Story ID: 533
Daher Hands Over 500th TBM 900
By: David Donald
Caption: Nearly 100 of the latest TBM 960s have been handed over
Word Count: 210
Daher has recently surpassed 500 deliveries of the TBM 900 series single turboprop. The milestone aircraft was handed over to a U.S. customer just ahead of NBAA-BACE 2023.
The TBM 900 was first introduced in 2014, following the production of 324 TBM 700s and 338 TBM 850s. The first of these aircraft—the TBM 700 initially developed jointly by Socata (formerly Morane-Saulnier) and Mooney—made its first flight on July 14, 1988. The more powerful TBM 850 first flew in 2005, shortly before Daher took a 70 percent stake in what had become Eads-Socata. It subsequently acquired the remaining 30 percent from Eads.
Notably, the TBM 900 ushered in winglets and a Hartzell five-blade scimitar propeller, among other improvements to the turboprop. The family evolved through the 930 (2016, a higher-end version with Garmin G3000 touchscreen cockpit), the 910 (2018, similar to the 900 with G1000 NXi avionics), and the 940 (2019, a derivative of the 930 with autothrottle and, from 2020, the Homesafe emergency autoland system).
Today the flagship is the TBM 960, which is powered by a PT6E-66XT turboprop with dual-channel digital electronic propeller and engine control. Following its unveiling in 2022, the TBM 960 has been a strong seller. Deliveries had reached 92 at the end of September, and more than 100 aircraft are on order. That equates to more than two years of production.