SAIB CE-04-61 —

1 SPECIAL AIRWORTHINESS INFORMATION BULLETIN

Aircraft Certification Service Washington, DC

U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Aviation Administration

CE-04-61 April 12, 2004 www.faa.gov/certification/aircraft This is information only. Recommendations aren’t mandatory.

Introduction

This Special Airworthiness Information Bulletin alerts you, the owners and operators of SOCATA Model TBM 700 airplanes, that SOCATA has issued a Service Bulletin (SB) No. SB 70-101, dated March 2003, “Retrofit of TBM 700C1 with Provision for TBM 700C2 to TBM 700C2.” The effectivity is for TBM 700C1 with Option Number OPT70-01-029 “Provision for TBM 700C2”, serial numbers (S/Ns) 240, 245 to 251, 253 and 254. SOCATA listed this SB as “Facultative.” The French Direction Général de l'Aviation Civile (DGAC) does not have an Airworthiness Directive on the SB or issue.

Background

The United States Type Certificate Data Sheet (TCDS) number A60EU, Revision 10, dated March 7, 2003, Note 6, reads “SOCATA modification Nr MOD 70-139-00 allows an extended Maximum Take Off Weight (MTOW). It is an optional modification applicable to S/Ns 205, 240, 244-9999. The retrofit is possible only for airplanes within the above range of S/Ns already equipped with SOCATA modification Nr MOD 70-140-00 “TBM700 C1 version.”

The purpose of SOCATA SB 70-101 is to increase the MTOW from 6579 lbs (2984 kg) to 7394 lbs (3354 kg). The difference between S/Ns in TCDS A60EU and SOCATA SB70-101 is explained as follows:

• To do a retrofit from TBM700 C1 version (TBM700 equipped with MOD 70-140-00 ) to TBM700 C2 version (TBM700 equipped with MOD70-139-00) is possible within the range of S/Ns indicated in A60EU TCDS. The way this retrofit is made could be different from that described in SB70-101, depending on the equipment installed in the airplane. (Equipment such as seats, airspeed indicator, etc.)

• For TBM700 S/Ns 240, 245 to 251, 253 and 254, SOCATA issues SB70-101 because these airplanes were delivered to their customers as C1, with "C2 provisions," prior to C2 version approval. The effectivity of this SB 70-101 is specific to these S/N airplanes. The MOD70-139-00 is called out in SB70-101 because these S/Ns shall require detailed instructions to become a TBM700 C2 version.

2 Recommendation

We are recommending, but not requiring, that owners and operators of SOCATA TBM 700 airplanes, S/Ns 240, 245 to 251, 253 and 254, consult with SOCATA prior to making changes to increase the MTOW from 6579 lbs (2984 kg) to 7394 lbs (3354 kg) as stated in SOCATA SB 70-101, dated March 2003.

For Further Information Contact Gunnar Berg, Aerospace Engineer, FAA Small Airplane Directorate, ACE-112, 901 Locust, Room 301, Kansas City, MO 64106. phone: (816)-329-4059, fax: (816)-329-4090, email: [email protected]

For copies of the SB, contact EADS SOCATA, Direction des Services, 65921 Tarbes Cedex 9, France. phone: 33 (0) 5 62.41.73.00, fax: 33 (0) 5 62.41.76.54, Telex: 532 835 F.

Internet Connection

For Internet downloads of the SOCATA SB, go to http://www.socata.eads.net and highlight SUPPORT, then click on ONLINE DOCS. Fill out first name, last name, country, and your email address, then click on CONTINUE.

For the SOCATA Users Group Organization, go to http://socata.org/ and click on RESOURCES, select Online SB or SL Index, then select the SB or SL that you need for your make and model airplane.