Daher-Socata, the French maker of the TBM 850 turboprop single, plans to decide by the end of the year whether to add the Grob SPn composite business jet to its product portfolio or instead start from scratch with a bizjet design of its own.
Launched in 2005, the Grob SPn was well along in certification flight testing when the crash of one of the prototypes and the economic downturn conspired to force the German company into insolvency. Daher-Socata subsequently began studying the design in a joint venture with the company that took control of the SPn program’s assets. Nicolas Chabbert, president of Daher-Socata North America, said the midsize twinjet is currently undergoing flight testing while the company conducts a market study aimed at coming to an internal decision about whether to proceed with the project.
