads, which is no good in the long run.

The throttles are not mechanical linkages but just requests to the FADEC units. I was told that slamming them forward is what you are meant to do. You are meant to hold the brakes, let the meters rise to 85% and then let it go as it continues to 97% to 100%.

You should be flying the plane immediately. That's been my biggest lesson. Even though you are rattling along the ground, you should be tipping the wings into the crosswind, lightening the load on the nose wheel since the plane has a slight tendency to wheelbarrow, and in general getting the plane comfortable in the air even before it gets there. At 80kts I rotate with a smooth and steady pressure on the stick, and try to fly at blue line until I am above 2,000 feet AGL. My last CFI said, "I want altitude a lot more than I want speed or a forward view."

Short final I was at 78kts on my last few landings, as recommended by my Angel City Flyers CFI.

Dave will have to speak to the fuel flow on an NG. That looks high to me. At 75% at 10k I'm 154kts and 10.5gph total.

[CFIDave]

Colin: Remember 75% power for your Thielert-powered 135 hp engines (101 hp) is different from 75% power for Austro 168-hp engines (126 hp). The Austros are going to consume more fuel at their 75% power level because they're each producing 25 more hp.

As Antoine noted, a pair of Austros will consume 12.2 gph at 70% power (at any altitude all the way up to almost 25,000 feet where the air's too thin for the turbos to provide enough boost -- considerably above the plane's max "certified" altitude of 18,000 feet). The DA42 NG at that power level would have gone faster if Antoine had climbed higher, although 160 KTAS seems a bit slow for an NG at 12,000 feet. For comparison, our less-draggy DA42-VI would be doing about 172 KTAS throttled back to 70% power at 12,000 feet. On longer cross-country flights we usually fly 75% power at 16,000 feet consistently doing 180 KTAS while burning 13 gph (or 195 knots at 92% power burning 16 gph if we're in a hurry), but that altitude requires an O2 "rubber hose up your nose."

[CFIDave]

but I think Mr Dries really should make a de-iced DA40-155 with 1200 Kg MTOW...

You wouldn't like it, because the TKS de-ice system would make it weigh as much as the Austro DA40 NG you dislike because of its weight, with 13 fewer horsepower than the Austro.

[carym]

At 75% at 10k I'm 154kts and 10.5gph total.

Maybe its the wonderful CA air that is allowing you to get those numbers, but after 900 hours in my DA42 I can testify that I get book values and that shows at 75% power I burn 5.6 gal/hr/engine and I get 150kts TAS at 10,000 feet. Of course there is always some variation, but these are honest numbers that I can always count on.

As an aside, unlike Dave who is able to fly fast at high altitudes, whenever I go high I just get a stronger HEADWIND and find that it rarely helps me to go up in the oxygen levels (anything above 10K for me) In fact, it seems that on virtually all my x-country's I get nothing but headwinds in both directions (maybe Antoine can figure out why this happens). I guess its a good thing I have had to give up on flying (my medical expires this month).

[ememic99]

I always get better figures than in the book. At the beginning I thought it was just due to atmospheric conditions but then I realized it was constantly better. My 75% at FL100 is 5.6 g/h and 153 KTAS. I'll recheck this today and take a picture

[Antoine]

[I guess its a good thing I have had to give up on flying (my medical expires this month).

WOOOT??? This almost went unnoticed. So sorry for you Cary. I hope you can switch to some pleasant (LSA?) alternative?. Other hint: I had a blast in multi-player WWII flight sims some year ago (I was actually flying a TWIN ! and died many times).

Regarding headwinds: check your HSA. It may be miscalibrated. For those who don't know: the HSA (Headwind Setting Apparatus) is used to adjust the wind vector to face the nose of the pilot. It is designed to slow down the aircraft thereby increasing the time spent in the air which is as we all know the reason why we fly (otherwise we'd be flying first class in an airliner and saving money). I flew over 5 hours yesterday and had the HSA effect on 4.5 of them, including BOTH directions of the same leg, same altitude. Go figure...

[ememic99]

Headwinds are good for pro-longed stay in the air

[Aart]

My last CFI said, "I want altitude a lot more than I want speed or a forward view."

That's one way of looking at it.. Mine's different. I want a compromise between forward visibility (traffic, birds), rate of climb, and speed. I will never climb at blue line speed simply because when you lose an engine I believe that the surprise will delay your reaction, no matter what they say about being 'spring loaded' for such an event. So you could soon be below blue line speed and getting close to Vmca..

I climb at 100 KIAS which I have found to be a nice compromise in the DA42.

[ememic99]

I usually climb at 95 KIAS until reaching FL100 then reduce it to 90 to FL140 and then to 85 if climbing higher.