Turbine Pilot

Claiming the turboprop single performance prize

Back in 1988, when the first TBM 700 was rolled out in ceremonies at the Tarbes-Ossun-Lourdes Airport in Tarbes, France, the airplane filled a niche that lived in speculation alone. The airplane's French manufacturer, Socata (Société de Construction d'Avions de Tourisme et d'Affaires, a division of the Aerospatiale consortium), was facing what it felt might be a market void. At the time, the only turboprop single was Cessna's Caravan I. The Caravan, the first utility hauler of its kind, was at one end of the turboprop single continuum — the large, slow, homely, trucky, all-business end. At the other end of the continuum — the fast, sleek, luxury end — there was, well, nothing.

That's the end that the gurus in Tarbes were hoping to fill. By introducing the TBM 700, the manufacturer was making the phenomenally risky and expensive leap of faith required by all who pretend clairvoyance of the aviation market. Hovering around the Big Question — "Will anyone come to the party?" — were some big negatives.

They built it, they came

The TBM 700 performed rather well in the marketplace. For five years the TBM 700 held onto the niche for a fast and sleek turboprop single. If you bought a turboprop single, you bought either a Caravan or a TBM 700. Pickup truck or Mercedes.

Then came the Mercedes-as-pickup-truck, the Pilatus PC-12. This turboprop single immediately carved out a small chunk of the market, and suddenly life was becoming more complicated for the people selling TBM 700s. I mean, if you had a load to haul and still wanted a fashionable ride, then that left the sedan from Tarbes out of the running.

In terms of sheer numbers, the Caravan takes the sales prize, with more than 900 having gone out the door. The high number is explained by the airplane's attributes as a workhorse, snapped up in fleet buys from the likes of Federal Express. The PC-12, a relative latecomer, has racked up about 90 deliveries so far in its brief life.

The TBM 700 occupies a middle ground, with 128 deliveries in its 10-year history. Of that number, 22 were to the French military, where the airplanes see duty primarily as executive transport. Virtually all the rest went to owners in the United States.

Performance

Of all the turboprop singles, the TBM 700 definitely runs away with the performance prize. With an advertised top speed of 300 KTAS at 30,000 feet, the TBM blows away the 180-knot Caravans and edges out the 270-knot PC-12.

A big part of the explanation for these discrepancies has to do with these airplanes' comparative power-to-weight ratios and their design compromises. The Caravans have empty weights that range from 3,800 (Caravan I) to 4,550 pounds (the 208B Super Cargomaster), maximum gross weights anywhere from 7,300 to 8,750 pounds, and 600-shp Pratt &Whitney PT6 engines. The PC-12 has empty and max gross weights of about 6,100 and 9,920 pounds, respectively — but it also has a PT-6A-67B of a whopping 1,200 shp, so its speed is greater. The latter weight figures are for the executive versions of the PC-12; those optimized for cargo hauling have lower, 5,476-lb empty weights and therefore have higher payloads.

TBM 700s, however, have the highest power-to-weight ratio, what with their empty weights just over 4,000 pounds and their maximum takeoff weights of 6,579 pounds. Factor in the 700-shp PT6A-64 and it's easy to see why the airplane is the speed demon of the bunch.

Of course, aerodynamics plays a big part, too. Obviously, the bestrutted, angular Caravan will be slower than the slipperier PC-12 and TBM 700.

For all the reasons we've already discussed, it's more than a little unfair to compare these three airplanes. All are completely different, and they are meant to serve different missions and personalities. Performance can be measured by many yardsticks. Speed is just one.

Flying

The TBM 700 is a satisfying airplane to fly. Work load is comparatively low, but there are a few oddities. The torque from that 700-shp monster up front requires that you dial in a fair amount of right rudder trim as part of the pretakeoff checklist. This is done electrically, by depressing a small panel switch on the left horn of the pilot's control yoke. Up on the center pedestal, you can see the rudder trim pointer moving into the green takeoff arc as you hold down the switch. There are also switches for pitch and aileron trim — the latter on the center pedestal.

For takeoff, you select one notch of flaps, hold the brakes, bring up the torque to 40 percent, then release brakes and advance power to the torque limit. (A torque limiter is designed to help prevent overtorquing). Then you wait for the 84-knot rotation speed (at max takeoff weight) and give a firm tug. After liftoff, you should settle into a roughly 2,300-fpm climb (at midrange weights), using the airplane's VY of 123 knots. Normally, climbs are performed using 130- to 150-knot airspeeds for better visibility over the nose.

The airplane will go to 30,000 feet, where it will do 300 knots KTAS under ideal weight and temperature conditions. But for shorter trips it's usually not practical to fly quite that high. Flight level 280 works well, and there your instrument panel will show the following for a high-speed cruise at an OAT of minus 35 degrees Celsius: 90 percent torque; 100 percent (2,000) rpm; 98 percent gas generator/ compressor speed; 56.2 gph fuel consumption; 184 KIAS; and 282 KTAS. The rpm can be reduced to tame noise, and it's possible to cut the rpm back to 1,800 rpm under those conditions and still not compromise speed. Meanwhile, the pressure controller keeps the cabin at the 8,000-foot level.

Avionics features include the AlliedSignal Bendix/King EFIS 50 display — an EADI and EHSI. Radar imagery can be superimposed on the EHSI, and the pilot can choose from a number of navigational displays by hitting selector buttons on either side of the EHSI. The glareshield-mounted Bendix/King KFC 275 autopilot is another item worth mentioning. It has all the usual features, plus some jet-like touches, such as soft ride and a one-half-bank-angle mode. The latter is useful when making turns at very high altitudes, where you don't want to be imposing large load factors in the thinner air. The Bendix/King KAS 297 vertical speed and altitude selector is another standard feature. Most owners opt for the Bendix/King RDS 81, -82, or -82VP (vertical profiling) color weather radar.

The pilot seats are the most comfortable in the house, I think, and right behind them are cabinets for ice, beverage, and airway manual storage.

Though the smallish ailerons are augmented by differential spoiler actions, the airplane seems a tad ponderous in the roll axis. Then again, what do you expect from a 6,000-pound airplane?

In the pattern, the TBM 700 handles like a very heavy Beech Bonanza. Once the thrust lever is brought back to about 40 percent torque and the airplane slows below the VFE of 178 knots, you can put out the landing gear and the first notch of flaps. At 122 knots, the rest of the flaps can be brought in. On downwind and base, 100 knots is a good speed. On short final you can slow to 80 knots. Then touch down at 65 knots, pull the thrust lever up and over the Beta gate, and go into reverse thrust. Your ground rolls can be impressively short — almost as short as those of a Bonanza — when you use this technique aggressively.

If there's a nit to pick, it's the airplane's stiff main gear. Landings can be ultra-firm, even carrier-like until you get the hang of it. Trailing link landing gear or softer oleo struts would be a welcome change to the design.

New doors and interiors

While the basic airplane and its equipment have remained virtually unchanged, new door and interior styling has been introduced in the past year.

The door changes have yet to be incorporated into production airplanes; that should come later this year. Actually, there are two door changes. One, a larger aft cabin door, will be standard. The other, a small pilot door, will be an option. Pricing of the new airplanes has yet to be released.

The large aft door will allow easier access to the cabin and make the airplane more amenable to configuration as a medical transport or hauler of light cargo loads.

The pilot door, which will come with a small ladder that extends forward of the left wing root, is apparently intended to give the pilot quicker access to the cockpit when the cabin is full.

An interior change — separate from the changes mentioned above — has already been introduced. It incorporates a new wood trim that runs along the interior side panels and overhead passenger service units. The aft bench seat has also been improved; it reclines farther and has better lumbar support than its predecessors.

A challenger

In spite of all the TBM 700 has going for it, it will face an unknown variable within two years or so. A challenger to its dominance of the fast/sleek end of the turboprop single market has raised its head.

It's The New Piper's new Malibu Meridian. The Meridian, announced at last year's National Business Aviation Association convention, will look like earlier Malibu Mirages but have a stretched nose that will house a 400-shp Pratt & Whitney PT6A-42A engine. Piper says that the Meridian should be able to fly as fast as 262 KTAS and as high as 30,000 feet.

Pitched as a natural step-up airplane for owners of piston-powered Malibus, the Meridian is definitely aimed at the TBM 700 market. Though its projected range (1,070 nautical miles), useful load (1,607 pounds), and speed are less than those of the TBM 700, so is its price. Right now, the Meridian has a $1.3 million price tag. TBM 700s typically go out the door at around $2.3 million a pop — that's for a very well-equipped airplane with radar and EFIS.

A price problem?

Is the TBM sales force quaking in its boots? That's hard to tell. They've got their game face on now, girding up for the coming battle.

First of all, says Nicholas Chabbert, Socata's U.S.-based vice president of sales and marketing, "It's very doubtful that New Piper will be able to stick to that price." Chabbert believes that incremental price hikes are bound to bump up the Meridian's price. By the time the Meridian is certified (Piper has said that will happen in 2000), Chabbert thinks the Meridian's price will come up to $2 million — or more.

Further confirming this kind of price speculation, Piper has said that the Meridian's current price is only for the first year of production.

"And that's for a basic airplane, with no options," Chabbert reminds us. Then he'll mention the effects of incremental inflationary creep on the annual increase in prices of all capital equipment. At one point, Chabbert even said that there was enough profit built into the TBM 700 that the company could lower prices on new airplanes — and still make money. That reveals the company's level of concern about the Meridian.

Sell, sell, sell

The TBM-Meridian battle may be two years away, but Chabbert and his crew have plenty to keep them busy in the meantime. One big project has already been completed — Socata's move from Grand Prairie, Texas, to the North Perry Airport in Pembroke Pines, Florida. At Grand Prairie, Socata's quarters were relegated to a series of interconnected trailers that were quite literally in the shadow of the American Eurocopter (formerly Aerospatiale's helicopter assembly) site.

At North Perry — which is next to Hollywood, Florida — Socata has a building of its own, which includes a service and parts facility. There is a new sense of energy in the air, born of Chabbert's urgency, a sincere initiative to improve service, a refocusing of sales effort on the TB series of piston singles, and the hiring of Earle Boyter, a sales veteran who's served at Piper and Diamond Aircraft.

The Meridian introduction probably did more than anything else to pump up Socata's American efforts. Chabbert boasts that he sold eight TBM 700s in 1997. Maybe he's getting warmed up for the big millennial competition.

One thing can't change, though. The TBM 700 is a big, powerful, extremely capable airplane with the kind of presence and ambience you'd find in a turboprop twin.

The Meridian will be smaller, and that will probably forever live in comparison to the Tarbes product. Long before the Meridian was introduced, some pilots often confused the TBM 700 with the Malibu — something that surely vexed those who had anted up a couple of million.

Now TBM prospects may have to face some big questions: Is a million-dollar price spread worth swallowing, when some can't tell the difference between a TBM and a Malibu? Do 38 knots really mean that much? Where will the Meridian's real price wind up? The TBM 700's?

It will be interesting to watch this drama unfold.

Links to all Web sites referenced in this issue can be found on AOPA Online. E-mail the author at [email protected].

Priming the Meridian

Will the Malibu reach its peak with the Meridian?

Will The New Piper's Meridian cut into the TBM 700's share of the market? With a price tag a full $1 million lower, the answer is almost assuredly "yes." Larry Bardon, The New Piper's director of sales, exudes confidence when talking about the Meridian. "Our orders have stabilized at 74 airplanes ... after that, it's hard to predict so far into the future," he said in a recent interview. "But we have a very high level of confidence about the Meridian's future."

At this writing — in early January — Bardon claims that Piper had just received the Meridian's first Pratt & Whitney PT6 engine and that full-scale engineering development is under way. A team of 36 engineers has been assigned to the task. At this point one of the main jobs is to finalize the engine's integration with the airframe. This involves such critical items as determining intake and exhaust designs that optimize engine cooling and efficiency, designing engine mounts, and making a final propeller selection (it will be a three-blade, reversible pitch, full-feathering Hartzell, we're told).

The Meridian will come with a well-equipped instrument panel. "Loaded up, like Piper usually does," Bardon said. Color weather radar and a high-end autopilot will come standard, we're told, but EFIS will be an option. Final selection of the avionics suite has yet to be made.

Perhaps the biggest news about the Meridian's progress is the revelation that engineers have decided to increase the airplane's horizontal stabilizer and elevator surface areas by 25 percent over original specifications. This major change came about as part of an initiative to ensure the airplane's pitch stability, slow-speed handling, and stall characteristics, Bardon said. Makes you wonder — just a little bit — what the engineers found wrong with the original.

When asked to respond to Socata's assertions that the Meridian's price will eventually rise to the $2 million mark, Bardon replied, "Look, we know what the price of the bill of materials is, so we know what it will cost to build the airplane. We also know how to price the product, and we're on contract to deliver at a price." Bardon says that the first year's production run of Meridians will go for $1.3 million a pop — in 1997 dollars. The second year's will sell for $1.35 million, and the third year's will cost $1.4 million apiece.

"We'll sign contracts for fixed future prices," Bardon continued. "The others [Pilatus and Socata] can't do that because they don't know what their prices will be." Is this on the level? Could be. Bardon used to sell PC-12s before he jumped ship for Piper.

The Meridian's production rate is anticipated at 60 airplanes per year. About 1,500 hours of flight testing will be required to complete the certification program, and certification is expected sometime in mid-2000 if all goes according to plan. Bardon promises that the first flight will happen on August 31, 1998.

Will the Meridian steal sales from the piston-powered Malibus? Maybe, Bardon says, but Piper will keep on building them. "We can't let the Malibu's value decline," he said. "Besides, that airplane's been a fantastic success for us. It's sort of like Harley-Davidson motorcycles — there's a nine-month waiting list for them." — TAH