Neil Rosoff’s research led him to the conclusion that a later-model turboprop Twin Commander had just about everything he was looking for in his next airplane: twin-engine safety for flying over high terrain and at night; excellent performance and benign handling characteristics in the event one of those two engines checked out; truly excellent performance with both engines operating; generous fuel capacity coupled with miserly fuel flows at altitude to yield long-range legs; and a grin-generating, “pilot’s-airplane” personality. There was just one thing missing... Rosoff had always wanted to learn to fly, but business and family took precedence. With his two children grown and gone and his successful IT staffing business sold, it was time for Rosoff to fulfill his…

Eagle Creek Aviation Services has received FAA Supplemental Type Certification (STC) for Garmin G950 installations in Twin Commander aircraft. The G950 is an integrated all-electronic flight deck that introduces new levels of situational awareness, simplicity, and safety to the Twin Commander cockpit. The G950 is the complete Garmin 1000 package with the exception that it incorporates the S-TEC 2100 Digital Flight Control System (DFCS) rather than a Garmin autopilot. The initial STC covers 695A s/n 96000 – 96055 Commander 1000s. Eagle Creek expects other turboprop models soon will be added to the STC. The Garmin G950 integrates all primary flight, navigation, communication, terrain, traffic, and weather on a large, 12.4-inch multifunction display and two 10.4-inch primary flight displays. The total panel transformation…

Charles West has been in business for 49 years, and flying for 54. In West’s case, the two belong together. Almost all of his flying is for Wells & West, his general construction and development company founded and still based in Murphy, North Carolina. He’s owned 28 airplanes and two helicopters, and currently has five. Talk to him for two or three minutes and you’ll know what his favorite airplane has been over the years. “When I was a little boy in the 1950s, the Forest Service used to come in with a Commander,” he says. “I said that someday I’m going to get me one of those.” In 1970, after owning a Beech 18 and a Cessna 310, he…