Company Will Reflect On Success At AirVenture 2008
EADS Socata is celebrating the 20th anniversary this month of
the first flight of its TBM 700, a fast turboprop single the
company notes opened a new era in business aviation.
On July 14, 1988, Chief Test Pilot Bernard Dorance and Flight
Test Engineer Jean Piatek (shown at center) performed the TBM 700's
maiden takeoff, initiating a one hour, 15 minute evaluation flight.
The TBM 700 represented an entirely new design at the time,
combining high speed and performance with the efficiency of a
turboprop engine.
The prototype plane was very similar externally to EADS Socata's
follow-on TBM 850, which is continuing the aircraft's international
success. The TBM 700 prototype was initially powered by a 700-shp
(522 kW) Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-40 turboprop with a single
exhaust stack, replaced later by the more efficient PT6A-64 version
with a stack on each side of the fuselage.
"At 20, a human being is at the flower of his prime; at 20, the
TBM aircraft family is demonstrating the strength of its maturity
while enjoying the vigor of youth," waxed Jean-Michel
Léonard, EADS Socata's Chairman and CEO. "The TBM's creators
were visionaries who foresaw the promise of launching the first
pressurized turboprop-powered aircraft – which has been
largely responsible for taking EADS Socata to its current position
in the business aviation industry."
The TBM was developed to replace medium twin-engine piston
aircraft that were the backbone of business aviation, but which
were considered slow and fuel-hungry, while jets were beyond reach
of the majority of customers. With the TBM 700, a new opportunity
opened up for a fast, capable and efficient aircraft with a
6-7-seat capacity and a sturdy low-wing airframe produced in
aluminum and steel.
Official roll-out of the TBM 700 occurred on June 13, 1988 in
the presence of former astronaut Frank Borman and Muriel Hermine,
four times European champion in synchronized swimming. Two years
later, the Federal Aviation Agency awarded a type certificate on
August 28, 1990 to the first civilian pressurized turboprop, and
the keys of TBM 700 serial no. 1 were handed over to its owner at
the 1990 National Business Aviation Association convention in New
Orleans, LA.
"In 2008, we will celebrate this 20th anniversary milestone at
the EAA AirVenture show Oshkosh, Wisconsin beginning on July 28,
taking the opportunity with our customers and the entire TBM pilot
community to look back at what has been accomplished -- and to
reflect on what lies ahead," said Nicolas Chabbert, President of
EADS Socata North America. "In almost a century of aviation, EADS
Socata has overcome many challenges, and the company has truly made
its mark in aviation history."