The Sbach 342 (a marketing name for the XA42) is a composite structure low-wing monoplane with a fixed conventional landing gear with a tailwheel and carbon fiber fuselage. It is powered by a 3150NaN0 Lycoming AEIO-580-B1A piston engine driving a three-bladed propeller. It is the tandem version of the single-seater XA 41 (XtremeAir Sbach 300) which was designed by the same team in Speyer in 2004. The XA42 received a type certificate from the European Aviation Safety Agency in March 2011. In November 2012 it received its type certification through the FAA.