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that caught his eye. It was a TBM 850. After taking a closer look, he started dreaming. “I really couldn’t get my mind off it. I had a new obsession. That night I started looking online for one and then started to talk with sales representatives.”
The conversations went well for Moran, leading him to the 2018 TBM 910. He was initially concerned about being a lower-time pilot with
no turboprop time, but with the help of professionals, they outlined a path forward – with 100 hours of transition time with a mentor pilot included with the new purchase. The airplane was brought to Colorado for him to see.
If the Turbine Bonanza was a head-turner on the ramp, the French- made single-engine turboprop was a showstopper. Shining in the high
Rocky Mountain sun, the aircraft taxied across the ramp and rolled into Moran’s view. No sooner had the propeller stopped spinning did the ex-CEO, now passionate aviator, begin intently walking towards the new arrival. As Moran requested to peek inside, the exiting pilot struck up a conversation with him. Terry Winson, as he introduced himself, was the President of Avex, the TBM distributor in the Southwestern United States.
Knowing that Moran was in the market for a new plane, Winson thought he would turbocharge the sales process and craft an impromptu meeting. He offered a test f light that day, but Moran, unfortunately, couldn’t accept. “I have to go and pick my daughter up to make a commercial f light to California to go to Disneyland.” But as one may guess, the airline trip was canceled in favor of left seat time in the six-seater. After belting his daughter in the
28 • TWIN & TURBINE / May 2022
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