Daher details Kodiak upgrades, TBM status

The Series III is equipped with Garmin’s G1000NXi avionics suite, an angle-of-attack indicator, SurfaceWatch for airport operations and orientation, Chartview electronic charts, synthetic vision, a Garmin GFC 700 autopilot, envelope protection, and a level mode that will return the airplane to level flight with the push of a button. The Garmin GWX 75 weather radar is an option.

Like other manufacturers presenting at the 2021 National Business Aviation Association Business Aviation Convention and Exhibition, Daher was optimistic. Its sales targets for 2021 are on track, said Nicolas Chabbert, senior vice president of Daher’s Aircraft Division and CEO of the TBM and Kodiak business units. In the TBM segment, Daher expects to sell 50 TBM 910s and TBM 940s this year, and 20 Kodiaks.

Chabbert said that the 400^th 900-series TBM will be delivered soon, adding that 125 TBM 940s have been delivered to date. He reported that the HomeSafe autoland system, standard in TBM 940s delivered since 2020, can now be retrofitted to 2019 TBM 940s; so far 23 have been installed.

In other news, Daher emphasized its commitment to reductions in their products’ carbon footprints. This begins with awareness and education, Chabbert said. The TBM “Me and My TBM” app allows owners to monitor CO₂ emissions. Based on fuel burn and consumption, the app will show in near-real time just how much CO₂ a TBM aircraft is producing.

Daher is continuing to invest in its EcoPulse hybrid variant of the TBM, essentially an experimental TBM powered by a conventional Pratt and Whitney PT6 engine and an array of wing-mounted electric motors driving six leading-edge propellers. The company is also working with a General Aviation Manufacturers Association program to realize carbon-neutral growth beyond 2020, and to achieve an industrywide target of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.