20 October 2006
A large part of the talk in general and business aviation has been about VLJs (Very Light Jets) and the way that they’ll change passenger flying: moving small numbers of people regularly, quickly and efficiently between a huge variety of airports.
However, in all this talk of flying high at airliner speed, it’s difficult to forget the turboprop singles. Socata is trying to put the record straight at NBAA this week, with a ‘cartoon’, CGI-based video presentation for their Socata TBM 850 – which it has named the ‘Very Fast Turboprop’, or VFT.
The company has identified that NBAA is likely to be awash with potential VLJ customers who may not yet have the “culture of aviation veterans”, says Stephane Mayer, chairman and CEO of EADS Socata. So, he says, “It is our duty to inform
them about the range, useful load of the TBM 850 and its efficiency at jet
speed of 320kts.”
