Los Cabos, Mexico, 11 November 2002
The 2002 TBM 700 Owners and Operators Gathering held in Los Cabos (Baja California, Mexico) from November 6th through the 10th was the best gathering Socata Aircraft has hosted to date. Every year surpasses the previous and this year was no exception with more than 150 participants from the USA and Europe. The lush setting of Los Cabos was enough to entice many owners and operators many owners and pilots to fly with their TBM 700 across the border. Then the FBO at San Jose de Los Cabos International Airport was crowded on November 8th with 27 TBM 700 parked on the ramp representing one fifth of the TBM 700 fleet operated today in the United States.
Several technical sessions were held to present the latest developments and improvements to the high speed turboprop, including presentations by manufacturing, flight tests and support representatives from EADS Socata, Pratt & Whitney Canada, the equipment suppliers Honeywell Bendix/King and Shadin as well as the refinishing specialist Oxford Aviation.
Other topics featured various services aspects, such as insurance premiums (CS&A), aircraft taxation (Advocate Consulting), training (SimCom, Aviation Safety Training) and maintenance aspects (Rice Lake Air Center). Honor speaker of the 2002 TBM Gathering was Albert A. Murrer III, vice-president Operations for Quest Diagnostics, who described the activity of its TBM 700 Freighter fleet flying nightly 5 to 6 days per week.
The most notable presentation was given by EADS Socata and featured the latest model, TBM 700C, whose deliveries are expected to start by the end of this year, following its certification.
