Diamond Twin Star Engine Upgrade

[Ganter]

Ever since flying the DA-42 I felt it was underpowered. Indeed, Alabeo modelled the engines on the Thielert 1.7 Litre units at the start of the DA-42's production run in 2004.

Real world it didn't take long for feedback to get to Diamond that the engines were piss poor. Then Thielert went out of business and Diamond tried Lycoming for a bit before finally settling on Austro Turbo 300's which the current DA-42 IV are equipped with. Much faster and leaner burning and make this bird a joy to fly.

I tweaked the aircraft.cfg as I flew around the World. It essentially "upgrades" the engines from the Alabeo modelled Thielert 1.7 Litre (under-powered) to the current Austro Turbo 300. It ups the power quite a lot - you can achieve level flight a few knots down from Vne.

I tweaked the cruise scalars and thrust and drag to represent the aerodynamic cleanup of cowlings and flush rivet heads that Diamond did for the IV together with the new propeller design done in 2012.

Bear in mind that with just you in the cockpit (solo) you won't need full power on TO - as in real Twin Star IV. You and three passengers and a load of luggage - full power.

Power should be applied on gaining altitude to give you realisitic KIAS's/ fuel consumption at cruise heights with power set between 70 - 84 %. Read the notes for the real thing.

PM me for a link to the Drop Box file.

Obviously don't forget to backup your original aircraft.cfg (rename it something like aircraftBACKUP.cfg and substitute this one.)

And the usual: Use at your own risk. Although it works well for me on my own system I take no responsibility for your use of this file, any damage caused or financial loss.

Enjoy,

Ganter

[fleurenf]

This works magnificent. No issues thus far. I do note you added different camera definitions but don’t seem to work as there are only 4 views available.

[LouP]

Thank you. Very nice upgrade. I never went near full power on her and she flew like a dream.

LouP

[Ganter]

Thank you. Very nice upgrade. I never went near full power on her and she flew like a dream.

LouP

Good to know LouP, thanks.

I flew dear old PH-LUE around the (FSX) World in 2016. She remains my favourite all time airframe in FSX - despite her shortcomings! Not because she flies the best - she doesn't - there are amazing guys on this forum and others who have created the most magnificent flying machines, and made them freely available to us enthusiasts. No, she's my favourite because I did this trip with her and we made it home in one piece.
I tweaked and tweaked the .cfg along the way using the Diamond DA-42 POH as reference.

I'm so glad it works well for you and others who've been kind enough to let me know.

Happy DA-42 flights!


The Route - Start EGHF/ South of England


Somewhere over Arabia


Driving out to the pyramids - well worth an FSX outing!


Mount Fuji before the port wing


Looking for the Island of Crete in the most horrible vis I've ever encountered.


Excerpt from first page of Log Book - England down to Egypt

[fleurenf]

Hi Ganter, with all the tweaks done, what approximate range would it reach?

Kind regards,
Fred

[Ganter]

Hi Ganter, with all the tweaks done, what approximate range would it reach?

Kind regards,
Fred

That's a good question Fred,

Just looking back at my rtw log I see the longest run was Sharm El Sheikh to Lamerd, Iran with distance flown recorded at 1009 NM. I topped off all tanks before departure and on landing I've recorded I had approx 20 Gallons remaining in the tanks.. Winds aloft were on the tail so indeed helpful. Leg time is recorded at 6:09 hrs. I generally flew legs between 65% - 75% power in the cruise.

Sometimes I flew legs until I got bored and for those trips I filled the tanks as I really didn't know how far I'd fly that day. I routinely remembering seeing Endurance predictions of 12 hours/ 1200 NM on the Garmin or thereabouts once up to alt after a normal climb to get there. The book for the DA-42 IV says Range: 914 NM.

Hope that info is useful.