Gail Eaton

DA42 Owner, Florida

"My husband, who isn't a pilot, selected the DA42 for us. He read all of my flying magazines, did research on the web, and contacted distributors - and one day, he announced he had found our plane in the DA42. For him, as a non-pilot, safety was really important - and as we travel a lot from our home base in Florida to a home in Montana, we really needed the safety that only a twin can provide."

"Our DA42 really fits a broad range of missions - visits to franchises in Florida and adjacent states, golf trips (both my husband and I golf, and both sets of clubs fit in the nose of the DA42!), as well as trips to our home in Montana. With all the traveling I do, I have been stuck in too many places I don't want to be when I take the airlines - and the DA42 is changing that for me."

"Choosing the Diamond DA42 was as much about passion as about facts. It's a very safe airplane, and very capable, with great range etc. - but what really sold me was flying it. The handling characteristics are just fabulous - I love the way this plane flies, it's a dream."

"When I bought the DA42, I had 1,000 hours - but no multi-engine rating. I got my multi training in the DA42, and I almost felt like I was cheating. Compared to the other multi engine planes I had flown in back when I was a CFI, this was just so easy. Having just one lever per engine, being able to set the power directly, and then having the big multi-function display to monitor everything is really simple - and the engine-out procedures we trained were much simpler, too."

"I love being fawned over at every airport I land at. Everybody has read about the DA42, and admires it. It's cool to be able to confirm to those asking that this twin really only burns 11 gph total on both engines - much less than many high-performance single-engine planes. Flying the DA42 is a bit like having an exotic sports car - we have an exotic plane that people are excited about."