Aircraft model
SOCATA TB 10
Everything here is true of every aircraft of the type, not of any one aircraft.
The Socata TB 10 Tobago is the fixed-gear, 180 hp member of the French TB family, with the gull-wing doors that lift upwards and a cabin considerably wider than any American competitor of the same class. It seats four, with an optional fifth, and cruises at 125 knots. The engine and airframe are the same throughout. The change that matters is the Generation Two, or GT, of 2000, applied across the TB line: a raised carbon-fibre cabin roof with about three inches more headroom, larger windows, a much bigger baggage door and a Bendix/King panel as standard. Unlike the Trinidad, the GT Tobago has no separate registry string, so a 2000 or later TB 10 is a GT and an earlier one is not — and the GT's heavier cabin takes a real bite out of useful load.
The doors and the cabin are what sell it: getting in and out is easier than any low-wing American type and the interior feels like a car of its era. It is comfortable, stable and makes a good instrument platform. The reservations are support and familiarity — the American fleet is small, parts come from Daher in France with the delays and exchange-rate exposure that implies, and fewer mechanics have worked on one. It is also unremarkable in performance, at 125 knots on 180 hp, which is Archer territory.
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- SOCATA TB 10
What it is
| Seats | 4 |
|---|---|
| Landing gear | tricycle |
| Engines | 1 |
| Engine | Lycoming O-360-A1AD |
| Horsepower | 180 hp |
| Fuel | 100LL |
| Certification basis | FAR23 |
| Production start | 1979 |
| Production end | 2002 |
| Endorsements required | — |
Performance
| Cruise speed | 125 KTAS |
|---|---|
| Range | 700 nm |
| Service ceiling | 13,000 ft |
| Climb rate | 800 ft/min |
| Stall speed (Vso) | 52 KCAS |
| Takeoff over 50 ft | 1,700 ft |
| Landing over 50 ft | 1,500 ft |
Load and fuel
| Seats | 4 |
|---|---|
| Useful load | 1,035 lb |
| Full-fuel payload | 789 lb |
| Max takeoff weight | 2,535 lb |
| Empty weight | 1,500 lb |
| Usable fuel | 41 gal |
| Fuel burn at cruise | 10.1 gal/h |
Cost of ownership
| Price, low | $60,000 |
|---|---|
| Price, high | $145,000 |
| Prices as of | 2026 |
| Engine TBO | 2,000 h |
| Overhaul cost, low | $32,000 |
| Overhaul cost, high | $46,000 |
The fleet and its record
| Registered, all time | 112 |
|---|---|
| Active fleet | 52 |
| Median year built | 1986.0 |
| NTSB events, last 10 years | 3 |
| Fatal events, last 10 years | 1 |
| Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years | 57.69 · thin base (low)1 |
| Personal-flying events per 1,000 active | 57.69 · thin base (low)2 |
| Ownership transfers, last 24 months | 10 |
| Transfers per 100 active | 19.23 · thin base (low)3 |
| Airworthiness directives | 9 |
| Directives, last 5 years | 0 |
| Rate confidence | low |
- Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 52 active.
- Personal-flying events per 1,000 active: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 52 active.
- Transfers per 100 active: per 100 active aircraft · base 52 active.
Peer scores6
| Peer class | Fixed wing single-engine, piston, 1 engine, 5-6 seats |
|---|---|
| Accident record | —1 |
| Severity | —2 |
| Access | 7 of 103 |
| Support | 4 of 104 |
| Liquidity | 5.7 of 105 |
- Accident record: class median 38.14 · 75 models in class.
- Severity: class median 10.
- Access: class median 1,826.5.
- Support: class median 74.
- Liquidity: class median 17.96.
- Each of the five categories places the model within its peer class, from 0 (the worst of the class) to 10 (the best): a position among comparable models, not a grade. The overall score is the sum of the categories shown that are scored, out of 10 for each (50 when all five are); it is given only when at least 4 of the five are scored, and it can be set against another model's only when both are in the same peer class and scored on the same categories.