Foresight Aviation specializes in flight training for the Daher/Socata TBM 700, 850 & 9X0 line of single-engine turboprop aircraft. We offer initial and recurrent training.
Initial Training: Foresight Aviation provides in-aircraft initial training in the form of SIOE (Supervised Initial Operating Experience).
The FAA has a laissez faire position with respect to training requirements for the aspiring TBM pilot. To act as PIC of this aircraft which typically operates at two-thirds of the speeds and altitudes of a modern jet-liner, all the FAA requires is a private pilot certificate and a couple of endorsements from a CFI. Practically speaking, the owner’s insurance company generally establishes the minimum training requirements: typically an “insurance approved” initial training course followed by a specified number of hours of SIOE. For American buyers of a new TBM, Daher has partnered with Simcom in Orlando, Florida to offer an initial training course consisting of five days of ground school and simulator sessions, recently amended to include a final two hours of in-aircraft flying with a Simcom CFI. (For European buyers, Socata instead provides ground school followed by several days of in-aircraft training at the factory in Tarbes, France.) This training is provided to the buyer of a new TBM at no additional charge.
In addition to completion of one of these two tracks, the new TBM pilot will also be required to log the above mentioned SIOE before he or she will be insured to carry passengers. Depending on the pilot’s overall experience as well as time in similar aircraft, the underwriter will typically require between 10 and 100 hours of flight time with an experienced TBM CFI. A common misconception for some pilots transitioning to the TBM, especially as their first high performance turbine aircraft, is that after completion of this “Six-day Initial” course they will be competent to fly their TBM single pilot. The reality is that this is seldom the case. While the reasons vary, common symptoms surface quickly during mentoring that often indicate a deficiency in one or more of the following areas:
Stick and Rudder Skills: Coordinated flight and AOA control
Basic Attitude Instrument Flying: Understanding and applying pitch/power/performance relationships
IFR Procedural Knowledge: Knowing the rules of the road
Situational Awareness: Getting the big picture
Sadly, many pilots who find themselves in this position have worked diligently to master the craft of airmanship while laboring under the yoke of an inordinate emphasis on what we at Foresight refer to as “ABT” (Acronym Based Training). Anyone familiar with aviation has heard the terms: CRM, SRM, SBT, LOFT, 3P, DECIDE, FRAT, ADM and others. While these concepts, when properly learned and put into practice atop a firm foundation of basic airmanship, can make one a better pilot; they are no substitute for basic airmanship. The institutions that have begun to focus on these “new” concepts to the relative neglect of flying basics are short changing their students in a way that has become painfully obvious from the numerous accidents that unmistakably point to a lack of basic airmanship skills.
$900/day; plus expenses
Let Foresight Aviation help you with an honest evaluation of your basic flying skills as well as your mastery of the systems and characteristics unique to the TBM. If you decide to become a better, safer TBM pilot, we can help with that also. Working with Foresight, we guarantee not only that you will learn and grow as a pilot, but that you will have a lot of fun in the process.