TYPE: Business turboprop.

PROGRAMME: Three prototypes built: first flights 14 July 1988 (F-WTBM), 3 August 1989 (F-WKPG) and 11 October 1989 (F-WKDL); French certification received 31 January 1990; FAR Pt 23 type approval awarded 28 August 1990; first delivery 21 December 1990; Canadian public transport certification 1993. Wider, single-piece, upward-opening door replaced horizontally split door, port side, rear, from late 1998 and is standard. Aircraft used for freighting have optional crew door, port, forward. Increased weight version (TBM 700C2) announced late 2002 and achieved FAR 23 certification on 7 March 2003.

CURRENT VERSIONS: TBM 700: In addition to basic transport, Socata offers multimission versions, including military medevac, target towing, ECM, freight, maritime patrol, law enforcement, navaid calibration and vertical photography versions. Prototype of last-mentioned (F-GLBF) exhibited at the 1996 Farnborough Air Show.
TBM 700B Freighter: Cargo version with port side cargo door, 1.19 m (3 ft 10¾in) x 1.07 m (3 ft 6 in), maker's reference MOD 70-091-52, and separate port side cockpit door; reinforced metal cargo floor (188 kg/m2; 38.5 lb/sq ft) with tiedown points in rails; optional port side cockpit door; maximum cargo capacity 825 kg (1,819 lb); volume 3.5 m3 (124 cu ft); target maximum T-O weight 3,300 kg (7,275 lb); quick conversion to six/seven-seat passenger configuration; announced June 1995; initially known as TBM 700C; French certification 23 November 1998. Launch customer Air Open Sky of France, which began TBM 700 freight operations in November 1999. Three handed over to French Army on 28 June 2000. Quest Diagnostics of the USA has ordered six, of which first three (N700QD, N701QD and N702QD) delivered 26 November 2001.
TBM 700C: First of two prototypes (c/n 205 F-WWRL/N778C) flew February 2002; officially announced 10 September 2002 at NBAA Convention, Orlando, Florida; second aircraft (c/n 240 F-WWRO/N811SW) followed as a 700C2. Changes include option of increased (TBM 700C2) or original (TBM 700C1) MTOW, according to local certification rules; strengthened spar box and wing attachments; stronger wheels and 10-ply tyres; additional (unpressurised) baggage compartment to rear of cabin; new interior with 20 g seats; improved air conditioning. Sole variant from late 2002; first production 700C1 was c/n 244 (F-WWR1/N700DY); first production 700C2 c/n 245 (F-WWRM/N6750Y) completed November 2002. All aircraft have structural and interior modifications, but 700C1 retains original seats (not 20 g) and landing gear; later upgrade to 700C2 is possible.

Description and specification refer to TBM 700C.

CUSTOMERS: Total 235 delivered by end of 2002. Deliveries to French Air Force began 27 May 1992 with first of initial six for liaison duties with Groupe Aerien d'Entrainement et de Liaison (GAEL) and ETE43; further six supplied 1993-94 (also for ETE 41 and ETE 44, plus CEAM); total Air Force requirement is 22 (of which 17 funded by mid-1998); two officially handed over to French Army 13 January 1995 for 3 GHL at Rennes, followed by six more, last three of which delivered (in TBM 700B configuration) 28 June 2000. Two delivered to Indonesian Civil Aviation Academy in September 1996. Total of 24 delivered in 2000, 33 in 2001, 34 in 2002, and 37 scheduled for 2003.

COSTS: US$2.4 million, typically equipped (2000); direct operating cost US$230 per hour (2000).

DESIGN FEATURES: High-speed, long-range, single-turboprop business transport. Low wing; twin strakes under rear fuselage; sweptback fin (with dorsal fin) and mass balanced rudder; non-swept tailplane with mass balanced elevators. Airframe life 12,000 cycles/16,000 hours from TBM 700C.
Wing of Aerospatiale RA 16-43 root section with 6o 30' dihedral from roots.

FLYING CONTROLS: Conventional and manual. Pushrod and cable actuated with electric trim tabs in port aileron, rudder and each elevator; 'scaled-down ATR' single-slotted Fowler flaps, also elecrically actuated, along 71 per cent of each wing trailing-edge; slotted spoiler forward of each flap at outer end, linked mechanically to aileron; yaw damper.

STRUCTURE: Mainly of light alloy and steel except for control surfaces, flaps, most of tailplane and fin of Nomex honeycomb bonded to metal sheet; wing leading-edges and landing gear doors GFRP/CFRP; tailcone and wingtips GFRP; two-spar torsion box forms integral fuel tank in each wing.

LANDING GEAR: Hydraulically retractable tricycle type, with emergency manual operation. Inward-retracting main units of trailing-link type; rearward-retracting steerable nosewheel (±28o). Main tyres 18x5.5 (8 ply); 10 ply on 700C2 tubeless; nose 5.00-5 (10 ply) tubeless. Parker hydraulic disc brakes. Minimum ground turning radius (based on nosewheel) 23.98 m (78 ft 8 in).

POWER PLANT: One 1,178 kW (1,580 shp) Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-64 turboprop, flat rated at 522 kW (700 shp), driving a Hartzell HC-E4N-3/E9083S(K) four-blade constant-speed, fully feathering, reversible-pitch, metal propeller. Fuel in integral tank in each wing, combined capacity 1,100 litres (290.5 US gallons; 242 Imp gallons), of which 1,066 litres (282 US gallons; 234 Imp gallons) usable. Gravity filling point in top of each tank. Oil capacity 12 litres (3.2 US gallons; 2.6 Imp gallons).

ACCOMMODATION: Adjustable seats for one or two pilots at front. Dual controls standard. Four seats in club layout aft of these, with centre aisle, or five seats in high-density layout. Large upward-opening door on port side aft of wing; overwing emergency exit on starboard side. Oxygen system, comprising three under-seat bottles with individual emergency oxygen mask for each passenger and masks with integral microphones for crew. Pressurised baggage compartment at rear of cabin, with internal access only; additional unpressurised compartments in nose, between engine and firewall, and behind cabin, both with external access via doors on port side. Nose compartment of TBM 700C reduced in size by two-thirds, compared with 700B, due to installation of environmental control system. Optional crew door, port side, front is maker's OPT 70-52-002. Reinforced metal floor with tie-down points (OPT 70-25-027).

SYSTEMS: Engine bleed air pressurisation (to 0.43 bar; 6.2 lb/sq in) and Honeywell environmental control system/vapour control system. Hydraulic system for landing gear only. Electrical system powered by two 28 V 200 A engine-driven starter/generators (one main, one standby) and a 28 V 40 Ah lead/acid (optionally Ni/Cd) battery. Pneumatic rubber-boot de-icing of wing/tailplane/fin leading-edges. Propeller blades anti-iced electrically, engine inlets by exhaust air. Electric anti-icing and hot air demisting of windscreen. Gaseous oxygen system.

AVIONICS: Bendix/King Silver Crown digital IFR package.
Comms: Bendix/King KY 196 VHF, KT 76 transponder; KMA 24H audio control/MKR. ELT.
Radar: Honeywell RDR-2000 weather radar optional.
Flight: KX 165 nav/com/glideslope; KNS 80 R/Nav; KR 21 MKR; KR 87 ADF; KFC 275 autopilot with KAS 297C altitude preselect/alerter; KDR 510 weather datalink (USA only); dual Garmin GNS 530 GPS and/or Honeywell IHAS 8000 (Goodrich Skywatch in 2002 production only).
Instrumentation: Three-screen EFIS with KMD 850 MFDs. Shadin ETM 700 engine trend monitoring equipment standard.