First public appearance of the world’s fastest single engined turboprop at the oldest international aviation show.
ILA, Berlin, Germany, 16 May 2006
EADS Socata introduces today at the ILA Berlin Air Show, the largest German air show the newest member of its family of high performance pressurized turboprops - the TBM 850.
"Since its introduction in December the TBM 850 has met with huge interest from the aviation public, clearly indicating we were right that a “faster TBM” would better address the owner-flown market place than building a whole new generation of aircraft. Our order book has already topped 35 aircraft and soon we will start taking reservation for 2007 production”, said Stéphane Mayer, Chairman and CEO of EADS Socata.
“ILA Berlin Air Show 2006 is very important for us as it is a wonderful hub to meet Western and Eastern Europe potential customers, Added Marc Le Stunff, EADS Socata deputy Vice-President Sales. “Germany is Europe’s largest single General Aviation market and has the largest TBM fleet of the continent. Thanks to its performance, the TBM 850 is ideally tailored to offer fast transportation between European regions at affordable costs.”.
Built on the success of the TBM 700, the TBM 850 offers its pilots and operators a maximum cruising speed of 320 KTAS at flight level 260 (in ISA conditions) combining the cruising speed of a light jet with the economic direct operating costs of a single-engined turboprop.
The powerplant of the TBM 850 is Pratt & Whitney Canada’s PT6A-66D, the latest addition to the world’s most popular family of turboprop engines, (with over 32,000 engines produced to date). The PT6A-66D delivers 1,825 eshp flat-rated to 850 shp for the TBM 850. Its single-crystal compressor blades enable higher turbine temperatures and coupled with a new first-stage compressor design gives the TBM 850 its enhanced high-altitude performance.
Base price of the TBM 850 is set at $2,576,930 in 2006. A version with typical customer options and equipped for RVSM (Reduced Vertical Separation Minimum) operation will list at $2,799,850.
The TBM 850 is available via EADS Socata’s existing direct sales and distribution network, and is supported by its extensive worldwide network of service centers.
In Germany and Austria EADS Socata is represented by SOCATA Deutschland GmbH, based at Siegerland Airport (EDGS) in Burbach, near Köln (www.socata.de)
TBM 850 Main Development Milestones
• Project start: August 2004
• First flight of the TBM 850 prototype: 25/02/05
• Flight test campaign duration: 8 months including
– 103 flights encompassing 162 flight hours
– 600 performance measurement points
– 40 in-flight relights
– Negative G maneuvers
– Flight quality investigations with 100 full power stalls,
stability, maneuverability, Dutch rolls etc
• EASA certification : 28/11/05
• FAA certification : 23/01/06
• First flight of the first production TBM 850 : 23/01/06
