EADS Socata introduces its Very Fast Turboprop to the Australian business aviation market
Gold Coast Airport, (Australia), 10 March 2007
A TBM 850 VFT demo aircraft has landed today at Gold Coast Airport, near Coolangatta (Australia) after a 10,000 Nm trip, from its home base of Tarbes-Lourdes-Pyrenees Airport (France), with stopovers in Malta, Luxor (Egypt), Bahrain, Muscat, Oman, Numbai (India), Singapore, Medan and Bali (Indonesia). This is now the start of the “TBM 850 Down Under Tour.” Key cities to be include Mt. Isa, Cloncurry, Cairns, Brisbane, Southport, Gold Coast, Sydney, Canberra, Albury, Avalon and Melbourne. The tour will culminate with the first presentation of the TBM 850 at the 2007 Australian International Airshow at the Avalon Airport, Victoria from March 20th to 25th.
Built on the success of the TBM 700, the TBM 850 VFT (Very Fast Turboprop) offers its pilots and operators what they expected: a maximum cruising speed of 320 KTAS at flight level 260 (in ISA conditions) combining the cruising speed and trip times of a light jet with the economic direct operating costs, range and useful load a of a already well proven world-class single-engine 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 for the 2007 TBM 850 is set at $2,626,910. With typical customer options and equipped for RVSM (Reduced Vertical Separation Minimum), a 2007 model will list at $2,850,000 USD.
Compared to the previous version, the 2007 model features the last generation Garmin GMX 200 Multi-function display (MFD) as standard equipment. The GMX 200 provides a focal point for the broad range of information already available to TBM 850 pilots, integrating a moving map, radar, traffic and terrain into a single display. In addition the GMX 200 will offer the options of XM weather in the US and the impressive ChartView on-route and approach charts from Jeppesen.
EADS Socata operations in Australia are based at Gold Coast Airport near Coolangatta (Queensland) assisted by two ASR (Aircraft Sales Representative). The customer support network is also organized with three Area Service Centers: Marker Aviation and Air Gold Coast in Queensland, and Wynrie Aviation in New South Wales. Victoria’s TBM Area Service Centre will soon be announced.
Mark Diaz, is the director of Sales for Australia. Prior to this he was Director of Sales for the Pacific North-Western region of the USA and Canada. Mark is not only a sales person but an Airline Transport Pilot with over 7,000 flight hours on a variety of aircraft including the Airbus A319/320. He joined EADS Socata in 2003.
“We are committed to increase our presence in Asia-Pacific where there is a strong demand in business aviation for fast transportation at the lowest costs. We are particularly confident that Mark Diaz excellent experience, and the dynamism of our sales partners will be the key to sell our first TBM 850 VFT in Australia this year” stated Nicolas Chabbert, VP Sales & Marketing of EADS Socata.
EADS Socata is one of the world’s leading general aviation manufacturers, with more than 17,000 aircraft built since its creation as Morane-Saulnier in 1911. Current products include the TBM family of high-speed turboprops, TB GT piston aircraft, aerostructures for Airbus civil airliners, the A400M military transporter, Dassault Falcon jets, Eurocopter helicopters and Embraer regional jets. EADS Socata is expanding its customer service activities, to support its growing fleet of TBM and offer its light aviation expertise for aircraft below 5,7 tons through avionics modernization, maintenance, repair and overall package offers. Headquartered in Tarbes, France, with North American operations in Pembroke Pines, Florida, EADS Socata is a wholly owned subsidiary of EADS – a global leader in aerospace, defence and related services.
