Australian Flies Socata TBM 700C2 Home

EADS Socata has delivered a new TBM 700C2 to Donald “Zanda” McDonald, director of Australian beef producer MDH Holdings. McDonald, a pilot rated both on planes and helicopters, flew the aircraft himself from Socata’s facility in Tarbes, France, to Mount Isa, Australia–an 8,800-nm trip.

The company plans to use the TBM 700C2 to travel to and from farms, cattle stations (sometimes using 2,600-foot gravel runways) and business places such as Cairns, Brisbane and Sydney. It will also participate in routine air checks of the 300 windmills that provide power to MDH farms.