...and Provides Temptation for European Customers

Once the newest iteration of the lovely TBM 700, the 'C,' becomes available late this year, the current, 'B' model will be discontinued, and the US market, where 3/4 of TBM production goes, will see the 'C2.'

Customers always want more, and in the case of the TBM, they want to carry more; so EADS Socata is giving it to them. The new machine, which announcement we covered in depth at Oshkosh, will get an 816 pound useful load increase -- to give the machine a new MTOW of 7394 pounds.

Luggage space in the rear compartment will increase (and the forward compartment will get mostly filled with air conditioning gear). Ceiling will go up to 31,000 feet; that alone will give the bird an extra 8% range.

The breakthrough that made the change possible was not primarily engineering (although there was some considerable work in that department); it was regulatory. In the USA, Vso was allowed to creep up to 65 knots, from the earlier-mandated 61.

Interestingly, the Europeans will get the Model C1. This machine will stall at 61 knots, even though it's the same, exact airframe as the US-version C2. The differences are in the operating manual's numbers. In order to stall (dirty) at 61 knots, the C1's weight limits will remain the same as the 'B' model. That's temptation, folks...

What changed?

Anyway, the changes that were made were not trivial, although it would take a sharp eye to spot them.

In addition to the aforementioned luggage shifts, the wing spar was srengthened, particularly in the area of the gear box. The struts are the same, but will carry higher pressure. The wheels are reinforced; and the tires are larger, with more plies. Brakes remain the same as before.

The new model will require a bit longer runway for both takeoff and landing (when flown at the higher weight), and its ultimate climb rate will be a mite lower, as well. Cruise speed will not be affected.

For those do-it-yourselfers out there: the modifications are not retrofittable. You can, I'm told by people close to the program, actually install the new gear (struts, wheels, and tires) in the old place; but there's no advantage to doing so. The structural changes (luggage area, spar mods) aren't a "bolt-on" kind of thing...

There will be the expected avionics upgrades, with the new model sporting Honeywell's IHAS 8000 suite (with EFIS, ground prox warning, Radar, TCAS, moving map), and a dual Garmin 530 option. That, and the pilot door (as used in the freighter, introduced last Fall for Quest Diagnostics), are the only options on this fully-equipped machine. All that new engineering and capability, along with what could be called a "model year change" price increase, raise your accountant's blood pressure a rather mild $140,000. If you go for everything, and pay list price (a practice highly recommended by the factory!), you could spend $2.6 million on this gorgeous, competent machine. Ten TBM 700-C2s will be delivered this year; forty are planned for 2003, with 30 to head to homes in the USA.

FMI: www.socata.eads.com