There’s a new twin in town — and Diamond Aircraft’s DA62 represents a major step forward when compared to the two other airplanes in its class: The Beechcraft G58 Baron and the Piper Seneca V.

The differences are numerous, but the three most obvious include a sleek carbon fiber fuselage, seating for seven, and Austro turbo-diesel engines with full electronic controls.

But Diamond doesn’t want its new flagship to be limited by comparisons to other twins. With total fuel consumption and operating simplicity on par with many high performance singles, Diamond is also aiming to attract attention from single engine pilots needing more seats and useful load, plus the comfort that comes from having two engines when flying at night and over inhospitable terrain or open water.

Having owned a Seneca and a couple of Barons for use in our family business, I got the enviable assignment to fly Diamond’s distinctive new twin when it visited Florida this spring during SUN ‘n FUN. [Read more…]