Daher congratulated Margrit Waltz on her 960th ferry flight. Last month, she delivered a new production TBM 960 turboprop aircraft to an owner in North America, on a transatlantic trip.
Waltz, one of the most experienced ferry pilots, flew from Daher’s TBM production facility in Tarbes, France to Daher’s Aircraft Division at Pompano Beach, Florida. “It was a great trip, good winds, good weather and with the excellent performance of the TBM 960,” Waltz commented.
Her 960th journey was completed in a flight time of 15 hours, 38 minutes, involving stopovers at Wick in the UK; Keflavik, Iceland; and Canada’s Goose Bay; followed by the initial U.S. landing at Bangor, Maine and the arrival at Pompano Beach Airpark in Florida. It marked 48 years of activity in the service of general aviation for this German-born ferry pilot, who lives in Pennsylvania’s Lackawanna County.
In 1991, Waltz was one of the first pilots to ferry a TBM-family aircraft across the Atlantic Ocean for Daher. Since then, she has delivered more than 300 TBMs to the North American continent, while flying others to Africa, Asia and Australia.
“It’s highly symbolic that Margrit flew the milestone trip with a TBM 960, as her ferry flight services on behalf of Daher during the past three decades have contributed to the TBM program’s success,” stated Nicolas Chabbert, the CEO of Daher’s Aircraft Division, who is attending this week’s AERO Friedrichshafen air show. “With her professionalism and aviator skills, she sets a wonderful example for all women aspiring to a career in aviation.”
In recalling her experience with the TBM, Waltz said: “It was love at first flight, as the TBM was a cut above the aircraft that I was flying at the time. The TBM 960 is my favourite aeroplane, as it has all the capabilities a pilot can expect. I want to thank Daher for its confidence during the past 33 years, along with the incredible support from the company’s factory team in Tarbes, as well as from the community of TBM owners and operators.”
