Steve, I had occasional work done locally, including batter replacement, a minor AD inspection among a few other things. I emailed AVEX a scanned copy of the local shop work order/sign-off and they added it to my logbook file and updated the tracking system.

Ownership there has changed in the last 12 months so things could have changed, but AFAIK the same good people still manage the shop.

Is there an STC for fitting winglets to the TBM850?

If yes, what are the performance enhancements, fuel savings?

I am running numbers for a client who is assessing options in respect to a company aircraft, generally only one or two people travel together at any one time.

Brian, I have been out of the space since 2020, but IIRC, Daher surveyed the existing fleet and didn't get enough takers to develop a retrofit for the winglets. (Mark or Terry will correct if I am wrong.)

The better bang for the buck anyway is the gear door mod. That is proven to add speed. Also make sure the "handling strake" was added to the fuselage on the pilots side in the vicinity between the wing and cowling. Doesn't add speed but improves the stall break to the left tendency.

Brian, I have been out of the space since 2020, but IIRC, Daher surveyed the existing fleet and didn't get enough takers to develop a retrofit for the winglets. (Mark or Terry will correct if I am wrong.)

The better bang for the buck anyway is the gear door mod. That is proven to add speed. Also make sure the "handling strake" was added to the fuselage on the pilots side in the vicinity between the wing and cowling. Doesn't add speed but improves the stall break to the left tendency.

I use Camp because when it was in warranty Camp was included in the warranty for 5 years.

Thank you for the updates. I have had a response from Daher to my query to them. Daher have provided a list of OEM upgrades.

Fastest groundspeed yet. I wish it had this tailwind all the time, but amazed at how efficient it is.

Groundspeed is a very addictive substance.

Came across this video last night:

[youtube]https://youtu.be/wbDCIFobJcE[/youtube]

He is a former Cirrus Jet and Honda Jet Owner.

A few things I picked up:

1. Expense flying VLJ/LJ when it's just you and/or another.
2. Maintaining safe proficiency in a jet. His opinion, pilot owners don't fly enough hours a year to maintain the level proficiency they should, to safely fly a jet in all conditions.
3. Program costs of Jets.

I maintain the only reason jets are safer than t props is bc pilots train more and are held to a higher standard.

The attitude of ‘it’s easier bc it has props’ is bs IMO. You cannot safely fly a tbm 50 hours per year, same reason I don’t think you can do it in jet. Not enough reps.

But this becomes a bigger question of is 50hrs enough in anything? Somehow, we've accepted the fact that 50hrs is OK in piston twins, but not in a turbine? When everyone knows a turbine is easier to manage than a piston... We need to re-adjust our value parameters, I think.

My Aerostar was at least 2x more complex than my Turbo Commander in power management. I can only guess a jet must be half as complex as the Turbo Commander again - there is only two levers - go fast, go slow, that's it.

First, I agree with the general proposition personally.

The counterpoint might be that, in normal operation, the additional speed of the jet can get you into trouble much more quickly. Of course I’d much rather have an engine out in a c501 than any piston twin (or other propeller driven plane for that matter). Additionally, people would point to other more complex systems but I’m not sure that really means anything practically (again, in terms of normal ops).

Broadly, I think the safety issue really comes down to reactions to abnormal, deviations and non standard or unfamiliar situations/terminals/etc. When operating at a proficient (or higher) level, curveballs are an interesting change from the norm. When you are approaching or beyond task saturation when they come (which you easily can be in almost any environment if you aren’t proficient), then incidents happen. Just look at the stories of how gear ups happen (when people have had the desire and guts to publicly share honestly) for examples.

Others are right, Daher didnt have enough deposits to start the certification for winglets on the 850.

I was one of the deposit holder and I got my deposit back. Looking back I wouldn't do it now.

Buy a 900 if you want the winglets.

Funny how flying a turboprop redefins ones definition of efficiency

I hit 400 knots in a Meridian once in level flight. Burning 38.8 gph. That calculated out to 10.3 nautical miles per gallon. That did seem efficient.



I hit 313 knots in a Mirage in level flight, running lean of peak at 15.6 gph. That calculates out to 20 nautical miles per gallon!!! Now that did seem pretty efficient.



Pretty sure I lost all that efficiency going back in the opposite direction.

I specialize in headwinds most days.

That is wild. Almost the same mpg as a Baron.

Ben