Socata TBM

TBM 700 / TBM 850 / TBM 900 TBM 930
A TBM900 over Lake Winnebago during the 2015 EAA AirVenture Oshkosh event.
Role	Executive transport and civil utility
National origin	France
Manufacturer	DAHER-SOCATA
First flight	14 July 1988
Introduction	1990
Status	In production Active service
Primary users	French Army French Air Force
Produced	1988–present
Number built	822 (As of 31 December 2016[update])
Unit cost	US$3,658,336 (2016 TBM 900)

The SOCATA TBM 700 (also marketed as the TBM 850, Daher TBM 900 and Daher TBM 930) is a high performance single-engine turboprop light business and utility aircraft manufactured by DAHER-SOCATA. An aerodynamically refined version of the 700N is marketed as the TBM 900 from March 2014.

In the early 1980s, the Mooney Airplane Company of Kerrville, Texas designed a six-seat pressurised light aircraft powered by a single 360 hp (268 kW) piston engine, the Mooney 301, which made its maiden flight on 7 April 1983. Mooney was purchased by French owners in 1985, which resulted in talks between Mooney and the French company SOCATA to build a turboprop derivative of the 301. The result of these discussions was the TBM 700, which was much heavier than the 301 with more than twice the power, with a joint venture, TBM International, being set up in June 1987 between Mooney and Socata's parent company Aérospatiale to design and build the new aircraft. In the designation TBM, "TB" stands for Tarbes, the French city in which Socata is located, the "M" stands for Mooney.

The TBM 700 is a single-engined turboprop, six to seven-seat low-wing monoplane of mainly aluminium and steel construction, but with the tail surfaces built of Nomex honeycomb. It has a retractable tricycle landing gear and is powered by a Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-64 engine delivering 700 shp (522 kW). The first prototype TBM 700 made its maiden flight on 14 July 1988, with French certification following on 31 January 1990 and US FAA certification achieved on 28 August 1990.

Two production lines were planned, one at Kerrville to cater to the American market, and the other at SOCATA's factory in Tarbes to build aircraft for the rest of the world. A shortage of money resulted in Mooney withdrawing from the project in May 1991. The TBM 700 also comes in a cargo variant.