A TBM 700 in the footsteps of Roland Garros

On September 23, 1913, Roland Garros made a name for himself by making the first solo flight across the Mediterranean Sea from Fréjus to Bizerte and from one continent to another at an average speed of 100 km/h in a Morane-Saulnier H type aircraft. This feat, over a distance of more than 380 including 500 km over water, was a turning point for aviation, foreshadowing possibilities that were to become realities during the First World War.

EADS Socata, a subsidiary of the EADS group and heir to the Morane-Saulnier tradition, decided to commemorate this event and the memory of Roland Garros. Showcasing the top-end of its current training and business aircraft range, the TBM 700C, a 6-seater designed to provide companies and armed forces with a short-hop capability throughout the Mediterranean basin, it will recreate this historic flight.

The plane was symbolically christened the "Spirit of Roland Garros" tomorrow at the Le Bourget airport by Jean-Pierre Lefèvre-Garros, the nephew and biographer of the famous aviator.

The "Spirit of Roland Garros" was flown on the anniversary date, by Christian Briand, chief test pilot of EADS Socata from Cannes-Mandelieu to Bizerte after a symbolic overflight of the former air and sea base of Fréjus-Saint-Raphaël, from where Roland Garros took off, 90 years earlier. He landed A celebration with the Tunisian Air Force Commander-in-second was part of the many festivities that underscore this French-Tunisian air achievement.

Roland Garros (born in Saint Denis, Réunion, on October 6, 1888) was the son of a lawyer, who made his career in the French civil service. The young man came to metropolitan France in 1898 and was a pupil at the Stanislas College in Cannes and then the Masséna high school, where he took his baccalaureate. After graduating from H.E.C., he joined the Grégoire automobile company as an agent.

A fine sportsman, he naturally proved to be an excellent aviator, and took part in numerous aircraft races, flying his own planes. In 1912 he became the official test pilot of the manufacturer, Morane-Saulnier, and broke the world altitude record.

He then flew solo across the Mediterranean Sea for the first time on September 23, 1913, from Fréjus to Bizerte, over a distance of 730 km including 500 over water, in 7 hours 53 minutes.

During the First World War, he served in the MS 23 squadron. At this time, he also continued work on Raymond Saulnier’s design for a rustic device to allow for firing through the disc swept by an aircraft's propeller; a steel plate, attached to each blade, deflected any rounds that might hit it. Thanks to this mechanism, tested in the M26 squadron on an L type Morane-Saulnier Parasol, the advantage of firing through the propeller was demonstrated, when three enemy planes were shot down between April 1 and 18, 1915.

Hit by anti-aircraft fire, Roland Garros had to make an emergency landing on the afternoon of April 18, 1915. Taken prisoner, he escaped through Holland and took up service again in the French army. Having returned to his unit in the spring of 1918, he shot down yet another enemy plane on October 2, but was killed in action on October 5, near Vouziers (Ardennes), where he is buried.

In spite of health problems as an adolescent, Roland Garros was a keen sportsman. He played football. He became schools track cycling champion in France in 1906, the year he took his “bac”. He also played tennis in his leisure time. In Cholet, he hit a few balls back and forth before his flight of July 24, 1910. Garros was certainly very keen on tennis. In 1927, Jacques "Toto" Brugnon, Jean Borotra, Henri Cochet and René Lacoste achieved the feat of winning the Davis Cup on American soil. The Musketeers were born. For the return match in Paris, in 1928, the event called for a setting worthy of the occasion so the Stade Français club offered to sell the tennis authorities a three-hectare site close to Porte d'Auteuil. The club only posed one condition: that the new stadium bore the name of one of its former members, Roland Garros. Emile Lesieur, who had become president of Stade Français club, called for the stadium to be named after his godson and HEC classmate in 1908. The 'Stade Roland Garros', which was inaugurated on July 29, 1928, thus got the name of one of the most illustrious pioneers in aviation.

Certified on March 7, 2003, a new milestone was reached for the TBM 700, the first civil pressurized single-engine turboprop aircraft certified worldwide, whose maiden flight goes back to 1988. The TBM 700C is the result of a process of constant upgrading of the aircraft to meet customer requirements from the initial A version in 1990, to the TBM 700B, featuring a wide cargo-door and optional pilot door in 1999, not to mention the freight version rolled out in 2001.

This new version mainly features a reinforced airframe (longeron central section and wing attaching points) and is offered in two versions, the C1 for the European market with a maximum takeoff weight of 3 metric tons, and the C2 which can take off at a weight of 3.35 metric tons. These two models benefit from the same comfort improvements – new baggage hold aft of the passenger cabin, new air conditioning and cabin environment control system, new interior with wood-trimmed, leather-upholstered furnishings, and the latest avionics innovations: radiocommunication and navigation system, weather hazard detection, traffic information (TAS), automatic ground proximity warning system (EGPWS). The TBM 700 pilot is thus provided with the same level of information as a pilot of the latest Airbus aircraft.

By September 1, 2003, more than 250 TBM 700 aircraft had been delivered worldwide, including 140 registered in the U.S., 59 in Europe (including 20 in service with the French Air Force and 8 with the French Army), with other aircraft operating in South America, Australia, Japan and Indonesia.

The TBM 700 was initially designed for the North American market, where more than 10,000 companies have planes or helicopters for their travel needs. Such facilities are considered as a sign of corporate dynamism. This concept is beginning to take hold in Europe, because of the benefits of greater flexibility in terms of both scheduling and possible destinations.

The TBM has the following advantages over business jets:

Various acquisition schemes make it possible to reduce, or even do away with, investment through customized financial arrangements:

As part of the festivities in France and Italy commemorating the 90th anniversary of the first solo flight over the Mediterranean, the General Council of the Var department, the town of Fréjus, the municipal Office of Tourism, Culture and Animation, the Fréjus History Society, and the History Commission of the French Aeronautical and Astronautics Association are organizing a historical conference in Fréjus: “Garros, 8 hours alone over the blue” on October 3-5, 2003, in the town of Aurélienne.

The first solo flight over the Mediterranean Sea, on September 23, was an extraordinary feat. Indeed, Roland Garros's solo flight in a Morane-Saulnier monoplane, from Fréjus to Bizerte (800 km), took almost 8 hours, much longer than Blériot’s 38 minutes over the English Channel. It was in fact the intermediate stage before Charles Lindbergh flew across the Atlantic in 33 hours in 1927.

Alongside aviation historians, many personalities will take part in this conference. Jean-Pierre Lefèvre-Garros will come to speak about his great-uncle Roland Garros, Nicole Sabbagh about his grandfather Louis Blériot, and Alain Jancel about his grandfather, Amédée Jancel, who restored Lindbergh’s Spirit of Saint Louis to operational condition after its arrival in Le Bourget. Unique documents will be presented for the first time.

It will also provide the opportunity to tell the exceptional story of the Fréjus-Saint-Raphaël Base, the historical test center for aircraft of the French fleet air arm and the incredible aerospace story of its Cannes neighbor (now the only satellite integration center outside the U.S.).

Information is available from the Office of Tourism: +33 (0)4 94 51 83 83

Roland Garros’s reputation and achievements left a hallmark and not only in the field of aviation.

Many events in France and abroad have been scheduled to mark this occasion, some of which are listed below.

Philippe de Segovia
Tel: +33 (0) 1 49 34 69 93
Fax: +33 (0) 1 49 34 69 96

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