Diamond DA42 and DA40 owners with diesel engines are cheering as they can now fly their airplanes longer before paying for an overhaul. The AE300 turbo diesel produced by Diamond Aircraft subsidiary Austro Engine GmbH in Wiener Neustadt, Austria, recently achieved a TBO boost, increasing the interval before a recommended overhaul to 1,800 hours.
A fleet total of more than 500,000 flight hours have been accumulated over more than 1,000 AE300 engines in the field. The 168 hp engine sips less than 6 gph at 65 percent power.
The AE300 engine was first certified in 2009 and comes standard on Diamond's latest versions of the DA40 NG single and DA42-VI twin, which experienced major issues with their first engine selections — Thielert's Centurion 1.7 and 2.0. Airplanes still equipped with Thielert engines can be upgraded with either the AE300 or, on some DA42 platforms, the Continental CD-155 engine.
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