I say "eventually" because Diamond p*ssed off so many people and that was before Thielert went bust. The reliability was so poor that one needed the second engine! I know of a number of owners and almost none of them dared to fly them anywhere too far. Defeats the point of a twin, completely.
IO540 - That isnt my experience, or the experience of owners I know, so perhaps the experience of owner / operators has been variable.
I have not had any failures on the 42 (other than the engine
) which made be nervous about going far, and the failures that have occurred have been minor. That is the experience of others to whom I have spoken. I guess with any new aircraft (and I dont mean in the design sense) there is some inevitable beding in - I have had the coms fail for example, but I think in the early days you had similiar issues with your TB20. Whether or not these issues should arise at all is debatable - perhaps it is just poor quality control. Everyone is pi**ed over the issues with the engines but that is well rehearsed. 42s have had a lot of "heavy" use with the schools and have been used and abused as only a training aircraft can. As we have discussed how well they will really stand up to the test of time once they have been left out on the pan in all weathers remains to be seen - but that is another story.
I think the 42 with twin Lycomings as now been rolled off the production line could be a great twin fro anyone needing just 4 seats.
I would be interested to know what specific reliability issues people have had with 42s?