If new aircraft manufacturing ventures require a degree of faith to succeed, Austro Engine GmbH, grafted on to the side of the Diamond Aircraft factory in Wiener Neustadt, Austria must be the industrial equivalent of the Vatican. It’s not that Austro has no chance of success—the reverse may very we’ll be true—but that it’s investing heavily for a future that many in the industry can’t yet draw into sharp focus. The uncertain future of avgas—it seems to be all but dead in Europe and approaching life support in the U.S.—should make diesel engines a natural for strong growth. But with aircraft sales in the tank, that growth has failed to materialize. Gasoline powerplants still outsell diesels by a wide margin and some diesel projects—DeltaHawk, for instance, and Thielert’s slow-as-50-weight-oil life extension efforts, have a forever-over-the-horizon quality. The exception is Austro.

When Diamond’s voluble CEO Christian Dries first flew the prototype diesel-powered twin that eventually became the DA42 in 2002, he said something he would later regret. The airplane would cruise at 200 knots on 10 to 12 GPH. The reality, of course, proved rather less. The DA42 was a strong seller, but a 200-knot cruiser it wasn’t. More like about 155 knots on real-world power settings, although the economy was certainly impressive. A decade later, Dries and Diamond are at it again and this time, to quote another famous CEO, they think they’ve got the goods. The soon-to-be-introduced DA42 V1 includes a long menu of aerodynamic improvements that seem to substantially improve the aircraft’s climb rate, cruise speed and engine-out performance.

Last month we dug into moving-map apps for the Android platform, but sometimes you just want a quick check of local weather on your phone to see if it’s worth a trip to the airport—or if it’s time to push the “no-go” button on your plans and go have a beer. We think the bare minimum for this would be METARs and TAFs—ideally presented graphically on a map with text details available—local NEXRAD and PIREPs. Armed with this ideal, we forayed into the Android Market and came up empty handed. That’s not saying there’s nothing out there. Here are our front-runners, so you don’t have to gamble your five dollars on which one does what.

Everyone wants it to be true; let there be a long-lost secret that reverses aging, cures the flu overnight or squeezes 50 more miles out of every tank of gasoline. Trying fuel additives is rather like buying the occasional lottery ticket. You know the odds tower against you, but what if this one is a winner? When we met Keith Lange at Oshkosh last summer, he enthusiastically offered us two bottles of AeroFusion to test and review. He did so without qualification or condition, and we got the feeling he honestly believed in his product. He sells it with a 100-percent money-back guarantee, which not something you’d do if you expected unhappy customers. We said we’d give it a try.

In 2007, Redbird Flight Simulations had a prototype flight simulator that basically consisted of Microsoft Flight Simulator on several screens and a moving cockpit enclosure. We flew it for two minutes before it broke. Things have improved since then. Today the company ships better than one a simulator a day, if you count both their tabletop version and full-motion enclosures. Most are reconfigurable, GA sims, but they also build custom simulators for specific aircraft such as the King Air C90. With over 430 units in the field now (223 full-motion), Redbird is the largest simulator company in the world in terms of devices sold.

The aircraft mod business isn’t what it used to be. Hell, nothing’s what it used to be in a world where aircraft sales are struggling back from the abyss. In the heyday of mods, dozens of companies offered all sorts of upgrades—fuel tanks, intercoolers, wingtips—were available for new airplanes, but lately not so much. One new mod that caught our eye recently was Premier Aircraft Sales upgrade to the Diamond DA40, a popular entry level cruiser that also has legs as a trainer and personal transportation aircraft.

Imagine a NASCAR-style race where only one car is built from the ground up by a pro team with heavy corporate backing. The rest of the field consists of modified street machines borne of garages where three gearheads worked through the night and drew straws to see who was going to drive. Would it be a surprise when the pro-team won? The surprise would be if the little guys even came close, yet that’s just what’s happening with aviation apps for the iPad and the latest aera 796 GPS from Garmin. We don’t think any aviation app running on an iPad can truly supplant a 796. But not everyone needs the hottest vehicle or is ready to pay the price that comes with it.

A green oasis in the bleak landscape of data is the availability of government charts for cheap on portables like the iPad (ForeFlight, WingX) or for free on the internet (RunwayFinder, SkyVector, Airnav). The fuel for this micro industry has been digital charts and other products free for the downloading from the FAA’s Aeronautical Navigational Products Directorate, a.k.a., Aeronav. But after April 5, 2012, the products will cease to be free. Initial reports were that this decision stemmed from concerns about safety. We spoke at length with Abigail Smith, Manager of Business Development for Aeronav, concerning this policy change.

Putting the plates on a display thats tall and narrow rather than short and wide makes all the difference-and none at all.

Like Garmins GMA347, its loaded with entertainment features that are a plus only if you need them. A low price sweetens the deal.

For single-pilot ops, we like Precise Flights PreciseFlow. The Mountain High EDS O2D2 is a good choice for a two-person cockpit.

Although neither AirShares Elite nor OurPLANE are cheap, theyre still the less expensive way to own a new airplane. Owners say they fly more as a result.