MARK HANNANT
EADS Socata is celebrating its 90th birthday at the show - and has wheeled out a couple of classic aircraft from bygone years to mark the occasion. Visitors to the static display can see a replica of the 1913 Morane-Sauliner type H flown by Roland Garros across the Mediterranean in September of that year. Next to that is an MS 138 Parasol two-seater from 1927. This aircraft today belongs to the Jean Salis Vintage Aircraft Collection housed at La Fertú-Alais Aerodrome outside Paris.
Although proud of its past which goes back to 1911 when the company began life as Morane-Sauliner, the French general aviation and aerostructures manufacturer clearly has its sights set on the future with the latest versions of Socata aircraft sitting alongside on static display. These include the 6-7 seat Socata TBM 700 shown in its quick-change passenger cabin formation that is designed to allow express freight transport, and the 4-5-seat Socata TB 20 Trinidad GT ‘Premium' which is a limited edition equipped with multifunction display Honeywell KMD 550 and a Hartzell ‘Scimitar' propeller.
Philippe Debrun, EADS Socata president and chief executive, speaking as the show opened, said the order book is full and the company is set to deliver 125 aircraft this year up from 73 last year. "We are taking orders on an almost daily basis. Most of our customers are private individuals and there seem to be plenty of them," he said against the din of the flying display.
There are currently 200 TBM 700s flying - the fleet now exceeding 200,000 flight hours.
Source: Flight Daily News
