All In the Family

Daher has delivered the 80th TBM 960 executive single-engine turboprop aircraft, thereby marking a milestone in the annals of the company’s top-of-the-line turboprop offering.

The fourth-score TBM 960 was handed over to a private owner just over one-year after the model's April 2022 launch.

To acknowledge the model’s popularity and celebrate the program’s success, Daher will exhibit its TBM 960 demonstrator aircraft at booths 387-392 throughout EAA’s AirVenture 2023 at Oshkosh, Wisconsin’s Wittman Regional Airport (OSH). Subject aircraft features Daher’s distinctive Sirocco paint scheme.

Daher Aircraft Division senior vice-president Nicolas Chabbert stated: “Owners and operators praise the TBM 960’s outstanding flight experience and increased cabin comfort, as well as the enhanced efficiency and sustainability. It takes the maximum advantage of today’s technology to provide digital control for the engine and the propeller, extending into the digitally-controlled cabin.”

The TBM 960 marks Daher’s fifth evolution of the TBM 900-series developed, initially, by defunct French airframer Société de Construction d'Avions de Tourisme et d'Affaires—better known by the acronym SOCATA. Across five iterations spanning the TBM 900, 910, 930, 940, and 960, the worldwide TBM 900 family fleet numbers 488 aircraft. The number surpasses the delivery totals of the two previous generations of TBM aircraft, the TBM 700 and TBM 850, of which 324 and 338 specimens were produced respectively.

Introduced in April 2022 at Lakeland, Florida’s SUN ‘n Fun Aerospace Expo, the TBM 960 is powered by a single, purpose-built, 895-shaft-horsepower Pratt & Whitney PT6E-66XT turboprop engine turning a five-blade Hartzell Raptor propeller. The drivetrain is operated via Daher’s Engine and Propeller Electronic Control System (EPECS)—a proprietary architecture comprising a dual-channel Full Authority Digital Engine Control (FADEC) system and an electronic propeller-control mechanism.

By virtue of the EPECS, the start-cycle of the TBM 960’s PT6E-66XT engine—following the activation of a single cockpit switch— is fully-automated. The aircraft’s power-lever becomes an e-throttle, which maintains a single forward position throughout flight. From takeoff to landing, ALL TBM 960 power-changes are made via the EPICS—thereby, in Daher’s words, “ … optimizing powerplant performance throughout the flight envelope while reducing pilot workload by integrating all functions and protecting the engine’s life.” At Daher’s recommended cruise-power-setting of 308-knots, the TBM 960’s fuel-consumption is a comparatively miserly 57 U.S. gallons per-hour.

Fully-integrated into the aircraft’s propulsion system, the Hartzell Raptor propeller is designed to reduce overall weight and improve the TBM 960’s takeoff distance, and climb and cruise speeds. Turning at 1,925 rpm during maximum power output, the propeller’s takeoff sound-signature is a modest 76.4-decibels—significantly quieter than a domestic dishwashing machine.

The TBM 960’s cabin features an all-new environmental control system produced by Enviro Systems Inc. Additional enhancements include ergonomically-enhanced seats, USB-A and USB-C power plugs, individual cup-holders, headset hangers at each cabin seat, ambient LED strip-lighting, and electronically-dimmable windows; the latter two features are controlled via a Passenger Comfort Display (PCD).

The TBM 960’s cockpit is fitted with Garmin’s G3000 integrated flight deck suite, which features flight envelope monitoring through the Garmin’s Electronic Stability and Protection (ESP) and Under-Speed Protection (USP) systems. TBM 960 pilots are rendered further sedentary by an advanced icing protection scheme, and the aircraft’s Emergency Descent Mode (EDM) function and HomeSafe emergency autoland system.

To date, Daher has delivered a total of 1,155 TBM family aircraft over 12 different models.

FMI: www.daher.com