Daher introduced the TBM 930, equipped with high-resolution touchscreen-controlled Garmin 3000 avionics suite, on April 5 at its factory in Tarbes, France. The six-seater thus becomes the first turboprop single with such a flight deck, and it signals the company’s intention to expand the product line with more new models.
The instrument panel features three wide-format WXGA displays that can operate in split-screen mode, enabling maps and flight plans to remain on the screen side-by-side with primary flight information, traffic and weather. Two touchscreens control communication and navigation. Thanks to the higher resolution, synthetic vision better depicts terrain in 3D.
Daher has developed a new interior for the TBM 930, with reshaped seat cushions and headrests. The company offers a new choice of wood or carbon finishes. Polished metal is used for handles, door sills and steps.
The TBM 930 shares the performance and technical details of the TBM 900; the only difference is the human-machine interface. Comparing the two is similar to comparing an iPhone to a classic BlackBerry, according to v-p of engineering Christophe Robin. While dismissing the suggestion that the TBM 900’s cockpit might quickly be seen as outdated, he acknowledged that touchscreens are the future of interfaces. “I do not know exactly how, but in 10 years all new cockpits will be tactile,” he told AIN.
Early customer demonstration flights have yielded surprising feedback. The proportion of customers who prefer the TBM 900 is higher than expected, according to Nicolas Chabbert, senior v-p of Daher’s airplane business. Describing the difference between the keyboard-controlled G1000 and the tactile G3000, he said the former is for those pilots who have a rather intuitive way of flying. As a tactile interface, “the G3000 requires a more systematic routine, and it is great to have a choice,” Chabbert said.
The price difference between the two models is in the $210,000 to $240,000 range, with the most expensive version of the TBM 930 selling for $4.1 million.
Both models feature flight envelope protection, the TBM 930 thus retaining the “e-copilot” concept of the TBM 900’s 2016 edition, introduced earlier this year. “Underspeed protection,” for example, uses an angle-of-attack sensor to prevent stall. If the pilot makes unsafe pitch-up inputs at low speed, the yoke will become harder to pull. The result is very close to what a fly-by-wire system provides, Robin said. The only exception is that a TBM 900/930 pilot will still be able to override the protection.
Aural alarms have changed, with voice replacing sounds. It is better for ergonomics, as the pilot no longer has to interpret the sound, Robin asserted. The number of times the word is repeated, the tone and the time interval between two occurrences have been carefully decided and follow standards in use in large commercial aircraft. In the event of pressurization failure, for example, “mask” can be heard three times.
“With the e-copilot, we have taken a fresh look at the aircraft’s design and put the pilot at the center,” Robin told AIN. The method can be likened to a user experience-based approach, which is different from targeting performance, handling qualities and so on. Daher’s design office has been entirely restructured along these lines.
The company expects to deliver more than 50 aircraft–both the TBM 900 and TBM 930–this year. Daher has booked orders for 140 TBM 900s since launch in 2014, with 110 aircraft delivered as of March 31 this year. The majority were purchased by customers in the U.S. and Canada (78 percent). South America represents 10 percent of the sales (primarily in Brazil), with Europe accounting for 8 percent and Asia-Pacific the remaining 4 percent.
Single-engine IFR commercial operations have been approved in France since 2013 and Daher expects the EASA will allow this kind of operation throughout Europe next year.
