First such crossing with a diesel-powered aircraft takes 12.5 hours

On Monday, August 16, Diamond test pilot Gerard Guillaumaud ferried the Oshkosh display DA42 Twin Star back to Wiener Neustadt (Austria), to continue optional equipment certification. 

Remarkably, the twin diesel engine DA42 was flown from London (Ontario) to Porto (Portugal) with only one stop, in St. John's Newfoundland (Canada). The leg from London to St. John's spanned 1300 NM and took Guillaumaud seven and a half hours. The transatlantic leg from St. John's to Porto, a 1900 NM stretch, was completed in twelve and a half hours.

Had it not been for adverse weather conditions in Europe, the remaining five hours of fuel upon landing in Porto would have been sufficient to reach Guillaumaud's planned destination of Toulouse (France), a planned non-stop distance of over 2500 NM. Average combined fuel burn for the crossing, flown at 11,000 ft, was just 5.74 GPH (2.87 GPH per engine).

Guillaumaud set engine power at a fuel conserving 42 percent and achieved an average ground speed of 152 KT. The Diamond Star's optional 78 gallon long range fuel tanks were supplemented with a 26 gallon ferry tank. The total amount of jet fuel consumed for the crossing, 72 gallons, cost less than $200. The point-to-point travel time was considerably faster than any available commercial flight combination, illustrating the Diamond Star's practicality as a personal or business transportation alternative.

This flight represents the first transatlantic non-stop crossing by a diesel engine powered aircraft and underlines the efficiency and reliability of the DA42 Twin Star TDI.

FMI: www.diamondair.com