Today’s Top Pick is a 1984 SOCATA TB-30 Epsilon.

Many pilots dream about flying the hottest fighters from World War II, such as North American P-51 Mustangs and Vought F4U Corsairs.

But those increasingly rare aircraft are extremely complex and expensive to maintain—and not all that easy to fly. Those are among the factors that have made military trainers so popular.

Aircraft such as the Beechcraft T-34 Mentor, North American AT-6 Texan, Boeing Stearman PT-17, and Epsilon for sale here allow pilots an opportunity to fly vintage military iron without breaking their budgets. Flying aircraft in this category is within the capabilities of many private pilots, though still demanding enough to be exciting.

They generally offer more impressive performance than standard aircraft and are strengthened to handle aerobatic flight and combat-style maneuvers. Among the military trainers available, the Epsilon is closer than most to familiar GA designs, making it more approachable while still somewhat exotic.   

This 1984 TB-30 Epsilon has 4,755 hours on the airframe, 1,203 hours since overhaul on its engine, and 737 hours on the propeller. The panel features a Garmin G5 EFIS with backup battery, Garmin GNX 375 GPS, GA 35 WAAS antenna, GAD 29 interface unit, and Garmin 660 in the rear cockpit. 

Pilots seeking a taste of military flight training in an airplane that is fit for long-distance travel should consider this 1984 SOCATA TB-30 Epsilon, which is available for $356,000 on AircraftForSale.

If you’re interested in financing, you can do so with FLYING Finance. Use its airplane loan calculator to calculate your estimated monthly payments. Or, to speak with an aviation finance specialist, visit flyingfinance.com.

• FLYING Magazine: Tunisian Air Force Takes Delivery of T-6C Texan II Integrated Trainers
• FLYING Magazine: Genesys Aerosystems Pursues STC for Military Trainers
• FLYING Magazine: U.K. Military Expands Fleet With Beechcraft and Embraer Aircraft
• Plane & Pilot: TB-30 Epsilon Flight Keeps Pilot Hooked on Flying
• Plane & Pilot: Piper Pillán: A Saratoga With ‘Top Gun’ Dreams
• Plane & Pilot: Flying in the Alps

The post This 1984 SOCATA TB-30 Epsilon Is a Military-Spec ‘AircraftForSale’ Top Pick appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

Today’s Top Pick is a 1994 SOCATA TB-21 Trinidad TC.

The SOCATA TB-21 Trinidad TC represents the top of what many call the French manufacturer’s “Caribbean series,” which also includes the less-powerful, fixed-gear Tampico and Tobago. All of the TB models are stylish designs that look great on the ramp while providing pilots and passengers with roomy, comfortable cabins. The turbocharged TB-21 TC is well suited to high-altitude cruising, where pilots often can take greater advantage of favorable winds and thinner air.

While the TB-21 is a fairly rare aircraft in the U.S. and has an exotic, unfamiliar look, it is not an obscure oddball with hard-to-find parts. Indeed, parent company SOCATA, which builds the TBM single-engine turboprop, has made a point of supporting its older models. This means owners do not have to worry about their aircraft becoming “orphans.”

This TB-21 Trinidad TC has 2,380 hours on the airframe, 229 hours since overhaul on its Lycoming TIO-540 engine, and 1,830 hours since overhaul on its two-blade Hartzell CS propeller.

The panel includes a Garmin GMA 340 audio panel, GTX 345 ADS-B transponder, GNS 530 GPS Nav/Com, Bendix-King KX165 Nav/Com, KN64 DME, KFC150 autopilot, Insight GEM engine monitor, Shadin fuel flow computer, Horizon Instruments P1000 digital tachometer, BFG WX950 Stormscope, and standby electric attitude indicator.

Additional equipment on the aircraft includes a TKS ice protection system, factory oxygen system, Tanis engine preheater, sun visors, CO Guardian carbon monoxide detector, and Kenwood CD player and AM/FM radio.

Pilots looking for an uncommon four-seat retractable airplane with a stylish design and comfortable cabin should consider this 1994 SOCATA TB-21 Trinidad TC, which is available for $249,900 on AircraftForSale.

You can arrange financing of the aircraft through FLYING Finance. For more information, email info@flyingfinance.com.

• FLYING Magazine: DAHER-SOCATA’s Caribbean Line Gets Glass Cockpits
• FLYING Magazine: A Fellow New Airplane Owner Starts with an Unusual Choice
• FLYING Magazine: Panic Over Pacific Thunderstorms
• Plane & Pilot: Socata Trinidad GT
• Plane & Pilot: SOCATA Trinidad TB-20 GT/Trinidad TC/Trinidad TB-21 GT

The post This 1994 SOCATA TB-21 Trinidad TC Is a Rare, Stylish ‘AircraftForSale’ Top Pick appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

Today’s Top Pick is a 2006 SOCATA TBM 850.

Many pilots will tell you how much they love their aircraft and that they were meant to be together. But when a fast, pressurized, and beautiful TBM 850 taxis by on the ramp, some will instantly want to put their old machine out to pasture.

This model appeared on the market around the same time people were buzzing about the pending arrival of the very light jets, or VLJs, that were set to shake up general aviation and change the way large swaths of the population traveled. Quite a few folks who flew the TBM 850 questioned whether anyone really needed a VLJ when this turboprop could cruise at more than 300 ktas. This and subsequent TBM models stand alone in their combination of performance, comfort, efficiency, and great looks.

This 2006 TBM 850 has 1,780 hours since new on the airframe, Pratt & Whitney PT6A-66D engine, and four-blade propeller. The updated panel includes the Garmin G600 TXi avionics package with dual PFD/MFD displays, GSU 75 ADAHRS and engine indication system, GMA 35c remote audio panel, GI 275 electronic standby, dual GTN 750 Nav/Com/GPS, GSB 15 USB charger, GTS 825 traffic advisory, GWX 75 weather radar, GFC 600 autopilot, and dual GTX 335DR/ GTX 345DR transponder. The aircraft received new paint in 2021.

Pilots looking for a single that is fast enough to keep its owner from envying small jets and comfortable enough to put smiles on the faces of family, friends, and business associates should look into this 2006 TBM 850, which is available for $1,975,000 on AircraftForSale.

You can arrange financing of the aircraft through FLYING Finance. For more information, email info@flyingfinance.com.

• FLYING Magazine: TBM 850: A Jet With a Prop
• FLYING Magazine: TBM 850: Cargo Hauler?
• FLYING Magazine: TBM 850 Elite Goes All Glass
• Plane & Pilot: DAHER-SOCATA Delivers 40 TBM 850s In 2013
• Plane & Pilot: TBM 850 Scorching The Airways With Style
• Plane & Pilot: Hartzell‘s Composite 5-Blade Swept Prop For TBM 700/850 Recording Brisk Retrofit Sales
• AVweb: Daher Delivers Its 1,100th TBM-Series Turboprop Single To U.S. Pilot-Owner

The post This 2006 SOCATA TBM 850 Is a Handsome, Airway-Prowling ‘AircraftForSale’ Top Pick appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

Today’s Top Pick is a 1985 SOCATA TB-20 Trinidad.

The TB family of general aviation aircraft from French manufacturer SOCATA is known for its wide, roomy cabins and styling that looks especially modern next to many legacy brands of GA aircraft even though  designed during the 1970s. The aircraft’s clean, angular shapes might remind some vintage sports car fans of trendsetting BMW, Lotus, and Maserati designs of Giorgetto Giugiaro and his Italdesign studio.

Speaking of cars, SOCATA was ahead of its time in designing aircraft interiors to incorporate many of the features people had become accustomed to in automobiles, like more intuitive controls and instrument arrangements and general ergonomics. This TB-20’s gull-wing doors foreshadowed a number of today’s GA designs. The aircraft is sure to turn heads on the ramp.

This 1985 SOCATA TB-20 Trinidad has 3,060 hours on the airframe, 324 hours on its Lycoming IO-540 engine since overhaul, and 182 hours on the Hartzell three-blade propeller. The panel includes dual Aspen displays for MFD and PFD, a Garmin GTN 650, Bendix/King KX 165, nav/com Bendix/King KMA 24 audio panel and KN 62A DME, Garmin GTX330 transponder, Stormscope, Bendix/King autopilot, and JPI EDM 730 engine monitor.

Pilots looking for a stylish, comfortable four-seat retractable that is off the beaten path because of its relative rarity in the U.S. should consider this 1985 SOCATA TB-20 Trinidad, which is available for $264,000 on AircraftForSale.

You can arrange financing of the aircraft through FLYING Finance. For more information, email info@flyingfinance.com.

• FLYING Magazine: Daher Opens New Paint Facility for Kodiaks in Idaho
• Plane & Pilot: SOCATA 1998 TB-20 Trinidad
• Plane & Pilot: 1999 SOCATA Trinidad TC

The post This 1985 SOCATA TB-20 Trinidad Is an ‘AircraftForSale’ Top Pick with European Flair appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

Today’s Top Pick is a 2008 Daher-SOCATA TBM 850

The six-seat TBM series of turboprop singles garnered acclaim as one of the fastest turboprop-driven personal aircraft available and as an aspirational goal for pilots looking to advance in the ranks of general aviation performance. These aircraft are also known for their thoughtful, efficient design and attractive lines that demand attention on the ramp.

I recall poking my head through the open air-stair door of a TBM like this one that was on display at a fly-in several years back. Its beautifully trimmed cabin seemed luxurious and vast—and it was, compared with the well-worn Cessna 172 I was flying at the time. 

This 850 has 1,117 hours on the airframe and its Pratt & Whitney PT6-66D engine, and it has recorded 767 landings. The panel is highlighted by a Garmin G1000 NXi integrated flight deck with dual Garmin GDU 1050A 10-inch PFDs and a GDU 1550 15-inch MFD. Other features include four-color radar, SiriusXM weather and synthetic vision. The autopilot includes a Garmin GMC 710 mode controller with GTA 82 yaw autotrim.

Pilots who want to climb above 20,000 feet and cruise at more than 300 ktas while transporting family, friends, or business associates in pressurized comfort should consider this TBM 850, which is available for $2,495,000 on AircraftForSale.

You can arrange financing of the airplane through FLYING Financial Group. For more information, email info@flyingfinancial.com.

• FLYING Magazine: TBM 850: A Jet With a Prop
• FLYING Magazine: TBM 850 Still Fast With Glass
• FLYING Magazine: TBM 850: 100 Years of History in Photos
• Plane & Pilot: TBM 850 Scorching The Airways With Style
• The Aviation Consumer: TBM 850: Fast, Comfortable, Manageable

The post Today’s Top Aircraft For Sale Pick: 2008 Daher-SOCATA TBM 850 appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

Before one gets too far ahead of oneself, however, one must take a step back to evaluate the available options from a higher level. In my case, I had reached a point where I had become deeply entrenched in the intricacies of various types. How much heavier a metalized Cessna 120/140 wing is compared to the original fabric-covered wing, for example (around 50 to 75 pounds), and how much it might cost to replace all the fabric on a Stinson 108 (as much as $45,000 to $50,000 when it’s all said and done).

As I was navigating all the various pitfalls and little-known lore of several types, it occurred to me that perhaps I should first back up and determine whether I preferred tandem seating, in which one occupant sits in front of the other, or side-by-side seating. Similarly, it occurred to me that I hadn’t put much thought into whether I preferred yokes or sticks. I had become buried in specification lists and budget sheets, shopping with my brain and ignoring some of the less tangible preferences that aren’t as easily quantifiable in rows and columns.

• READ MORE: Finding Your Ideal Aircraft: Bringing the New Baby Home

Looking at my list of contenders, they ran the gamut. Some had two seats, one had three, and others had four. Some had sticks, others had yokes. And sure enough, tandem and side-by-side seating were both represented in my list of potential candidates—like the SOCATA Rallye that features side-by-side seating and sticks.

So, pausing my investigation into the minutia of various types, I took a broader look at these more fundamental decisions to be made. I began by considering my experiences flying aircraft with tandem seating configurations. Looking at the list of all the types I’ve ever flown—a list well worth maintaining, perhaps inside the back cover of your logbook—I picked out those with tandem seating and reflected upon my experiences.

From the simple Piper J-3 Cub to the Aeronca Champ to the supremely capable Aviat Husky, I recalled the combination of strengths and weaknesses inherent in that configuration. Each was a relative pain to get into and out of. A lack of flexibility and multiple winter layers could make this a real chore. 

Each provided outstanding visibility, so long as you were seated in the front. I definitely did not enjoy flying from the back seat of the J-3, for example. With another person seated up front, I might as well have been flying the Spirit of St. Louis, with zero forward visibility and an extremely claustrophobic cabin. If I was to pursue a type with this seating, I’d insist upon one that allows solo flight from the front seat.

Among the less-quantifiable benefits to tandem seating was the placement of seats along the fuselage centerline. As a friend of mine once observed, the throttle is in your left hand, the stick in your right, and some point between your eyes is the roll center. You may only have 65 horsepower on tap, but when banking into your turn to final, you might as well be flying your own Mustang or Spitfire.

But thinking back, I never really found the stick to feel as natural as a yoke. This might be the result of the law of primacy, as I’d done all of my primary training in Cessna 152s, but it might also have been a preference for using my left hand to control the aircraft and my right hand to control the throttle. One way to get to the bottom of this was to seek out a type where you manipulate the stick with your left hand and the throttle with your right.

I was fortunate to locate a Piper PA-16 Clipper for rent about an hour away in rural Wisconsin. The Clipper is rare in that it pairs control sticks with side-by-side seating and a single throttle control mounted in the center. The person in the left seat manipulates the stick with their left hand and the throttle with their right.

The Clipper had many admirable qualities. The relatively large ailerons provided a snappy roll rate, and it was fun to fly. But once again, the stick just didn’t feel as natural to me as yokes. This might have been a function of my relatively broad shoulders; my arms and hands naturally fell farther outboard of centerline, farther away from a centrally-mounted stick. 

I left the little FBO nearly $200 poorer, but with some useful insight into the yoke versus stick debate. And by determining that my preference was for yokes, this also meant that, by default, my preference was also for side-by-side seating. While sticks can be found in both tandem and side-by-side cockpits, there are, to my knowledge, no light general aviation types that combine tandem seating with two yokes. The Champion 402 Lancer comes close, with a yoke up front and a stick in back, but as a twin with fixed-pitch props and an inability to maintain altitude on one engine, this type was best forgotten.

The post The Daunting Endeavor of Buying Your First Aircraft appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

To understand what’s going on with the performance improvements from the more powerful Pratt & Whitney PT6 engines involved, you need to know that there are two fundamental measures of power. The most basic measure of power—and the one listed in the airplane specifications—is the maximum shaft horsepower (shp) of the engine. The other element in the power equation is how much power the engine can potentially produce at sea level on a standard 15 degree Celsius day, which are the international standard atmosphere (ISA) conditions.

SHP Delivered to the Prop

The TBM 850, for example, has a limit of 850 shp. That means the airplane is approved for 850 shp to be delivered to the propeller. A shaft horsepower is essentially the same as horsepower developed by a piston engine, or an electric motor, for that matter. Horsepower is a measure of power, or torque, over a unit of time. We could accurately call the power delivered by an aircraft piston engine shp because the power is being delivered to the shaft that drives the prop. But because there are other measures of power output for a turbine engine, we specify for turboprop engines that shp is power delivered to the prop.

The shp of a turboprop engine is restricted by the strength of the gearbox that drives the propeller, and by the ability of the airframe and other components to handle the thrust developed by the prop. So the maximum amount of power—thrust, actually—that a turboprop engine is approved to produce at any time on a specific airplane is stated in shp and is a certified limitation.

Okay, that’s the same as in a piston-powered airplane where engine power is a certified limit. But in the case of turboprop engines the actual turbine engine can produce more power than the maximum certified under many atmospheric conditions. And thus the confusion.

Power Output Limited by Temperature

The power output of a turbine engine, jet, or turboprop is limited by internal temperature, pressure, and the rpm of its rotating components. If the temperature is too hot the crucial engine parts will break, or melt. If the pressure is too great the parts can break, or the entire engine case can even fail. And if the rotating components spin too fast they will at some point fly apart with explosive force.

As pilots we monitor these parameters to operate a turbine engine. The temperatures inside a turboprop vary from one section of the engine to another, but in the PT6 we monitor, and limit, the interstage turbine temperature (ITT). The rpm is also monitored, but instead of a gross number of revolutions—which is typically more than 30,000—we see a percentage of allowable rpm. There is no direct measure of engine pressure on a PT6 as there is on many large jet engines that use engine pressure ratio (EPR) as a measure of power output, but if the rpm and ITT are within limits the internal pressure of the PT6 will be, too.

There is another turboprop value—torque—that is also measured and reported to the pilot, and that is really just another way of measuring shp. The engine actually twists against the resistance of the propeller and the twisting force is measured and shown as a torque value. Torque is the limit of power the airplane can actually use, while temperature and rpm are limits on how much more or less power is available from the engine.

The PT6’s Free Turbine

The PT6 is a free turbine engine, meaning the components of the turbine engine that actually generate the power are not physically linked to the propeller. The part of the engine that burns the fuel and makes the energy is called the gas generator, and the section that transforms that energy into shp is called the power section.

Air in the PT6 flows from rear to front. A compressor section in the aft part of the engine draws in air and compresses it through several stages. The hot compressed air enters the burner section where fuel is injected and ignited. The rapid expansion of the burning fuel-air mixture generates a powerful gas that forces its way forward over a turbine wheel. The turbine is connected directly to the compressor wheels to spin them and thus sustain the process. This rotating section is called N1.

As the expanding gases continue their rush forward toward the exhaust they force their way past another turbine, and this one is connected to the gearbox that turns the propeller. The gearbox is both complex and sturdy because it must reduce the many thousands of revolutions of the power turbine down to the 1,500 to 2,500 rpm that a propeller can effectively use. The rpm of this section is called N2 or prop rpm.

The power potential of the gas-producing section of the engine is totally dependent on the density of the air it is operating in. When air is dense—on a cool day at sea level, for example—the turbine section loafs along. The compressor has plenty of air to work with, so it feeds the burner section its maximum charge of air using only low rpm and relatively low compression ratios. But when the air is less dense, at high altitude, or when air temperature is above ISA, the compressor struggles to ram the same air charge into the burner. The air is hotter exiting the compressor and burns hotter. The compressor must spin faster to do its work. And at some point the density of the air available to the compressor just isn’t enough for it to deliver the full charge of air into the burner before reaching the rpm limits, or the temperature limits, or both.

Reaching the Thermodynamic Limit

When the engine reaches its limits of temperature or rpm it is at its thermodynamic limit. Thermo, obviously, being temperature, while dynamic refers to the rotating speed of the components. That’s why you’ll see that a PT6 will have a limit of, say, 850 shp in the TBM, but have the thermodynamic rating of about twice that. The difference between the low and high power ratings is called flat rating, or de-rating. I like the term flat rating best because it accurately describes what is happening. The airplane and engine gearbox can only take so much shp, so the engine is capped at that value. Its power is held flat.

But the magic of flat rating is that you can use the extra thermodynamic power to increase climb and cruise speed. As the airplane climbs into less dense air there is plenty of margin in the compressor section to keep packing a full charge of air into the burner before rpm and temperature limits are reached. Just as a turbocharged piston engine continues to make full power as it climbs, the flat-rated PT6 delivers full-rated power at altitude by having the margin to increase rpm and ITT. The result is higher climb rates and true airspeed.

It wasn’t always this way with the PT6. An early version of the engine in the Beechcraft King Air 90, for example, couldn’t make full-rated power on the runway if the air temperature was hot, or the airport elevation high. Gradually Pratt & Whitney improved the design and materials of the engine to make it ever more powerful, even though certified shp remained the same. And over the past several years, versions of the PT6 are almost twice as powerful even though the external size and shape is about the same.

Flat-Rating Wins

This available increase in thermodynamic power is what makes the engine conversions of existing airplanes so attractive. The new engines fit right in the space of the originals, are limited to the same maximum power to the propeller, but produce that power to a much higher altitude or air temperature. The results are many, many knots of increased cruise speed, much higher climb rate, and often a fuel flow increase that essentially matches the speed increase so range remains about the same. It is not a free lunch because the new engines are more expensive, but it is as close to a free speed increase as there is in aviation.

The reason newer PT6 engines can produce more power is better materials to withstand higher temperatures and pressures, and much improved aerodynamics that make the compressor and turbine more efficient. The same improvements have taken place in all turbine engines, but it’s so remarkable in the PT6 because the engine has been used on the same airframes for more than 40 years.

I hope this explains flat rating, shp, thermodynamic power, and why turboprop airplanes continue to gain in climb and cruise speed. Flat rating puts power in the bank that you can draw on when conditions are less favorable. I think that’s something we can all appreciate these days.

The post Rating a Turboprop’s Power appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

• A Cessna 182 with the G1000 Nxi factory-installed—a piston single that represents the next generation of Garmin’s first OEM installations in the 2004 Skylane.

• A Cessna Citation M2 with the standard G3000 avionics suite—a light jet with a flight deck optimized for single-pilot operation.

• A Beechcraft King Air 350 with a G1000 Nxi aftermarket installation—a workhorse turboprop twin taking on a new life.

You could count a fourth airplane too—a SOCATA TB-30 Epsilon that I regularly get to fly, that hosts a Garmin G3X Touch in an experimental/exhibition application, turning a French military trainer into a solid IFR traveling machine.

The point is, you can’t swing a dead cat without hitting a Garmin flight deck these days. Not that you would want to hurt a kitty or an airplane in the process…Garmin Aviation can take a bow for creating a relatively user-friendly product backed up by solid OEM development on the front end, and support on the back end. 

This week, the company is celebrating a milestone that illustrates why we’re now finding its flight decks everywhere: It has delivered more than 25,000 total since the first G1000 left the plant in Olathe, Kansas.

A Nod to Gary Burrell

Garmin’s late co-founder Gary Burrell had the concept in his mind of what the original G1000 avionics suite would look like. The original installation consisted of a primary flight display and multifunction display (two GDU 1040s) driven by two Garmin Integrated Avionics units (GIA 63s), and a Garmin GMA 1347 audio panel. Internally, other components included the air data computer (GDC74A), attitude heading and reference system (GRS 77 AHRS), and a magnetometer (GMU 44). These parts in their subsequent evolutions still form the basis of the flight decks Garmin has debuted since March 2003—when Cessna Aircraft Company announced it had selected the G1000 for its new Citation Mustang, aimed originally at the very light jet (VLJ) market.

“Pilots around the world have spent millions of hours flying behind a Garmin flight deck and it’s a true privilege to know that our avionics help them safely reach their destinations time and time again,” said Phil Straub, Garmin executive vice president and managing director, aviation, in a release this week. “As the leading provider of integrated cockpit systems, we are very proud to celebrate this extraordinary achievement, and we wish to extend our sincerest gratitude to our aircraft manufacturers, as well as the aircraft owners, who have selected and trusted Garmin over the years. 

“The G1000 was a vision of our late co-founder Gary Burrell,” Straub continued, “and he would be deeply honored to be celebrating this milestone with the thousands of talented Garmin associates who made it possible.”

We’ve delivered 25,000 integrated flight decks! Thanks to our customers and partners for helping us reach this milestone

Which Garmin IFDs have you flown behind?
☐ G1000 NXi
☐ G2000
☐ G3000
☐ G5000 pic.twitter.com/skelhd5LG0

— Garmin Aviation (@GarminAviation) June 15, 2022

What It Means to Pilots

Turn the clock back 30 years, and life wasn’t all that different, in terms of consistency from a flight instrument perspective. You could train in a basic airplane, such as a Cessna 152, and learn attitude instrument flight and transfer that skill—and your scan—to a new airplane with just a few adjustments to make. 

That is, if you consider the standard six-pack of analog gauges—attitude indicator, airspeed indicator, heading indicator, vertical speed indicator, turn coordinator, and altimeter—to be essentially the same between single-engine airplanes. Which they are not, really. But they were straightforward, and WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) applied. The radio stack had similar nav/coms—and if you were lucky, there was a King autopilot or a loran receiver to learn. And that was it.

We went through a phase—and we’re still there, really—where the fleet’s panels were truly mixed, with airplanes equipped with glass PFDs sitting on the ramp next to those with six packs, even within a flight school’s fleet. With Garmin’s market penetration, it’s becoming more and more likely that the transition you make between airplanes moves you from one Garmin display and navigation engine to another—and you learn the airplane around them. And think, too, of the power behind those displays, and the sheer amount of information now at our fingertips. That has had an impact on safety, to which Straub justifiably refers.

If only it were that simple, though. The similarities are deceptive—and can catch you unaware if you stick to the idea that one G3000 installation mirrors exactly the one next to it. Many things will be the same, but there are still nuances to learn between, say, the G3000 in the TBM 960 and the one in the M2. As Murphy would have it, those details will catch you when you’re in the weather, bouncing around into a missed approach, and running into your reserve fuel.

More competition in the space might drive more user-friendly system architecture as well. A common lament from those transitioning from sophisticated flight management systems such as the Collins Pro Line series is that the Garmins do it almost right—but there are strange gaps in the transfer of data, where values must be entered manually into fields that would populate automatically in the Collins FMS.

But kudos to Garmin for making a product line with the iterations to fit a wide range of general aviation applications—and we can only anticipate how they’ll improve on that success.

The post Garmin Reaches a Flight Deck Milestone appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

Some airplane models never reach 100 units—and few turboprops have reached the milestone that Daher celebrated on September 21, with the rollout of TBM number 1,000. The TBM 940 will be delivered to a US-based customer, James A. Hislop, an event marked during a grand ceremony at the Daher headquarters in Tarbes, France. Daher acquired the product line 10 years ago—and the company has now manufactured more than half of the total TBMs in the fleet.

“The Daher group and its employees take particular pride in reaching the TBM’s 1,000 mark,” said Didier Kayat, CEO of Daher. “We have made significant investment since integrating the TBM into Daher’s business portfolio, and now it is a major asset for our overall industrial activity.”

Nicolas Chabbert, senior vice president of Daher’s Aircraft Division, said, “Looking ahead to the next 1,000 TBMs, we maintain our firm commitment to continue delivering aircraft that provide the optimum combination of speed and operational efficiency for owners and operators, along with the highest levels of safety and protection for pilots, families and passengers.”

The TBM series debuted in the 1980s as a collaboration between Tarbes-based Socata and the Mooney Airplane Company in Kerrville, Texas—as an offshoot of the Mooney 301. The original TBM 700 entered the market in 1990 powered by the Pratt & Whitney PT6A-64 engine (700 hp). The TBM 850 evolved the line with an upgrade to the more powerful PT6A-66 (850 hp in flight). The current TBM 940 was introduced in March 2019, with autothrottles and the ability to accommodate the Garmin Autoland system, which was approved in the summer of 2020.

The post Daher Delivers TBM Number 1000 appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

Piper PA-46-500TP Meridian

Though both turboprops seat six in pressurized comfort and derive their power from a Pratt & Whitney PT6A, that’s about where the comparisons between the TBM 900 and Piper Meridian end. The Meridian is a full 70 knots slower than the TBM 900 (330 ktas vs. 260 ktas), its range is nearly 600 nm shorter (1,582 nm vs. 1,000 nm), and it weighs nearly 1,400 pounds less (7,394 lb. MTOW—max takeoff weight—vs. 5,000 lb. MTOW). But the Meridian also sells for around $2.2 million versus the TBM 900’s purchase price of about $3.7 million.

Beech King Air C90GTx

There’s no question that the King Air C90GTx can carry a heavy load and has more room in the cabin, but it has a hard time competing with the TBM 900 in most other metrics. The C90GTx cruises at 272 ktas versus 330 ktas for the 900, its range is limited by virtue of its second engine, and operating costs are higher as well. The price of the C90GTx at $3.8 million is nearly identical to that of the TBM 900.

Cessna Citation Mustang 510

Cessna has paused production of the Mustang, but the model both used and new remains the single most common competitor to the TBM 900. The similarities are numerous, from top speeds within 10 knots to similarly sized club-configured cabins to Garmin G1000-based avionics suites. The two major differences, jet versus turboprop and twin versus single, are disputes left to individual philosophies.

Cirrus SF50 Vision Jet

Cirrus’ under-development single-engine jet seems an unlikely competitor for the more expensive, faster and longer-legged TBM 900. Then again, both models could suit pilots stepping up. While the TBM outdoes the SF50 in terms of speed (by 30 kts), range (by around 900 nm at max weight) and conventional beauty, it is not a jet and it does not have a chute. Coupled with the price delta, the SF50 could be a strong competitor for some customers.

*Preliminary figures from 2104

Pilatus PC-12

The somewhat more expensive Swiss single shares many things in common with the TBM, but as it has always been, buyers will not be confused here. The PC-12’s cabin is best in class, its rough-strip capabilities are legendary, and the big door allows absurdly big loads. But the TBM is faster by a lot, more fuel efficient, and sleeker on the ramp. As always, buyers will weigh these factors versus their typical mission profile and decide. We want one of each.

Read More: We Fly: TBM 900

Read More: The Latest on the TBM Series

The post Aircraft Comps with Daher-Socata TBM 900 Versus the World appeared first on FLYING Magazine.