Will Celebrate With A 100th Anniversary Fly-In at AirVenture 2011

By Michael J. Gallagher

The countdown kick-off was initiated by Patrick Daher, CEO of the DAHER Group, and Nicolas Chabbert, president of SOCATA North America, during a news conference at EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh.

Aeroplanes Morane-Saulnier was created in 1911 by two French pioneer aviators and brothers, Leon and Robert Morane, with engineer Raymond Saulnier. During its operation, the company and its aircraft were responsible for numerous aviation milestones, including winning the first World Air Race in 1911, performing the first Mediterranean aerial crossing in 1913, developing the first four-seat business jet in 1954, and producing and the TBM 700 - the first pressurized civilian single turboprop aircraft, which was certified in 1990.

To celebrate the 100th anniversary, Daher-Socata will introduce a special anniversary edition of its TBM 850, and is to hold a 100th Anniversary Fly-In event with 100 aircraft anticipated to participate as part of the EAA AirVenture gathering in 2011. "This celebration of aviation excellence will highlight the prestigious roots of our aircraft manufacturing activity, and underscore our company's confidence in the business aviation market - despite today's difficult economic times," Patrick Daher stated.

Daher-Socata made the announcement amid a year where the aircraft manufacturer is on track to keep pace with the 36 aircraft produced in 2009 and the 200th TBM 850 has been sold. Looking to the future, Nicolas Chabbert, President of  Socata North American said, "The new developments will be in electronics. In 2009 it was synthetic vision, in 2010 it is the G1000 system." Chabbert also announced a revision to the Socata Internet presence which will feature 2 way communication features

"We are supporting an active fleet of nearly 6,000 airplanes all over the world, including 1,000 in North America," Chabbert explained. "These range from the latest TBM 850 versions to some aircraft that are 50 years old. This is why Daher-Socata is dedicated to developing service activities for our customers, including avionics retrofit and other modernization packages."

Daher reports sales in excess of $900 million in 2009.

FMI: www.tbm850.com