SOCATA
 
 
TBM-700
 Photo: Robert Deering 2/29/2024
West Houston Airport (IWS)
Houston, Texas

SOCATA TBM-700

The SOCATA TBM is a family of high-performance single-engine turboprop business and utility light aircraft. It was originally collaboratively developed between the American Mooney Airplane Company and French light aircraft manufacturer SOCATA. The design of the TBM family originates from the Mooney 301, a comparatively low-powered and smaller prototype Mooney developed in the early 1980s. Following Mooney's acquisition by French owners, Mooney and SOCATA started a joint venture for the purpose of developing and manufacturing a new, enlarged turboprop design, which was designated as the TBM 700. Emphasis was placed upon the design's speed, altitude, and reliability.

Upon its entry onto the market in 1990, it was the first high-performance single-engine passenger/cargo aircraft to enter production. Shortly after launch, the TBM 700 was a market success, which led to the production of multiple variants and improved models, often incorporating more powerful engines and new avionics. The TBM 850 is the production name assigned to the TBM 700N, an improved version of the aircraft powered by a single Pratt & Whitney PT6A-66D. In March 2014, an aerodynamically refined version of the TBM 700N, marketed as the TBM 900, was made available. Source: Wikipedia

SOCATA

SOCATA (later EADS Socata and DAHER-SOCATA) was a French producer of general aviation aircraft propelled by piston engines and turboprops, including business planes, small personal or training aircraft, as well as the production of aircraft structures for other manufacturers such as Airbus, Dassault, Embraer, Eurocopter and Lockheed Martin. The company had its headquarters, along with much of its production capabilities, located in Tarbes, France.

During 1966, the French aircraft manufacturer Morane-Saulnier changed its name to SOCATA (which is an abbreviation for Société de Construction d'Avions de Tourisme et d'Affaires, French for "Company for the construction of aircraft for tourism and business") following its acquisition by Sud Aviation. During 2000, SOCATA became a wholly owned subsidiary of the multinational aerospace conglomerate EADS; shortly thereafter, the business was rebranded as EADS SOCATA.

On 3 November 2008, EADS and French technology business DAHER announced that they had reached a final agreement for DAHER to acquire a 70% stake in EADS SOCATA. In June 2014, DAHER announced that it had acquired the remaining 30% of EADS SOCATA from Airbus Group (formerly EADS). During March 2015, the SOCATA name fell out of use, the company's name having been changed to just Daher at this time as part of a rebranding to align the division with its parent company.

Source: Wikipedia

Aircraft Produced

  • Socata Horizon
  • Rallye series
  • ST 10 Diplomate
  • TB 30 Epsilon
  • TB 9 Tampico GT
  • TB 10 Tobago GT
  • TB 200 Tobago XL GT
  • TB 20 Trinidad GT
  • TB 21 Trinidad TC GT
  • TBM 700/850/900/910/930

Source: Wikipedia