Story ID: 120DaherSocataAINMay13EditedByAY_NM.doc
Daher-Socata Active on Still-under-Wraps Bizjet Aerostructures
By: Thierry Dubois
Caption: 
Word Count: 211
As France-based Daher-Socata considers whether to add a twin-engine aircraft to a line that includes its TBM 850 turboprop single, it remains active as an aerostructure specialist in still-under-wraps business jet programs.
  
For the Falcon SMS, Daher-Socata is providing Dassault with the upper fuselage for the passenger cabin and the lower forward fuselage section as well as an emergency exit and baggage door, CEO Stéphane Mayer told AIN. Separately, “a major U.S. business jet manufacturer has selected us for components [composite landing gear doors] that will be part of a new series of three aircraft,” Mayer said. 
  
Daher-Socata has long been active in composites research and development for business aviation. It has built such a demonstrator for a fuselage the size of a TBM 850 fuselage.
  
For its own product range, the company has not yet announced whether it will launch a twin-engine program. It had studied using the defunct Grob SPn as a basis for its own program, but Mayer confirmed Daher-Socata will not relaunch it for now. “Business aviation is beginning to show signs of full recovery, so we hope that funding the development of a new aircraft will be easier in two years, most probably with a partner,” he added.