Daher escorts Patrouille de France US

Daher’s TBM 930 supports the French Patrouille de France aerobatic team on the start of its historic U.S. tour

The Patrouille de France’s trans-Atlantic crossing for its current U.S. tour was supported by a TBM 930 very fast turboprop aircraft, continuing Daher’s backing of this world-renowned French Air Force jet aerobatic team.

The TBM 930’s mission was to fly ahead of the Patrouille de France’s Alphajets and their accompanying support aircraft, validating meteorological and general conditions at refueling stopover airports in Keflavik (Iceland), Kangerlussak (Greenland) and Goose Bay (Canada).

Daher Chief Test Pilot Stéphane Jacques, a former fighter pilot with the French Air Force, provided real-time information to the Patrouille de France’s leader through the TBM 930’s Garmin GSR 56 satellite voice and data transceiver – which is offered as part of the aircraft’s avionics package.

The Patrouille de France’s U.S. presence marks the team’s first U.S. tour since 1986 and commemorates the 100th anniversary of U.S. entry in World War I.
Involved in the current tour are more than 70 French airmen, pilots, mechanics and support staff, along with the 10 Alphajets, a Falcon 50M business jet from the French Navy, and a French Air Force Airbus A400M Atlas airlifter carrying 25 tons of equipment.

“French and American airmen served side-by-side during World War I, building air superiority that had a decisive role in changing the conflict’s outcome,” explained Nicolas Chabbert, Senior Vice President of the Daher Airplane Business Unit. “To honor the commitment of those warfighters – whose legacy continues with French and U.S. cooperation today – Daher is pleased to have played a part in the Patrouille de France’s centennial demonstration tour.”

The TBM 930 is meeting up again with the Patrouille de France this week in Lakeland, Florida, where Daher is displaying the very fast turboprop aircraft at the U.S. Sun ‘n Fun International Fly-in and Expo – one of the French aerobatic team’s performance venues.

To honor the U.S. entry in World War I (during which the Daher predecessor company Morane-Saulnier played a significant role as a provider of training aircraft), a TBM 930 demonstrator has been decorated with stars and the World War I roundel insignia of the U.S. Air Service, along with the 1917-2017 centennial dates. Daher’s latest collaboration with the Patrouille de France continues a relationship that included the company’s deployment of a TBM 850 for air-to-air filming of the aerobatic team in a 2012 movie celebrating France’s spirit of aviation.