#dahertbm

Daher TBM 940 Single Engine Autothrottle Turboprop

The Daher TBM 940 was announced in March 2019 and is an upgrade to their TBM 930 model. It includes many upgrades including autothrottle technology, auto land technology (Homesafe), along with multiple cabin configurations to choose from.

Daher TBM 910 Single Engine Turboprop

The Daher TBM 910 single engine turbine turboprop is an upgrade from the 900 series. As per the manufacturer, there were two areas of focus when producing this aircraft. The avionics and the interior.

Many of the interior aspects of this aircraft are also used on the TBM 930 variant. When compared to the 930, both aircraft have pretty much been built the same way, except for their differences in avionics.

The maximum range you can expect when flying the TBM 910 is approximately 1,730 nautical miles. On average, this aircraft can travel up to and above 1,200 nautical miles, with 4 passengers at a speed of Mach 0.49.

The maximum take off distance for the 910 is approximately 2,380 ft, while it's maximum landing distance is approximately 2,430 ft. You can also expect a maximum cruise altitude or service ceiling of 31,000 ft.

Although capable of being set up in many different configurations. The 910 can transport up to 6 passengers. When it comes to avionics, the TBM 910 uses the Garmin G1000 NXi all-glass integrated flight deck. Which includes high resolution displays for presenting data and flight information. It also includes a feature called the "e-copilot", which helps reduce pilot workload and improve overall safety.  

Also:

-As per the manufacturer, the 910 is capable of flying with full fuel and 5 passengers on board. Which is said to be rare in this category of aircraft. -The largest operator for this aircraft is the French air force.

For more information on the aircraft mentioned above. Be sure to visit our website below:

https://executive-charter-flights.com

We are both blogging on the Tumblr site (here for Jim's blog and here for Deb's blog) which can be accessed via our website. We're regularly updating the blog sites so please keep coming back.

The Sprint Home

Now we are in Anchorage, Alaska having passed through Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, and Russia since our last update. At this point, we’ve passed the northernmost part of our trip in Anadyr, Russia at 64.5° north latitude and we are basically sprinting toward home.

Our last long stay was in Kyoto, Japan. It's a beautiful city to "sort of" end the trip on. There's still a long way to go but all of us started feeling like we were nearly home as we departed for the sprint through Russia and Alaska to Seattle, the official ending point.

See the Tracking Page

Baum, James Baum. From Russia with Love

We flew from Sapporo, Japan to Petropavlovsk, on the Kamchatka peninsula. Our plan was to get through Russia as quickly as possible. We all had visas to enter the country but the officials checked us out thoroughly. They searched our planes on landing and took plenty of time processing our entry. Next stop was Anadyr for a fuel stop where they photographed the interior of our planes. Finally we got to Anchorage. It sure felt good to be back in the USA!

Kyoto - a Favorite

We absolutely loved Kyoto, Japan. The history, art, culture, and general "vibe" were just so appealing. We dined with Geishas, explored the Bamboo Forest, toured the city, and watched the Gion Festival parade. It was a completely enthralling experience.

We went from Kyoto to Nagoya and back one afternoon using the Shinkansen train. There we saw the Grand Sumo Tournament. We had very little idea what was going on or which wrestler to cheer for but it was an incredible experience. Those guys weigh in at 350 - 450 lbs. A Sumu wrestler commits to a strict lifestyle and consumes 20,000 calories per day!

Taipei, Taiwan

We visited Taipei for 2 nights. It was supposed to have been 3 nights but typhoon Maria decided otherwise. After a one day delay, we visited the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall. We also went to the National Palace Museum, where many of the best Chinese artifacts were relocated to protect them from the Chinese civil war that followed WWII.

Anchorage, Alaska

Our short time in Anchorage has been really enjoyable. There's plenty of time to explore the city and surroundings since it's light from 4 am until 1 am. We walked the city in the wee morning hours since we couldn't sleep. This was our second Friday this week thanks to the International Date Line. We got 20 hours younger in an instant crossing navigation waypoint ABINA between Russia and Alaska.

The Portage Glacier was 3 miles longer in 1911 and the lake didn't exist. This glacier has been receding for well over 100 years. Now, there's a boat tour to take you out to one of the only glaciers that's still underwater. 50 years ago, the Burns and Shakespeare glaciers were all connected to the Portage. The boat tour with Portage Glacier Company is well worth the $34 ticket price.

We are almost home! Tomorrow we leave for Seattle where we will visit a winery and the Boeing Factory. Sunday night is our last dinner as a group and Monday we all head in our separate directions. We'll send one final update email after the trip with a summary of the highlights. Thank you for reading!

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We made it out of Bali! The volcanic eruptions dissipated and the Indonesian authorities reopened the airport late in the day on 6/29 (the day we were supposed to leave). It worked out great as we spent an extra night in Bali at a different hotel closer to the airport. The Four Seasons at Jimbaran Bay was gorgeous and frankly, way better than the place we stayed in Malaysia. Only having one night in Malaysia worked out just fine. 

There are volcanoes erupting frequently in this part of the world. The one that delayed us is Mt. Agung. It’s the one that experienced a major eruption in 1963, an eruption billed as one of the most catastrophic volcanic events in Indonesian history. That blow killed nearly 2000 people. Agung became fairly active again in 2017 and in September and some 40,000 people from the area immediately around the volcano were evacuated on fears of another major eruption. Since that time, the eruption that we experienced is the first time the airport has been closed due to volcanic activity since November of last year. Lucky us. 

After that night at the beautiful hotel, our flights the next morning went normally except that we were vectored to the east to avoid the remaining plume of ash emanating from Agung. The views of the volcano were breathtaking as we got to fly within just a few miles of the crater. 

The flight from Bali to Kota Kinabalu Malaysia was about 3 hours. It was a lovely flight mostly over the 3rd largest island in the world, Borneo. It is home to part of Indonesia, Malaysia, and Brunei. 3/4′s of it is Indonesia. During our flight, I zoomed out the navigation display to look at where we were on the globe. I continually find it to be an amazing sight, looking at a map showing China, Taiwan, Bhutan, Indonesia, Australia, Papua New Guinea, and India all surrounding our location. Usually I see Canada, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, and New York. 

Deb and I had the pleasure or bringing Anais with us on this flight. She usually flies ahead to make sure everything goes smoothly for her clients when they arrive but occasionally it just takes too long to get to some of these destinations commercially so she flies with one of us. It’s amazing what she does. Every time we arrive in a country, we have a welcome letter from Anais explaining everything that’s happening during our time in that location. She makes absolutely sure that we are getting the best service from the hotels and other service providers. Needless to say, all of us on the trip are very grateful for her presence and efforts. 

Landing at the Kota Kinabalu airport in Malaysia was a piece of cake. We were welcomed by handler, who rushed us right through the entry process. By the time I handed the guy my passport, he told me we were already cleared through customs. I guess these pilot uniforms really do work!

Deb and I were really looking forward to seeing the orangutans in Kota Kinabalu. Apparently the Air Journeys trips have made this stop before and have been rewarded with a great experience meeting and interacting with these animals. The Bornean species of orangutan is critically endangered and it turns out that since the last Air Journey stop in Kota Kinabalu, the animals have been moved to another sanctuary on the island. Unfortunately, that sanctuary is quite from from the hotel we used so we weren’t able to see them. 

We did have have some help from our instrument rated stuffed orangutan, George, on the flight to Vietnam, however.....

We are traveling with a terrific group of people and I thought I would introduce them here. We are traveling around the world with a group of TBM owners. There are 6 TBM aircraft on the journey, including one TBM 850, one TBM 900, 2 TBM 910′s, and 2 TBM 930′s. Everyone gets along great and we’re are all enjoying seeing the world together. 

Here’s the group at our recent elephant outing in Thailand (no, not the ones on the elephants). The elephant experience people dress the tourists up like this and I’m sure they get a great laugh after we leave. They seemed to take more pictures than we did. 

Now before anyone gets all upset about these sorts of places being cruel to the elephants, Anais from Air Journey does extensive research before booking an experience like this. She confirmed that the place we used for our elephant outing treats the animals humanely. What we witnessed during our time there certainly supports her finding. 

So, from left to right, Lizzy McPhillips, Tijl Vuyk, Anais Pouille, Brona Folens, Morgan Baum, Dirk Folens (looking to his right), Grayson Baum, Don Caruth, Jim Baum, Cathy Caruth, Guillaume Fabry, Danielle Cornille, Anna Buzzi, Paulo Buzzi, Deb Baum, Howard Janzen. 

Lizzy and Tijl are married and are from the UK. They live outside of London and fly a TBM 910. 

Anais is with Air Journey and is the travel organizer extraordinaire. She takes care of many of the logistics associated with pulling off a trip like this, dealing with all the hotels, outing providers, transportation providers, restaurants, visas, passports, and so on. She’s amazing and definitely someone you want looking after you in a foreign country!

Dirk and Brona Folens are from Ireland and they fly a TBM 850. They live outside Dublin. 

Morgan and Grayson Baum are our kids and they joined us on the journey from Dubai through Chiang Mai, Thailand. 

Don and Cathy Caruth are from Fredericksburg, TX and they fly a TBM 910.

Guillaume (”G”) is with Air Journey and is our pilot guide. He’s amazing, dealing with all our international flight plans, overflight permits, landing permits, local handlers, weather, etc. G provides us not only with a fantastic briefing the night before a flight, but also endless entertainment. We are all incredibly appreciative of everything G and Anais do. 

Danielle is a contract pilot from South Africa. She’s flying with Tijl and Lizzy so there’s a second pilot on board. She’s got more flying experience than most of us and has been a delight to have as part of our group. 

Anna and Paulo are from Switzerland. They fly a TBM 930.

Howard is from Denver, CO. Howard flies the TBM 900 and is somehow the fastest plane of the lot. We all think he got some secret airplane upgrade for serving as the president of the TBM Owners and Pilots Association.

We spent 2 nights in Agra, India at the Oberoi Hotel. Lovely hotel with views of the Taj Mahal. Deb and I were thrilled to have our kids with us for this part of the journey. Clearly the highlight of this stop was the Taj. This marble covered structure is a remarkable testament to the architectural capabilities of the Mughal people built by an emperor to entomb his deceased wife. The structure, completed in 1643 is a showcase of architectural wonders. The foundation, built on a grid of footings that extend down below the level of the adjacent river, were designed to support the massive weight of the building, even in an earthquake. The minarets (the four towers around the main structure) provide a sense of scale to the eye and were placed so that they lean away from the main tomb. The leaning creates a visual effect making the observer believe all the minarets are perfectly vertical. It also has the benefit of making these towers fall outward, away from the main structure, in the event of an earthquake. The entrance to the garden area around the main structure is designed so that the structure appears to get larger and larger as you walk away from it. They say that when you leave, you take the Taj with you. 

The Shah that built the Taj for his wife was removed from power by his son and subsequently imprisoned at the nearby Agra Fort. Apparently his son retained some sense of affection for his father when he ordered him placed in a cell that overlooked the Taj Mahal, allowing him to view his masterpiece until the day he died. 

We also made a visit to the local market in Agra. This is a very different experience than visiting the Taj. The Taj is very “touristy”, hosting up to 40,000 visitors per day. The local market however is really for locals and we loved the experience. We went to see the Indian spices for sale and got to see the spice and a whole lot more. The place was alive with activity, motor bikes, tuk tuks, people, animals, and commerce were everywhere. Several in our group purchased spices and all of us enjoyed seeing how the market works. It certainly seemed like westerners were not common in this part of town as we got lots of looks. While some had trouble communicating with us, we mostly felt very welcome.

Yesterday, we flew from King Hussein International Airport in Dubai to Agra, India. The itinerary originally included a technical stop in Karachi Pakistan for fuel between Dubai and Agra India (“Technical Stop” is code for purchasing fuel and having a bathroom break). The stop was subsequently changed to Muscat Oman when it became clear that all the planes on the trip could do the 1200NM leg from Oman to Agra. After all, who wouldn’t choose a stop in Oman over one in Pakistan if that’s a real option? 

Although not landing, we did have to fly through Pakistani airspace to get to India. We flew at 31,000’ all the way and had no issues with Pakistan. However, when we reached the border with India, we were informed over the radio that Indian authorities would not accept our flights into their airspace. We were denied entry. That was a serious “oh crap” moment. All these flights are pre-arranged and specifically permitted with the appropriate authorities. We had Pakistan overflight permits and India Civil Aviation permits for each of the aircraft. Apparently there was some confusion with the time slot on the permits and they expected us 2 hours later than we actually arrived at the border. We had enough fuel to make the destination but we were all landing with only slightly more than our minimum reserve fuel. A two hour hold was simply not possible yet any landing to wait it out would have been in Pakistan!