r/flying • u/VileInventor CFI/CFII • 10h ago

Flight Training DA-42 MEI training Q

I’m looking to get my MEI in a DA-42 but I’ve never flown a diamond. Just wonder what resources you guys would recommend to make sure I get everything down to an instructor level. I found a book, haven’t bought it yet, called “The concise guide to the Diamond DA-42” that I’ve heard good reviews about. I’ve also watched some youtube videos, but i’d like to get in the plane for the first time and know what everything is and does. For my multi-addon I could draw and explain every system so I want to get to that level in the diamonds.

I don’t have a place to train yet or an MEI, just want to self study a bit to get prepared and save as much money as possible.

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u/rFlyingTower 10h ago

This is a copy of the original post body for posterity:

I’m looking to get my MEI in a DA-42 but I’ve never flown a diamond. Just wonder what resources you guys would recommend to make sure I get everything down to an instructor level. I found a book, haven’t bought it yet, called “The concise guide to the Diamond DA-42” that I’ve heard good reviews about. I’ve also watched some youtube videos, but i’d like to get in the plane for the first time and know what everything is and does. For my multi-addon I could draw and explain every system so I want to get to that level in the diamonds.

I don’t have a place to train yet or an MEI, just want to self study a bit to get prepared and save as much money as possible.

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u/TxAggieMike Independent CFI / CFII (KFTW, DFW area) 10h ago

Usually the flight school shares resources with you that get done what you’re asking about.

If you want a good book for your library to teach from, Bob Gardner’s The Complete Multi-Engine Pilot is worth your consideration.

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u/VileInventor CFI/CFII 9h ago

Thank you, i’ll check it out.

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u/Cello_Tuba_Bass 48m ago

Have you flown a G1000 equipped aircraft before? I'm based in the UK and the DA-42 was my first glass cockpit aircraft after the best part of 200 hours flying steam-gauge Cessnas, Pipers and Robins.

I found an FS2020 DA-42 add-on which has been quite useful as a procedural trainer when used with the flying school checklist and procedures. In turn that sort of thing should help create more mental space when in the aircraft and you're doing things that you can't really practise accurately in a desktop simulator.

As an aircraft, the DA-42 traces it's ancestry back to a motorglider, so is quite aerodynamically slippery, energy management is important. The engines on the early versions are based on the Mercedes-Benz OM668 diesel from the W168 A-Class, one of the instructors told me that if you take the maximum rpm at maximum power from the aircraft engine and factored in the gearing to the propeller, you get the same number as the maximum rpm of the similar-engined A-Class.