Daher

Aircraft Manufacturer

At a glance

Models: 8
In production: 4
Cruise: 174–330 kt
Power: Turboprop

Overview

Daher is a French aerospace manufacturer that builds two of general aviation’s defining single-engine turboprops: the pressurized, near-jet-speed TBM and the rugged, short-field Kodiak. Both run a single Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A, and between them they cover the two ends of the owner-flown turboprop market — speed and altitude on one hand, payload and unimproved-field access on the other. Daher has held both type certificates since acquiring their original makers, and continues to develop and produce the lines from sites in France and Idaho.

Heritage

Daher traces to 1863 as a French shipping and logistics house, and remains an industrial group spanning aerospace manufacturing, logistics, and equipment. It entered aircraft manufacturing by acquisition. The SOCATA line, and with it the TBM first certified in 1990, came under Daher control through the late 2000s; Daher took full ownership of the TBM program in 2014, the point at which the TBM 900 became the first model built under the Daher name alone. In 2019 Daher acquired Quest Aircraft of Sandpoint, Idaho, adding the Kodiak STOL utility turboprop, first certified in 2007, to the range. The two acquisitions gave Daher a complementary pair of single-turboprop families rather than overlapping ones.

Design Signature

Daher’s aircraft share a powerplant philosophy, one PT6A flown by an owner-pilot, but diverge sharply in airframe. The TBM is a low-wing, retractable-gear, pressurized speed machine that cruises in the low flight levels near light-jet speeds; the line has advanced through the 850, 900, and 940 to the current 960 and 980, gaining winglets, electronic throttle, and Garmin G3000 avionics. The Kodiak is its opposite: a high-wing, fixed-gear STOL hauler with a discontinuous leading-edge wing, built to lift a full cabin off short, unimproved strips, offered as the Kodiak 100 and the stretched, faster Kodiak 900. Both run Garmin glass and target the capable owner-operator rather than the crewed-charter market.

For Owners

A Daher turboprop is a single-PT6A airplane to fuel, maintain, and reserve against, materially cheaper to run than a cabin-class twin turboprop, at the cost of accepting one engine in the flight levels or over backcountry terrain. The TBM suits the buyer who needs speed, pressurization, and range; the Kodiak suits the one who needs payload and field access over block speed. Both lines carry active factory support, continuous production, and deep owner communities, which keeps parts, type-specific training, and resale liquidity healthy. Insurers typically expect type-specific and recurrent training, particularly on the high-performance, pressurized TBM.

Related Manufacturers

Socata

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