I have been on the socata users group site for 5 years or so, I have been to some get-togethers with TB owners. In the US, parts are not an issue.

Socata has a dealer network for the parts. As a carrot for the dealers to stock expensive inventory they give an exclusive territory. If you are in the territory, Socata USA in FL and Socata in France wont ship to you, the order has to come through your dealer. What happens internationally is that occasionally a dealer goes out of business but doesn't tell Socata about it. When owners try to get parts, the factory just refers them to the dealer. A couple of people have gotten the run-around in those situations.

The key for things to go smoothly is to have 2 cellphone numbers. The head-tech at Socata in FL and the former VP of sales (who now runs the usergroup website). If you have those people on your side, little hickups on where to ship a part from can be solved, if you tick them off......

An A&P at my home field maintains a small fleet of Socatas and has told me that the Achilles heel of some of them is that they have some life-limited components, the replacement of which can be extremely expensive.

I'm not an A&P and this is hearsay, but you may wish to inquire into this....

best

Tim

There are a few life limited parts in chapter 4 of the maintenance manual for the TB9, the engine mount being the expensive one. There is currently no amoc or approved overhaul process for the part. Some of the former flight-school TB9s are approaching the 10k hrs and given their low value, a new engine mount will break the bank.

Most TB20s are between 2000 and 5000hrs, lots of time left to worry about any mandatory life limits.

Life limited parts are a fact of life for part 23 aircraft, not an issue on factory new antiques. Plenty of parts listed in chapter 5 of the MM, but under part 91 in the US those are not mandatory and can be handled 'on condition'. If someone gets told by his maintenance shop that he needs to replace all the chapter 5 parts, it is indeed going to be expensive. Some owners of DA40s have been skinned by their maintenance shop with that trick.

The flap bearings also tend to seize up and it is not an easy job to replace them. Buy a Bonanza. Trust me.

OK, I own a Trinidad and 80% of what I have read above is just not correct or half truths at best.

I suppose one should never ask about a Beech on a Mooney website, or a Mooney on a Socata website or a Piper on a Beech site. Ask a Mooney owner what they think of a Cirrus, even a former owner and they have a 100 reason why it is terrible.

You are just asking for slanted and mostly inaccurate information. We all own planes we like for a reason. If you want real info on any plane, please save yourself and go ask questions in a forum that knows the airplanes. Most sites, including here on beechtalk, will tell you the good and the bad about the planes they own and love.

The socata.org site will give you better info on the Trinidad if that is what you want.

Bill - I for one would be interested to hear your take on the Trinidad.

They are very attractive airplanes.

best

Tim

Tim,

I would be happy to give you a quick blurb here but I think you really need to seek out other info that is more detailed.

The Socata.org website is good. Also there is a book on the TB series available on amazon.com just search for "SOCATA" and you will see it.
Or use this link: http://www.amazon.com/Flying-SOCATA-Trinidad-Tobago-Tampico/dp/1477407766/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1386186230&sr=8-1&keywords=socata

Note: I will be up front and tell you, I wrote this book for people searching for real information about TBs.

Comments here refer only to the TB 20 Trinidad (not that the other planes may not share their characteristics, it is just they are all a little different. No more so than all Bo's being alike; nor are the TBs)

I will tell you the items, some may be good, some may be bad, you decide for your needs and mission.

Airframe:
Mostly Aluminum airframe
Solid well-built to high standards (good fit and finish)
Spar is milled aluminum alloy from single piece. Note one for each wing. Very strong.
Most fasteners are metric in size.
Brakes, engine, avionics, etc. parts are US vendors
2 Gull wing doors
Vertical Stabilizer & large rudder forward of Horizontal Stabilator
Lots of windows
Baggage door is odd shape for many; on G1 it is smaller than on GT
No control cables - push pull rods (only Stabilator trim is a cable)
Not as many STC's as some large population planes

Power plant:
Lycoming IO-540, rated at only 250 HP (others get 300 or more HP out of it)
Mags use single shaft, some other aircraft do as well (no issues I have heard of)

Interior:
More auto like than many airplanes
Wide cabin
Head room G1 front seat - I am 6'2" and fit in front seat of G1.
Head room GT front seat no issue.
Rear seats same width as front seats.
Rear Seat Headroom - G1 it can be an issue, GT resolved issue.
Certified for 5; But due to space at least one needs to be a child or small.

Flight Characteristics:
About 150 -155 KTS cruise. POH has details on what an antennas cost you in KTS.
Gentle stall characteristics (no wing drop on any I have flown)
25 KTS demonstrated cross wind capability
Stable IFR Platform
Excellent rate of climb
High wing loading (means smoother ride in bumps but less glide distance)
Big Flaps

Vendor Support:
Almost all parts (if not all) available from SOCATA
Price for parts appears not much different than other vendors
Excellent worldwide user group

Maintenance:
IPC and MM are available FREE from SOCATA and also user group
Any A&P can work on these planes
A&P may have to read a little, but not much and it is in English
The IPC/MM/POH seems easy to read to me, some people have issues (why?)
The manuals have an occasional word that did not convert from French well.
True World Wide Support
All engine parts Lycoming
Airframe parts from SOCATA.
Airframe parts have the SOCATA Part Number, some parts also have the generic part numbers - parts in USA are ordered through regional dealer. That dealer stocks parts, if they don't have it they get it from Florida warehouse. If Florida does not have part it then comes from France. I have had a few parts come from France. They were here within a week without any special request for fast shipping.

Looks:
Depends what you think an airplane should look like, many people think it looks great
Most places you land you will get at least one person come over and want to talk.

Versions:
G1 and GT - G1 is from 1983-1999 (s/n under 2000). Starting in year 2000 GT was added and has a couple fixes to airframe. Fix 1 - higher cabin roof, front and back seat have more head room, Fix - larger baggage door, Fix 3 - other misc. items like wing tips, retractable steps etc.

That is about as quick as I can make it, if you are interested in a TB or Mooney or a whatever, please go to the other sites so they can balance out what is said. And I don't think anyone means to give misleading info, it is simply they think their brand is best.

Bill

Bill,

Did you buy my Trinidad?

Like I said, it flies great and is strong. The cabin is big, but the center console does reduce the side room IMO.

The visibility was great. I thought about putting TKS on the plane, but the useful load would have been about 850 when it was all installed.

The IO-540 Lycoming will run forever in that airframe.

The landing gear is like a luxury jet.

Overall great plane, but pretty hard to beat a VTail was my thought.

Thanks for the nice write-up, Bill.

How is take-off performance? I looked at some book numbers which show almost 2,500 ft. over 50 ft obstacle, which seems quite anemic.

Sea level book at gross and ISA is 1329ft ground roll and 2083ft over a 50ft obstacle.

I am not sure if it's accurate, but I got this checklist from someone who owns one, and it shows 2,483 ft at gross and sea level.

I am not sure if it's accurate, but I got this checklist from someone who owns one, and it shows 2,483 ft at gross and sea level.

I have early time in a TB9 and TB10 and then some enjoyable early time in the TB20 after I received my instrument rating. At that time, taking out the TB20 with the KING HSI and King 150 Flight Director and WX11 storm scope was state of the art in the rental fleet. That was N5551U.

I think it would be any TB owners dream to transition to a Bonanza or Baron.

That said, I agree, it's a good airplane!

Mike