Author Dave Duntz has given the Twin Commander world a gift. He has published a new, authoritative history of the full Commander line, starting with the prototype and moving through to the Jet Commander. Stars and Commanders: The Life and Vision of Ted Smith is an engaging combination of Duntz’s research, historic photos, first-hand accounts, and lengthy excerpts of Smith’s own words from his unpublished memoirs. Flight Levels interviewed Duntz to get a sense of why he wrote the book, what he learned during his research, and what makes the Commanders such revolutionary aircraft.
You can purchase a copy of the book at www.starsandcommanders.com.
Q: What’s your aviation background?
A: I’ve always had an interest in aviation. My dad had a J-3 Cub, so I started flying with him at a very early age in the back seat. I soloed in the summer after my senior year in high school and got my private license in college. I pursued an aerospace engineering degree, and had a 26-year career in the Air Force. During that time I bought a Citabria. I was single so I could get away with it. Had that a few years and started taking aerobatic lessons. Moved up to a single-place Pitts for nine years. I earned my instrument and multiengine rating under the GI Bill, bought a Twin Comanche, and thought when I got out that I probably wanted to fly professionally. After six years I sold the Twin Comanche and bought a 1980 Aerostar 600A with a partner. We went from 165 knots to 210 knots. I loved that airplane and bought out my partner. I got my ATP in it and had it for 20 years. After retiring from the Air Force, I flew Part 135 charter in Learjets and then flew a corporate Pilatus PC-12.
Q: Why did you write the book?
A: In 2007 I was attending an Aerostar annual association meeting in Nevada and Niels Andersen, one of the original builders of the Aerostar, was a guest speaker. He just mesmerized the whole audience with the philosophy Ted Smith had building the airplane and how it revolutionized building twins. Somebody mentioned that Ted had written a memoir of his life that was unpublished. So, I asked around to several of the old timers and learned that Ron Smith, Ted Smith’s son, had the memoir. He said you’re welcome to come out and take a look at it. I got to spend a few days with Ron and his wife Karen. What followed was reading the memoir and reorganizing and condensing. Ted was quite the chatterbox. That was the start. You start asking various people about this, that, and the other thing. From their background working for Ted Smith, or working at the factory, or being an early Aerostar or Commander owner you end up having a network of 30 or 40 people contributing to the book. Aerostar people and Aero Commander people are terrific folks.
Q: Who helped you during the research phase?
A: I’ve always been a student of the Aero Commander, but I realized early on that I was in no way knowledgeable. I enlisted the help of several folks who knew more about it than I did, especially Bill Leff who’s right here in Dayton, Mike Grabbe from Eagle Creek Aviation Services, and Geoffrey Pence from the factory. I saw Jim Matheson in Arlington, Washington. Jim was very good, pointing out a lot of info for me. And of course, probably the guy who is without peer is Barry Collman. We struck up a two-year email conversation of dozens and dozens of emails back and forth both before I wrote the manuscript and after I wrote the manuscript. Barry was a tremendous help.
Q: What surprised you in your research?
A: The wow moment was evident when I realized how many revolutionary things Ted had incorporated into his Aero Commander and his Aerostar, especially the Aero Commander. The Aero Commander was an incredibly revolutionary aircraft. There was no market for it. There was no light twin. Ted believed he could take the horizontally opposed engines that were being developed to come up with a nice little five-place twin that would have as good a speed as the DC-3, which at the time was the benchmark. That was his goal, to have an airplane as fast as or faster than the DC-3.
Q: Why do you think the Commanders are so important to aviation history?
A: In addition to the plane being revolutionary and designed to fill a niche in the market, it was the first light twin to have constant-speed full-feathering propellers, the first plane to have a swept vertical tail, the first light twin to have 3-bladed propellers, the first light twin to fly a president, the first light twin to have superchargers, and the first pressurized light twin. And when the Jet Commander came along it was the first business jet to fly. The Learjet was flown a little later. The Lockheed Jetstar and the Saberliner were around, but designed to meet military requirements. Bill Lear and Ted were in an informal competition to get in the air first and Ted did get in the air first. That made Aero Commander the first GA airplane company to offer a jet.
Q: Commanders have evolved significantly over the years. Is that a testament to Ted and the team, or do you think the credit goes to later manufacturers?
A: Ted speaks to how when he was the project engineer at Douglas for the A-20 they produced more than 20 versions. He started that job the day after Pearl Harbor. What he learned there was the natural progression of airplanes to grow in gross weight and change configurations. When the Aero Commander was designed, he designed it to higher gross weights than the original configuration. He had a lot of things in mind. When you look at the difference between the very first Aero Commander, which is the prototype, the L3805, and the very next production configuration model, the Model 520, there are so many changes. It’s a significantly different looking airplane. But yet the internal structure is basically the same. That allowed him to move steadily with improvements through the years by making changes under the existing type certificate.
Q: How did Ted feel about the turboprop versions?
A: His version of the Aero Commander with a turbine in it was more like a 690 where the engines were farther from the fuselage than they were in the original 680 series. He remarks in his memoir he had no idea why they didn’t follow through with his original concepts that he was working on when he left Rockwell in 1963.
Q: Why did Ted leave to start the Aerostar?
A: This guy was a visionary. He saw a market for the Aero Commander when no one else did. He also told Rockwell in 1963, “Guys, the Aero Commander was designed in the 40s. It’s time we look at coming up with a new generation of twin that will allow us to remain in the leadership role in the twin market.” At the time their share of the market was more than half. The Aero Commander was looked at as a prestige airplane. Many very large companies bought Aero Commanders. He wanted to maintain leadership in that part of the GA market and Rockwell agreed that it would be nice to do, but they were maxed at the time financially with developing the Jet Commander. That’s why Ted left Rockwell and started Aerostar, which in his mind was the next generation twin.
Q: Do you have a favorite model?
A: I think the 560F was a great model. In the turbines I like the 840 Jetprop. Ted’s favorite was the 680. He continued to own that. He never owned or had an Aerostar as his personal plane. All through the time he was running Ted Smith Aerostar he kept the 680. He loved that airplane.
Q: What do you think the book offers?
A: The book is three things. It’s a biography of Ted Smith. It’s also a story about a lot of the people who worked for Ted, many who are largely responsible for Ted’s success. He was blessed with great engineering teams and prototype shop people, and blessed with some good backers. And the third thing I think it achieves is providing a reference about the various models of each of his aircraft. The Aero Commander, for example, has 30 models. There’s a chapter on the evolution of the Aero Commander and a chapter on the evolution of the Jet Commander so people can see how these designs progressed from one model to the next and what unique features each of these models has.
