Diamond Aircraft, Austria, has delivered four DA40 NG and two DA42-VI to the International Aero Training Academy in Sandakan, Malaysia with its regional Asia-Pacific DRDC Asian Aerospace Services, based in Bangkok, Thailand.

The delivery is part of a substantial fleet enhancement of the academy with further expansions in the following years. It shows a commitment to the superior quality of Diamond Aircraft training products as well as the excellent customer service provided by Asian Aerospace Services.

The two factory new DA42-VI have been ferried to Sandakan, on the Malaysian part of the island Borneo in early March 2013. The flight crews were led by Hubert Trunzer, Managing Director of Asian Aerospace Services and Thomas Wieser, B777 Captain, who have shared an impressive report on the trip and the aircraft’s performance: Four pilots (two per aircraft) made the distance of 7,296 nm (13,512 km) in only eight days with a total flight time of impressing 41 hours and 37 minutes following this route: Wr. Neustadt (Austria) – Thessaloniki (Greece) – Sitia (Greece) – Hurghada (Egypt) – Gassim (Saudi Arabia) – Fujairah (UAE) –  Muscat (Oman) – Ahmedabad (India) – Kolkata (India) – Yangon (Myanmar) – Langkawi (Malaysia) – Kuching (Malaysia) – Sandakan (Malaysia).

Both aircraft were performing outstandingly well during the entire journey. Even with 30 kts head and crosswind through heavy rain in Sitia (Greece) the aircraft were flying very stable during all phases of flight. Altitudes flown were between 11,000 feet and 17,000 feet with a true airspeed (TAS) consistently above 170 kts and even up to 200 kts. The climb rate from mean sea level (MSL) to 15,000 feet was most of the time more than 1000 ft/min. Both aircraft were flown with power settings between 63 % and 79 % burning only 0.252 l/nm. No other aircraft in its class can beat the DA42-VI’s performance and economy especially in regard of speed, climb performance and consumption. Whether minus 41 °C in Siberian winters or plus 48 °C in the desert the FADEC (Full Authority Digital Engine Control) controlled Austro Engine AE300 starts, runs and performs smoothly and reliably.