Kate Sarsfield/LONDON
Socata has halted development of its four-seat, twin-engined Tangara because of soaring demand for its piston-single aircraft line and growing subcontract work.
"Our workload has increased so much that we are now not in a position to launch the Tangara," says Socata commercial director Christophe Van den Brouk. The French manufacturer is hoping to team with another company to transfer Tangara manufacture and assembly elsewhere.
This is the second setback for the Tangara programme, originally due for certification last year. In April last year, Socata announced that increased workload had delayed certification by a year. "Our subcontract work, which we undertake on behalf of Airbus, Eurocopter and Lockheed Martin, accounts for 60% of our business," adds Van den Brouk. Socata has a 12-month order backlog for its TBM 700 single-engined turboprop and plans to deliver 60 TB-series piston-engined aircraft by the end of the year.
The Tarbes, southern France-based firm is holding discussions with two firms, with a view to setting up a joint venture to manufacture the $420,000 aircraft. "It is too early to say what form this partnership will take, but we are very interested in signing an agreement as soon as we can," adds Van den Brouk.
According to Socata, certification of the Tangara, a civil variant of the Grumman Cougar military trainer, is now a formality. "We plan to certificate and deliver the first aircraft within two years of the joint venture agreement being signed," says Van den Brouk.
Socata has received "a number of options" for the 135kW (180hp) Textron Lycoming O-360-powered Tangara, and forecasts an initial production rate of 15 a year.
Meanwhile, Simcom International has become a factory-approved training centre for the Socata TBM 700. The company will provide initial, recurrent and maintenance training on the single-engined turboprop at Orlando, Florida.
Now owned by Pan Am International Flight Academy, Simcom is constructing a Level 5 flight training device for the TBM 700, which is scheduled to be operational by March. Socata says availability of a simulator is "paramount" to the aircraft's success in North America and was a major consideration in its decision to sign a 10-year training contract with Simcom.
The Orlando-based company is the factory-authorised training provider for the Pilatus PC-12 single-turboprop utility aircraft, the New Piper Malibu high-performance piston single and its Meridian turboprop derivative, and the Air Tractor 502 single-turboprop agricultural aircraft.
Source: Flight International
