The TBM Owners and Pilots Association’s (TBMOPA) 10th convention surpassed its 100-airplane milestone with the presence of 104 total TBM 700s and TBM 850s at its annual gathering.
With almost a quarter of the TBM fleet in North America, this is the largest fly-in convention dedicated to a single turbine aircraft, officials with DAHER-SOCATA said.
Held in Idaho, the gathering brought TBM aircraft from all over the world to the Coeur d’Alene Airport, with the convention held Sept. 26-29 at the Coeur d’Alene Resort.
During its 2013 convention, TBMOPA offered three days of academic sessions customized for TBM owners, including presentations by DAHER-SOCATA, along with TBM original equipment manufacturer (OEM) suppliers Pratt & Whitney Canada, Hartzell and Garmin.
Test pilot and pilot examiner Pat Cannon gave presentations titled “Breaking the Error Chain” and “Icing From a Test Pilots Viewpoint,” while Dr. Bruce Chien discussed “Maintaining a Medical Certificate.”
In addition, there were technical and aviation safety seminars on a variety of topics related to TBM operations, as well presentations by a number of industry and celebrity speakers, organizers noted.
As with the association’s previous annual conventions, participation in the technical sessions qualified members for savings on insurance premiums that are exclusive to TBMOPA, officials noted.
“The success of this 10th TBMOPA Convention underscores that we meet our goals – set by my predecessors and myself – in bringing the TBM family together: owners, pilots, companions, vendors, and of course, the TBM’s manufacturer and its major OEM suppliers,” stated Larry Glazer, TBMOPA president. “This gave us the opportunity to work together on ways to produce better and safer pilots. We were particularly pleased that Hartzell chose the event to launch its new five-blade composite prop for the TBM, which was extremely well received by TBM owners.”
Socata also chose the event to launch MyTBMDocs, an iPad application that allows TBM owners access to automatically update Socata maintenance and operational information at no cost.
The next TBMOPA Owners Convention will take place from Oct. 29 to Nov. 1, 2014, in New Orleans.