Nicholas Chabbert, Daher aircraft division senior v-p, this week at EAA AirVenture reconfirmed plans announced in April at Sun 'n Fun Aero Expo to establish a second production line for its Kodiak and TBM turboprop aircraft at a former Spirit AeroSystems plant it recently acquired in Stuart, Florida. Chabbert and other Daher executives stressed that production of the Kodiak would also continue in Sandpoint, Idaho, and for the TBM 900 series in Tarbes, France, but that the Stuart facility would be used in concert with those facilities to meet the increasing aircraft demand. The Florida production lines will likely open in two to three years.
Daher plans to deliver eight of its Kodiak 900s this year and 15 in 2024; however, deliveries of its shorter Kodiak 100 Series III will still constitute two-thirds of Kodiak deliveries in 2023 and 50 percent in 2024. Chabbert said the first Kodiak 900 was recently delivered into Europe, which he called “a big market for the airplane.” Overall, 325 Kodiaks have been delivered to date, with total fleet hours approaching 350,000.
At EAA AirVenture, Daher is displaying a TBM 960 equipped with the new Hartzell Raptor five-bladed composite propeller, which weighs less and improves takeoff distance, climb, and cruise speeds. Noise and vibration are lower thanks to the new prop's 1,925 rpm at maximum power.
Meanwhile, Daher recently delivered its 80th TBM 960 and handed over 488 of the TBM 900-series airplanes overall. Previous TBM models—the 700 and 850 series—collectively account for 662 aircraft since the program started in 1988. More than 1,000 TBMs are based in North America and the worldwide fleet has amassed 2.6 million hours. New 900-series TBMs are equipped with the Garmin PlaneSync live status and monitoring system. More than half of all TBM aircraft operators are using the Me&MyTBM app. The latest version, V6, can voluntarily evaluate aircraft approaches and provide related reports to users.
Chabbert said one of the main goals with the app is helping customers to fly stabilized approaches; he noted that unstabilized approaches are the “number-one issue” in turbine accidents. Reports generated by the app, with the help of instructors, have not only helped customers get insurance but get lower premium rates for cover, he added.
While admitting to ongoing supply chain and internal labor shortages, Chabbert pointed out that Daher had increased its stocked parts supply by $48 million and has established a dedicated web portal for all Daher aircraft, including TB10 and 20-series pistons. “The supply chain has been a concern of late, but we are continuing to normalize the parts activity,” he said, adding that Daher has more than 200 separate suppliers for its aircraft.