Building It: Daher TBM 960

Daher evolves its flagship TBM series with an eye towards a greener tomorrow.

Thursday, November 10, 2022 at 02:28 PM ET

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An esprit de corps flows through the Daher workforce, as well as an emphasis on taking risks and responsibility accordingly. [Credit: Stephen Yeates]

Key Takeaways:

Daher boasts a rich and complex history in aircraft manufacturing, originating from Morane-Saulnier in 1911 and evolving through various acquisitions to become the modern Daher-SOCATA.
The company has strategically expanded its global aerospace footprint, notably acquiring Quest Aircraft (Kodiak) and other U.S. manufacturing facilities, and operates with an entrepreneurial corporate philosophy.
The TBM 910/960 aircraft are built using an integrated production process that blends traditional assembly with advanced techniques, such as milling wing spars from solid aluminum, ensuring robust construction.

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Editor’s Note: This article is part of a three-part series on the Daher TBM 960. Read more about the aircraft, as well as a first-hand account by Editor-in-Chief Julie Boatman of a TBM 940 ferry flight across the North Atlantic.

Just three years after the Wright brothers’ Flyer took a trip over the sands of the Kill Devil Hills, Alberto Santos-Dumont made his longest public flight stretching more than 700 feet from a field near Paris, France, in 1906. Just five years later, the precursor to Daher—the company that would one day build the TBM 960/910 single-engine turboprops capable of deftly spanning an ocean—was born.