Aero To order (undertaken)

Aero Commander Inc is a Entreprise American disappeared from aeronautical engineering now disappeared. It produced the range of the twin-engines Aero Commander

Ted R. Smith

Ted R. Smith (1906-1976) was initially engineer project manager at Douglas. It was responsible for the Douglas DB-7, twin-engine average bomber initially intended for the French Air force and that RAF used under the designation of Boston. USAAF adopted a version of attack, the A-20 Havoc. The war was far from being finished that Ted Smith considered already the civil market. Golds he noticed that the airline companies missed flexibility and that the businessmen were often (or had a destination) moved away from the airports served by the regular lines. There was to thus be a market for a private aviation offering comfort and the safety until one could wait of the commercial aviation. Ted R. Smith was thus the creator of the Aviation of business. The firm Douglas not being interested in the concept, Ted Smith founded in December 1944 with Culver City, California, Aero Engineering Co to develop its idea. December 21st, 1944 Ted Smith gathered around him 14 other employees of Douglas (Among which Rod Absher, L.J. Anderson, Harry Branton, Richard McInturff, Al Moore, Dave Olsen, and Ernie Bahr) and launched the bases of its future twin-engine.

The first twin-engine of business

In July 1946 the broad outlines of the future plane (relatively near to those of DB-7) were established and the realization of the tools intended for the construction of a prototype started. Except for Ted Smith , the members of the group being still employed at Douglas, this construction was carried out over their spare times and they were remunerated in shares of the capital of Aero Design. It will take 52.000 work hours (including 32.000 of studies) and 175.000 U$ to produce the prototype Model L 3805 which accomplished its first flight on April 23rd, 1948. The performances of the apparatus appeared in conformity with waitings. This first taken step, it was necessary to find supports industrial and financial to support a series production. Golds few people then included/understood the utility of this type of apparatus, whose market remained to be created. Fortunately George Pew, engineer and pilot of Philadelphia, then the Rufe brothers and William Amis of Oklahoma City brought a financial support necessary to the method of test in vol. Mieux, the Amis brothers managed to lead other inhabitants of Oklahoma City to invest in the project and certification CAA (6A1) could be thus obtained on June 30th, 1950.

A business success

George Pew and the Friendly brothers having decided to finance the launching of the production, the company was reorganized in September 1950. Become Aero Design and Engineering Company, it was installed with Bethany, close to Oklahoma City, in a hangar of 2300 m ² rented on Tulakes Airport (Today Wiley Post Airport). May 9th, 1951 the prototype took off with full load of Oklahoma City without its left propeller for a non-stop flight until Washington, cd. A spectacular proof of the reliability of the plane largely relayed by the press of the time. While the order book thickened the first Aero Commander 520 series left the assembly line on August 25th, 1951. It accomplished its first flight later two days and on February 5th, 1952 the first delivery was recorded. The Model 520 left the place on the chains with the Model 560 in 1954, and at the end of 1955 left the first Model 680, version with compressed engine. In 1958 appeared the Model 500, cut-rate version, and in 1962 the version lengthened 680FL Grand To order. In 1955 the Aero Commander 680 was judged enough on by USAF so that it is retained for displacements of President Dwight D. Eisenhower. The Air Force ordered two apparatuses which were assigned to the needs for the White House.

Absorbed by Rockwell

In December 1955 Aero Design and Engineering Company had bought a vast ground, always with Bethany, on which in December 1956 construction began from a new factory. Golds on August 25th, 1957 a fire devastated the old factory, destroying the near total of the tools. The mobilization of the employees and the loan by Douglas Aircraft of a team of engineers will allow an acceleration of the completion of the new factory, from where the first planes left as of on December 20th, 1957. At the beginning of 1958 left the Model 720 AltiCruiser, first business aircraft pressurized in the world. June 1st of the same year the Colonel Willard Rockwell and his associates bought the totality of the capital of Aero Design and Engineering Company, which becomes in October 1960 Aero Commander Inc , a subsidiary company of Rockwell Standard. Financial capacities of the group Rockwell had a beneficial impact on the range: adoption of fuel injection engines, adoption of new nacelle-engine, better shaped. The new models were marketed starting from March 1st, 1960.

The range widens

Rockwell also widens the range by introducing single-engined aircrafts: Aero To order 100 and 200. Since 1954 the research department of Bethany studied the feasibility of a business aircraft to reaction. In 1960 the exit of the small engine General Electric CJ-610 made possible to produce a business aircraft to reaction using the same airports as the Aero Commander. There still the financial capacity of Rockwell was invaluable, allowing Ted R. Smith to develop an ambitious program, the Model 1121 Jet To order, officially announced in May 1961. The prototype made its first flights in 1963, the first plane being delivered in 1965. In May 1963, whereas the Large Model 680FL To order obtained its certification, Ted R. Smith projected the realization of a twin-engine with median wing. But the group Rockwell indeed refused to develop other apparatuses that the Jet To order. After a six months leave, Ted R.Smith left Aero Commander Inc to develop in another structure the Aerostar. With beginning of the year 60 Aero Commander was a popular business aircraft but with a little limited performances and the Lycoming GSO-480 did not have a great reputation of reliability. Golds Beechcraft had just put on the market the King Air equipped with turbines at propellers Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A. Aero Commander reacted a little late by adapting the very new turbomotor Garrett AirResearch TPE-331 on the Grand To order, to carry out the Model 680T Turbo To order, which accomplished its first flights in December 1964.

End of an adventure

At the beginning of 1965 Aero Commander Inc was confronted with a serious problem: It was simultaneously to put on the market two new planes, the Jet To order and the Turbo To order, of which each one required a very important investment of production, and this in an environment become very competitive. Beechcraft dominated already the market of the twin-engined turboprop jet of business with the King Air, the new range of twin-engines Cessna tie-beam directly in competition with the Aero Commander and Piper was interested from now on in this field with the Navajo. On its side Lockheed announced the JetStar and North American the Sabreliner, while in the United Kingdom De Havilland put already ahead DH-125 and that Bill Lear worked actively with the development of the Learjet. It was thus vital to quickly invest. Banking fault of support thus remained the solution of a fusion to finance the development of the company. Aero Commander Inc thus transformed into Division Aero Commander Rockwell Standard Corp. In 1967 North American Aviation and Rockwell International amalgamated to form North American Rockwell , and Aero Commander became the Division General aviation about it .

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