The aviation world, and the Twin Commander community have lost two of their brightest stars. Robert A. “Bob” Hoover, who Jimmy Doolittle called the best stick-and-rudder pilot who ever lived, and Arnold Palmer, perhaps the world’s best-known owner-pilot, each had a special relationship with Twin Commanders. Palmer flew two different models of Aero Commanders early in his career as a professional golfer, and Hoover, of course, thrilled airshow audiences for years with his precision aerobatic performances flown in his virtually stock Shrike Commander. A PILOT WHO GOLFED Arnold Palmer, who once said he probably would have been a professional pilot if he hadn’t succeeded so spectacularly in golf, grew up about a mile from the airport in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, and…

Australia may be the world’s smallest continent, but it’s the world’s sixth largest country and the largest island country. How best to get around that big island? According to John Ives and his customers, the preferred method of travel is a model 685 Twin Commander. Ives owns and operates Heron Airlines, which specializes in long-haul tourist flights throughout Australia. The average Heron Airlines air safari tour lasts a week and includes 25 flight hours. That’s just the average. During a recent month Heron conducted a five-day, 12-flight-hours trip that originated in Sydney—Heron’s home base—and included stops in William Creek, Birdsville, Bedourie, Windorah, Charleville, Cunamulla, and Lightning Ridge before returning to Sydney. That relatively short journey followed an 18-day, 30-flight-hours marathon…

In Texas they say “Howdy!” In Italy, “Ciao.” And when you arrive in Apia, Samoa, you’ll hear “Talofa!” It’s a friendly, welcoming greeting given to visitors to this small, volcanic Polynesian country. It’s also the name of the newest air service in Samoa, one that will use a pair of Twin Commanders to shuttle residents and tourists between the islands. Jeffrey Hunter is the man behind Talofa Airways. A native Samoan and former pilot for various air carriers in the South Pacific, Hunter saw a need for a small, independent operator that specializes in direct flights between Samoa and American Samoa as well as to and from other islands in this beautiful Polynesian region of the South Pacific. Independent Samoa,…