Daher-Socata sells a model year 2013 TBM850 at Sun 'n Fun Fly-In DAHER-SOCATA today announced the sale of a TBM 850 Elite very fast turboprop in its newest Model Year 2013 version, with the deal concluded during this month’s 39th Annual Sun’n Fun International Fly-In & Expo at Florida’s Lakeland Linder Airport. The aircraft was purchased by a Canadian private customer through Columbia Aircraft Sales, DAHER-SOCATA’s TBM distributor for the Northeastern United States and Canada. This sale confirms the TBM 850 Elite version’s success since its introduction at last year’s Sun’n Fun air show,” explained Nicolas Chabbert, Senior Vice President of DAHER-SOCATA’s Airplane Division, and President of SOCATA North America. “It underscores that our improvements and enhancements to the aircraft’s comprehensive maintenance program meet the market’s expectations. DAHER-SOCATA offers a special package for its Model Year 2013 featuring such benefits as a deluxe leather interior with a storage cabinet, wooden or carbon-fiber fittings, and 14-Volt DC power plugs. This package also includes DAHER-SOCATA’s Highly Extended Exclusive Maintenance Program, which lowers scheduled maintenance costs for five years or 1,000 hours. For 2013, DAHER-SOCATA has introduced a New Maintenance Program (NMP), with recommended maintenance intervals of 200 hours (instead of the previous 100 hours) or 12 months – whichever occurs first. The NMP is available on new production aircraft, while the transition for previously-delivered TBM 850 can be made during their annual inspection. The year’s program is completed by the CAMP tracking system, which enables owners to easily follow an aircraft’s maintenance. Additional safety options in the 2013 Elite package are a GPS-linked emergency locator transmitter, and a pulsed light system that alternately flashes the landing, taxi and recognition lights 45 times-per-minute to increase the aircraft’s visibility. DAHER-SOCATA developed the TBM 850 Elite to offer unique capability in tailoring the passenger cabin to meet operators’ needs. Its middle seats can be oriented in a forward-facing position, while the rear seats are removable. In approximately 30 minutes, the TBM 850 Elite can be reconfigured in a four-seat cabin, increasing the luggage volume capacity by three and doubling the maximum luggage weight. Popular options include a full avionics suite with Garmin’s Synthetic Vision System dynamic terrain imaging, Chartview electronic chart database, and the GSR 56 Iridium satellite datalink transceiver for global connectivity – providing on-demand weather information, text/voice communications and near real-time position tracking. For more information: SOCATA North America, Inc. North Perry Airport, 7501 South Airport Rd. Pembroke Pines, FL 33023 / USA www.tbm850.com ***