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more than a century. It is a builder of the popular
single-engine turboprop airplanes named TBM. The
roots are in the pioneering Morane-Saulnier avia-
tion company — and more recently in SOCATA.
DAHER TBM FAMILY
Not many know that the design of the TBM air-
plane family is connected to the Mooney 301. TBM
originated from the initials "TB" for Tarbes and
"M" stands for Mooney. After Mooney's acquisi-
tion by French owners, Mooney and SOCATA were
discussing a co-development of a new enlarged
turboprop design derived from the earlier 301.
This resulted in the formation of a joint venture
for developing and manufacturing the envisioned
aircraft, designated as the TBM 700. The aircraft
was considerably heavier than the original 301 but
powered by more than twice the engine power. In