Alan Wright, the soft-spoken and unassuming engineer for Twin Commander Aircraft, retired from the company at the end of June. Originally hired on the staff when the company was based in Washington, Wright made the move to Creedmoor, North Carolina, and spent a total of 16 years with the manufacturer.
As an engineer for Twin Commander, he had responsibility for working on a diverse range of parts and aircraft improvements, interfacing with the FAA, writing service publications, and more.
In an interview last year for Flight Levels he said, “I’m always inspired when I think about how Twin started, Ted Smith’s journey and perseverance in getting this dream of his off the ground, and especially how enduring the Twin legacy is. Sometimes when I’m going through reports and drawings, I see documents that are 40 years old with names of people that are still, or have recently, worked on Twin Commanders, like Geoffrey Pence and Fred Gatz. And I regularly hear about pilots and mechanics who cut their teeth on Twins and still love them and fly them. It makes me want to do my part in keeping Twin Commander parts and maintenance costs affordable so that they can keep flying for another 30 years!”
Thank you, Alan, for doing your part all these years. You will be missed but we know Commander owners and operators fly safer because of your dedicated work. Happy retirement!
