by Paul Bertorelli

We’ve heard this story twice from separate sources: A Diamond salesman demonstrating the company’s new turbodiesel DA42 Twin Star drives the thing a couple of miles offshore over the Gulf of Mexico at 1500 feet and cages one engine. "Now," he says to the wide-eyed would-be buyer, "would you rather have that other engine out there or a parachute?" This, we are told, is an effective deal closer if the buyer happens to also be kicking Cirrus tires. …