Matt Thurber, editor-in-chief at AIN Media Group, has been flying since 1975 and writing about aviation since 1978 and now has the best job in the world, running editorial operations for Aviation International News, Business Jet Traveler, and FutureFlight.aero. In addition to working as an A&amp;P mechanic on everything from Piper Cubs to turboprops, Matt taught flying at his father’s flight school in Plymouth, Mass., in the early 1980s, flew for an aircraft owner/pilot, and for two summer seasons hunted swordfish near the George’s Banks off the East Coast from a Piper Super Cub. An ATP certificated fixed-wing pilot and CFII and commercial helicopter pilot, Matt is type-rated in the Citation 500 and Gulfstream V/550. Based in the Pacific Northwest, Matt and his team cover the entire aviation scene including business aircraft, helicopters, avionics, safety, manufacturing, charter, fractionals, technology, air transport, advanced air mobility, defense, and other subjects of interest to AIN, BJT, and FutureFlight readers.

Editor-in-Chief

Matt Thurber

By the time Daher received certification for Garmin’s emergency autoland system in the TBM 940 single-engine turboprop in July 2020, 29 of the model had already been sold with the HomeSafe autoland system part of the original equipment list but not yet installed. Elliott Aviation partnered with Daher to complete HomeSafe installations on these 29 TBM 940s, and these have all now been finished, with work done at Elliott’s Moline, Illinois facility. Elliott will also perform the HomeSafe installation on TBM 940s where it was offered as a subsequent upgrade.

 


The retrofit to install HomeSafe includes modifying the braking system; wiring changes and integration of electrical relays, which enables automatic activation of flaps, landing gear, and landing lights; adding a fuel shut-off valve to stop the engine after the landing; and modification of the glareshield to accommodate the HomeSafe activation button.

 


Designed to safely land the TBM 940 if the pilot becomes incapacitated, HomeSafe selects a suitable airport based on weather and terrain as well as fuel range and runway length and then provides input to the flight controls, deploys flaps and landing gear, and manages power through touchdown, applies brakes, then shuts off the engine.

 


“We knew the timeline was going to be a push, but the joint effort with Daher allowed us to complete the program as scheduled,” said Elliott president and CEO Greg Sahr.

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In this article

Elliott Aviation

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