Daher has announced the service entry of the
initial TBM 930 based in Asia.
It was delivered in December to
Anutin Charnvirakul,
who previously owned a TBM 850 version of Daher’s very fast turboprop aircraft
family.
The new TBM 930 was ferried by Charnvirakul
from Daher’s Tarbes, France production facility to Bangkok in December,
departing from Europe after a ritual Thai Buddhist blessing. Charnvirakul’s
5,914-naut. mi. ferry flight involved stopovers in Corfu (Greece), Aqaba
(Jordan), Fujairah (United Arab Emirates) and Nagpur (India). The trip’s average
cruise speed was 277.5 kts., and the fuel consumption averaged 41.6 gallons per
hour.
“I very much enjoyed my previous TBM 850 for
its versatility and flexibility,” Charnvirakul explained. “When the time came to
replace it after four years and some 900 flight hours, I chose the latest TBM
model: the TBM 930. My ferry flight confirmed that I made the right decision:
this is the TBM at its best in terms of performance, state-of-the-art avionics
and the handling.”
|
Anutin Charnvirakul - second from the left -
performed his maiden operational flight after his new TBM 930 was certified in
Thailand to deliver a heart transplant for the Thai Red Cross organization. |
Shortly after the TBM 930 received its
Certificate of Airworthiness from The Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand,
Charnvirakul performed the maiden operational flight as a volunteer to deliver a
heart transplant for the Thai Red Cross organization. An active pilot,
Charnvirakul is a well- known personality in Thailand. He was a former Deputy
Minister of Public Health and Commerce, and is the current leader of the
country’s Bhumjaithai Party.
On the business side, Charnvirakul is Chairman
of STP&I Public Company Limited, and the developer of Rancho Charnvee - the
first golf course in Thailand’s Khao Yai mountain region, which has a 3,929-ft.
(1,200-meter) landing strip that is open to general aviation traffic.
“We congratulate Anutin Charnvirakul for being
the first to operate the TBM 930 in Asia,” said
Nicolas Chabbert,
the Senior Vice President of Daher’s Airplane Business Unit. “We’re particularly
honored by his renewed confidence in our TBM very fast turboprop’s quality and
performance.”
|