Company Also Offers DHS Model

Representatives with EADS Socata's told attendees at this week's Paris Air Show sales of the planemaker's new TBM 850 turboprop-powered business aircraft are being paced by orders from US customers, which account for more than 70 percent of total bookings to date.

EADS Socata expects to deliver 50 TBM 850s this year, of which 41 are for the U.S. market, with the remaining aircraft sold in Europe, Asia and Africa. In 2006 -- the first year of availability for the pressurized, six-seat aircraft -- EADS Socata delivered 36 TBM 850s to US customers, while six more were sold elsewhere.

"We are extremely pleased with the TBM 850's US success, which clearly demonstrates the need for an aircraft combining the TBM 850's speed, comfort and turboprop efficiency," said Nicolas Chabbert, president of EADS Socata North America.

"At a time when there is much talk about the new category of very light jets, the TBM 850 has found its place in the market. The attractiveness of a turboprop-powered aircraft is further reinforced by the growing cost of fuel, as well as its lower impact on the environment," he said.

EADS Socata is delivering an average of one TBM 850 per week to the United States, with a cadre of pilots performing transatlantic ferry flights from the aircraft's Tarbes, France production site, according to the company.

US sales and support of the TBM 850 are managed by EADS Socata North America in Pembrook Pines, FL which has created a network of distributors and service centers across the country.

TBM 850 customers in the United States include entrepreneurs, corporations and owner-pilots. The aircraft builds on the TBM 700 business aircraft and provides a maximum cruise speed of 320 KTAS at a 26,000 ft. cruise altitude in ISA conditions. This gives pilots the cruising speeds of light jets with the direct operating costs of a single-engine turboprop.

The company is also offering the TBM 850 as a multi-role platform for US homeland security, border patrol, drug interdiction, law enforcement and special operations missions.

The aircraft can be outfitted with an electro-optical/infrared mission package and a fully retractable under fuselage turret, which is controlled by a "plug-and-play" operator's console installed in the mid cabin.

FMI: www.socata.eads.net, www.eadsnorthamerica.com