The L-3805/Commander before its first flight (photo by A.U. Schmidt from the Ron Smith Collection) For his book Stars and Commanders, Dave Duntz conducted years of research, including with Ted Smith’s unpublished memoir. The memoir was published in chapter 8 of Duntz’s book, and will be presented here in three parts. This is the first installment. You can purchase Duntz’s book at www.starsandcommanders.com.
After the showing, it was not long before a great number of responses were being received from all over the world mostly due to the good press coverage that the prototype Aero Commander had received. The response substantiated my belief that there was a need, a market demand, for a true business aircraft. Certainly, our spirits were buoyed by the responses that kept coming in. However, a good deal of work still remained to be done for first flight – primarily the fuel tanks were not installed as this would require a great expenditure of dollars for tooling and for the bladder cells. We had to makeshift a fuel system and a boost pump installation.
Giving great thought as to how this could best be accomplished, we decided to makeshift a fuel system with a 40-gallon metal tank that was of a size that could be installed beneath the center section of the wing. We also purchased two surplus boost pumps to pump fuel from the tank to the engines to get them started and to be used as emergency pumps in case of engine pump failure. All of this was accomplished over the weekend following the public showing of the aircraft. We were anxious to get the engines running so that we could begin our taxi tests.
I shall never forget the smiles and the happiness expressed by all when I turned the switches on, pressed the starter button, and the left engine started within two or three turns of the propeller. The right-hand engine likewise and after a few minutes of warm up, with Pete Leaman and myself on board, we taxied to the east end of the runway and started the first taxi run reaching a speed of approximately 40 mph checking control response and to get the feel of the aircraft while under power. The results were exciting and gratifying. On the next run we accelerated to a speed of over 60 mph in just a few seconds as the acceleration was very high with the two 190 horsepower Lycoming engines and the fixed pitch propellers. We were also at a light weight so it was quite easy to accelerate to 60-70 or 80 mph in just a few seconds. Control response was excellent and, during one run, we accelerated to 90 mph and became airborne for a few seconds. The airplane felt good and we concluded that the airplane was ready for first flight.
Since Culver City Airport had only 1,800 feet of dirt runway, we did not want to risk making the first flight from the short runway just in case an emergency situation did arise. Therefore, arrangements were made with Hughes Aircraft just across the street from Culver City Airport to use their long runway for first flight. We decided on April 27 as the day for this first flight and had previously notified all of our friends and those who had worked on the project. The takeoff time was set for 4:30 p.m. to give everyone who worked at Douglas or elsewhere time to arrive to see the first flight. Pete Leaman and myself at that time were not multi-engine rated, so we talked Johnny Martin, Chief Pilot for Douglas Aircraft Company, into making the initial flight with me acting as co-pilot.
As it turned out rain had been prevalent most of the day of the 27th and we were disappointed in the fact that the flight might have to be postponed, but at exactly 4:31 p.m. the skies broke clear through a radius of about five miles and directly overhead a very bright sun and beautiful white clouds and blue sky appeared over the airport. The airplane sat there shining like a mirror and as much as saying, “I want to fly.” Johnny and I stepped aboard starting the engines and taxied into position on the long grass runway. Preflight checks were completed, power checks made, and Johnny remarked: “Are you ready, Ted?” Of course, I was ready; this was the moment long waited for, a moment coupled with a feeling of deep emotion and with it a great feeling of accomplishment. For here we were, engines running, an airplane born from a dream, a new and exciting adventure – ready and eager to start the first takeoff of this bird built with dedication by a group of people who believed in an idea. In my heart there was a great realization of accomplishment and a dream at least partially about to be realized – after all the years of waiting, to be on board an aircraft designed by myself with the help of many others, designed for a purpose and a need. Within that airframe there was the representation of 25,000 hours of engineering and 20,000 hours of shop time, put there by people who devoted their time and dollars to see at last the completed airplane poised for its first flight. I could not help but feel that God had purposely planned it this way, opening up the sky so that we could fly this new bird of the air.
Johnny opened the throttles full. The Aero Commander accelerated rapidly and was airborne in eight seconds climbing like no other airplane I had ever been in! It was clean, beautiful, and inspiring. We climbed over the airport to 4,000 feet, quickly checking stability in all three axes—they were excellent, just as predicted on paper. We made one partial power-on stall without flaps. It was excellent, no wing drop, easily controllable with aileron and rudder. Good control as the aircraft approached the stall – then one with flaps down, even better! The gear had been locked in the down position so that the drag was a little high, but with the gear down at 4,000 feet we did reach a speed of 150 mph at about 65 percent power. Ailerons, rudder and elevator proved to be very responsive, no sponginess, very positive. The rudder, ailerons and elevator were well harmonized in force gradients.
After 10 minutes in the air, we knew that in these first few moments of evaluation, the airplane would perform as predicted. After a perfect landing and taxi back to the beginning of the runway, Johnny remarked: “Ted, you have a winner.” I could not be more pleased.
Just a few minutes after the taxi back from the landing, the clouds again moved in and within about five minutes it was pouring rain. The Old Man Upstairs still had his hand on my shoulders, as well as the shoulders of others who had shared in this great and satisfying event of success. That day made history; history for all of us; and God had given us the opportunity—he opened up the skies just to try the wings of this new bird for just a few unforgettable minutes.
L-3805/Commander’s first flight (from Ron Smith Collection)
After the heartening spirit of a successful first flight, we settled down to the work ahead for certification. This meant that the configuration of the prototype had to be made identical to whatever the configuration would be for the certified airplane. Up to now the prototype was a bare bones engineering test airplane which flew with the gear down for the first flight. The gear would now have to retract, the temporary fuselage steel tank removed and bladder tanks installed in the wings with necessary plumbing and pumps, an interior needed to be fitted, and whatever problems uncovered in flight testing resolved.
During the last part of construction of the prototype, we had of necessity, made some compromises to save time. Stinson Voyager cowls were used, since we did not have the capability to form a similar part in our small shop and the Stinson cowl fit the nose of the nacelle perfectly. The period of time in which the prototype was built, fiberglass forming was pretty much an unknown. It was still in the stage of early development and very costly.
We had purchased, from Cessna Aircraft Company, a rear seat used in the Cessna 195 single engine aircraft. It fit the rear seat position of the Aero Commander perfectly. We built the two front seats from a welded-up structure of steel tubing, made our own cushions from foam rubber, and installed our own interior. Much of this work was done by the wives of the men who had built the airplane.
The interior contained a headliner of a beautiful grey-blue gabardine and the seats were covered in a matching Bedford cord wool material with carpeting to match. Side panels were covered with the same material that was used for the headliner, and we installed a plastic joining strip about one inch wide where the headliner and side panel joined together. The plastic strip was painted a maroon color and was snapped over the joint using automotive type hardware and gave a final touch of luxury to an already luxurious interior.
A horizontal tail static test performed on L-3805/Commander.
The propeller was a fixed pitch design, built by the Koppers Company who later brought out what was called the “Aeromatic” propeller, a propeller that automatically varied pitch due to varied aerodynamic forces and would automatically feather when power was lost on one engine. The Aeromatic propeller, although appearing to be satisfactory from a technical point of view, did not prove to be practical and was discontinued in production at a later time.
We had chosen to go through a complete structural analysis in great detail and, because of this approach, we were not required to run a static test to ultimate load, but we were required to run static proof tests to design limit load on all of the structural components.
Static testing required testing to normal category limit load of 3.3Gs without any permanent deformation. Following this FAA approved protocol meant that if the testing were successful, the aircraft strength would not be compromised and would continue to be airworthy. If the testing had been required to ultimate loads (150 percent of limit load and permanent deformation, but not failure, was acceptable), a second airframe strictly for the static test would have most likely been necessary. The approach taken saved considerable time and money.
Having meager test equipment, we set up in Pete’s large hanger to run the proof tests on wing and fuselage. We borrowed, from Douglas Aircraft Company, tons of lead shot bags, and we also set up a simple whiffle tree arrangement for the wing proof tests. The hydraulic components and gauges were also borrowed from Douglas and, for certain tests, we purchased a few hydraulic cylinders from surplus stores. We got the C.A.A. to come over on the Saturday the tests were to be run to witness them for official documentation and approval.
All of the tests were completed that day, accumulating deflection data and taking photographs during the increments of loading on all components.
One of the boys in the Dynamics Group at Douglas did the flutter analysis during his spare hours for a small sum of money including, I believe, a few shares of stock.
Our next move was to make the main gears retractable which took a few more days to accomplish. A decision was made to leave the nose gear in the down position and permanently locked as it presented a low drag item, whereas the main gears in the down position presented a fairly high drag item. We gave many demonstration flights and anyone who flew the aircraft had nothing but good things to say of it, its characteristics and performance and its inherent stability.
