Michigan businessman Phillip Bozek recently took delivery of a TBM 900, making him the youngest owner of this new variant in the family of TBM very fast turboprop aircraft.
Having learned to fly three years ago, the 28-year-old Bozek runs his family’s lighting business, Conserva Electric Supply, and also is involved in real estate investment.
He graduated from Georgetown University at the age of 18, and is fluent in Arabic and Russian, language skills that led him to work in Washington, D.C. at the White House from 2005 to 2008.
To date, Bozek has logged 1,500 flight hours while flying for business.
“Speed was the main reason that attracted me to the TBM 900, along with its designed-in cost/performance ratio, which I confirmed after evaluating and flying most of the competitive aircraft available on the market, including jets and new turboprops,” he explained.
Based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Bozek received his TBM 900 – complete with the personalized registration number N694PB – at DAHER-SOCATA’s industrial facility and TBM final assembly line in Tarbes, France, and participated in its ferry flight to the United States.
The TBM 900 is simply the world best choice about speed easy to handle and maintenance!
I’ll take your word for it but only as long as you keep the airplane away from convective activity like that referenced recently in the TBM accident in Florida in which the pilot with his family on board apparently became distracted and engrossed with his auto pilot when it disengaged as a result of an encounter with turbulence associated with a thunderstorm cell (NTSB prelim conclusion) for which ATC had advised him with a heading to avoid. He apparently proceeded to ignore the need to fly the airplane by hand to prevent it from exceeding it’s structural limit speed and recover it from the dive and unusual attitude that ensued all the while apparently fumbling with the AP. The tragic result was over stress of the airframe and inflight breakup.
That would appear to have been a case of too much speed and too much airplane for his experience level. I would hope this young and relatively inexperienced pilot fares better with his new high performance airplane.
The crash in Florida was a PC-12, not a TBM.
Mr. Weilke; yes, your CORRECT’ that was a PC-12, not a TBM. I second the motion!