A friend of mine is trying to get me to partner up on one of these babies. From what I understand, they are a bit slow (like 150 kts). but very nice and comfy. Does anyone here have any experience with this airframe? What's good, bad and ugly about it?

I know nothing about them and have never seen one in the wild. That would be reason enough to avoid.

They are actually fairly common, there are a couple at my home field, and a dozen or so for sale on Controller right now. Good looking birds.

http://www.controller.com/list/list.asp ... t&setype=1

I have also seen them quite a bit. Neat looking planes.

No spare parts, Probly as bad as L39 parts

I have about an hour in one. Nice interior but a bit tight in headroom for me (might be okay with a Clarity Aloft?). Decent handling as I recall.

They are built for pilots with small feet. Headroom in the earlier models is pretty limited, late 90s and then the 'G2' models have good headroom. Cabin width is great, some of it is taken up by the center console.

The fleet is small, so you wont find any PMA parts for the airframe. Socata supports them, parts prices are about as reasonable as Cessna or Beech. Engine, brakes, instruments are all standard-issue US sourced hardware. You need a shop that owns a set of metric wrenches and is willing to read the maintenance manual before they start tearing into stuff. If they dont have experience with the type, you are going to pay for them to get that experience. So unless you have a local shop that already maintains a couple, dont get into them. The fleet seems to cluster on the coasts and around the town of Rice Lake, WI. They have this goofy dual-mag which is not supported and different from the Navajo, there is no STC to convert to conventional mags at overhaul.

They have done a lot of things right. Two doors, the controls are actually where you can reach them, the instruments and gear lights are visible from the pilots position etc. Performance is similar to a Comanche, 155TAS depending on the number of antennas. Useful loads on the older models is around 1200lbs and you carry 86Gal useable fuel in two tanks with a 3-position fuel selector. If you burn 14gph, you have a pretty decent range.

Yuri
Check this detailed and pretty entertaining treatise. I like the part abut the spar being CNC machined from a solid chunk of aluminum. (aluminium?)

[Link][/Link]http://www.peter2000.co.uk/aviation/tb20-experience/index.html
Dave

An excellent read from one of our own BT members.
http://www.peter2000.co.uk/aviation/tb20-experience/

We used to have a TB-9 Tampico in the flying club. (I gave a BFR in a TB-20 once, as well). For 180 HP the speed was more like a Sundowner, around 99 KTAS, which was off the mark, compared to a Cherokee 180 or similar. The cabin was roomy but hot in the summer, the metal skin of the ceiling was exposed, no headliner or insulation, and big windows. It flew very nice and it is a very comfortable aircraft with the Recaro seats. The switch-ology was kinda confusing with the pushbuttons sitting on the center console. The deal breaker with the TB-9 was some special landing gear bolts. They had wear and corrosion and needed replacement. 2 month lead time and around 4 grand for the three bolts. The owner sold it after that.

I know you are looking at a TB-20 but some things will be similar.

The airplane always drew a crowd because they were so rare. But in the TB-20 category I would pick a Bonanza that goes faster in the same gas and is cheaper to own.

I like the trinidad,it as a sport car look inside.
A friend of mine as one, here is what he has to say.
Send me a pm I can put you in contact with him.



Marc,

Yes, Socata still supports the TB20. Parts are available without any issues from Socata, FL.

If he has questions, ask him to call me. I would be happy to help him.

Andrew

I owned one for about a year. Overall, it flies very well and is built strong. Working behind the panel is an absolute bear. Nothing comes apart easily. The engine will last forever since it only makes 250HP maximum. The brakes can be interesting and almost impossible to bleed them after changing master cylinders that at located where your feet go. Very bad design there.

155 knots on about 12-13 GPH. Less useful load than a v-tail, but no CG problems. Width of cabin is nice, but somewhat lacking due to center console.

A Vtail will be 10-15 knots faster on the same fuel.

I would not buy another one.

I delivered one from Pennsylvania to Texas then checked out the owners. Nice, comfortable airplane with good handling. Many of the systems are operated by push-buttons instead of switches but the layout is logical making for very obvious flow patterns around the cockpit. I wasn't directly involved in the maintenance but, as noted above, many components are standard American aviation parts. It has the same quirk as our Bonanzas: in a power-on, configured stall (go-around stall), the right wing drops very aggressively. I liked the airplane and would have considered buying one except we had our hearts set on a Beechcraft.

Parts come from France..... On a boat.

I've flown in one..... visibility out the front was poor...... but everything seems that way when you fly beech.

I've got about 20 hours in a rented GT model, which I believe has a wider cabin/better headroom. I really enjoyed it, flew nice, well mannered, easy to land, automotive style comforts inside. Some of them have TKS deice which would be great here in the northeast. I would only consider owning one if the parts availability issue can be clarified.