TB-20 Trinidad

When I was in HS in the early 90's I dreamed of flying (but couldn't afford it), my folks bought be a subscription to Private Pilot magazine and I still remember the first issue I got had a bright red Trinidad on the cover with gold stripes. I've wanted one ever since...
 
Groundpounder said:
We ended up with an F33A, but thanks for all the info.
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Sounds like we both started in the same place and ended up in the same place. I have nothing bad to say about the Trinidad, but I’m loving my Bonanza now too...
 
Vince R said:
Sounds like we both started in the same place and ended up in the same place. I have nothing bad to say about the Trinidad, but I’m loving my Bonanza now too...
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Pretty much. The TB-20 seems like a good airplane, but its hard to beat a F33. Our mechanic also said it can be a challenge to get parts for the TB as well.
 
bcool said:
Is your club's advertised anywhere?
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It was on the usual sites for a while, but as it wasn't receiving much interest during the obnoxious Syracuse winter, I let the listings expire with plans to renew shortly as spring finally approaches. It's still on socata.org.
 
I can tell ya'll something about the comments regarding parts being hard to source. Parts are hard to source for ANY earlier model aircraft...even US certificated! The Piper and Cessna manuals look like WWII cartoon manuals (Night and day between military or commercial manuals...as I have worked on both). I still find myself taking pics of parts for vendors or sending off for samples...and the P/Ns have changed/upgraded several times over the years. Any A & P would have no more difficulty then US aircraft when searching for parts. Also, this aircraft at least has an OEM manual for inspections in which all older aircraft were certificated under CAR 3 meaning you have to use the standard/generic FAR 43 part D criteria...which is generic in nature.

I am on the scout for an upgrade to a retractable with BO like HP. Everything I have researched (AvWeb, POA, AOPA, PIREPs, etc) are quickly steering my towards one of these. The biggest plus is that all my research tells me the engineering allows for easy access and maintenance. Any of ya'll tried to access the avionics under the dash of a Mooney, flight control cables on a Cessna or Piper? My being able to work on something would be the biggest plus in my book.

Just IMOP

:)
 
GBSoren said:
Parts availability hasn't been an issue for me, although I haven't needed much. Most of the parts are common, it's just airframe parts that you have to get from Socata-Daher. Most are available in the U.S., if not they ship from France. You can get an account with Socata-Daher and see what's in stock if you have the part #. I ordered parts for my nose gear for this annual, just seals, the parts were actually pretty cheap I thought.

The TB group has a very good and active support group at socata.org. You can get all the parts manuals electronically there, my a&p uses it, said not many other groups that.
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Any chance you could share the part numbers or information on the seals for the nose gear? I have one that won’t stay up! Where did you source them? Thanks!
 
If it won't stay up, it's not being stroked enough.
 
Mikey52 said:
If it won't stay up, it's not being stroked enough.
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I don’t guess I’ve ever heard of that being an issue? Can you elaborate? It takes several in and out strokes to fill and bleed the hydro.
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
The only thing I really disliked about the TB was the back seat is not designed for tall people. It is permanently reclined to account for the lower ceiling.
I Like to sit up straight and you really can't in the Socatas.
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From sitting in one, the other issue is the spar runs under the front seats, near the back edge, so your toes can't go under the seat. Makes it feel cramped in leg room.
 
Groundpounder said:
The TB-20 seems like a good airplane, but it’s hard to beat a F33. Our mechanic also said it can be a challenge to get parts for the TB as well.
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As I understand it from a friend who bought one new and still has it, a fair number of parts were made by little French companies that in time disappear, making Daher chase down new suppliers to make very low spare part volumes and driving the price way up. And a fair bit of what would otherwise be standard and widely available aviation consumables is metric, e.g. ISO threaded hoses, making it relatively hard to source from aviation in suppliers. All planes have their hassles.

Another example is that the tiny screws that hold on some of the fairings are M4x14 with a special countersink angle. At one point 10 years ago these cost €8 each from Socata and since buying a bunch of them for periodic replacement would add up to an absurd cost, one guy had some made up and sold them to friends.

The European guys like TB-20s for their range, because stopping for fuel is a costly PIA for them, many airports looking to rip them off in every way they can. This is also aided by the wide cabin and relative comfort, especially for the later ‘GT’s with the taller roof. Their slightly low IAS is also not a big issue when they are way up high making decent TAS, and if they aren’t stopping for fuel.

Another good thing about them in the eyes of many is the Lycoming IO-540 and its durability.
 
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