Search YouTube for videos on Twin Commanders, and one channel rises above the rest—Flying Wild AZ. The channel is the work of Tim Timmons, a medevac pilot who flies a 690B for Ponderosa Aviation, based in Stafford, Arizona. Timmons is a former Army officer who got the flying bug while he was still in the military. “RC airplanes were the gateway drug,” he jokes. From there it was on to a private pilot certificate, which at the time he saw primarily as a hobby. It wasn’t until he was looking at retiring that he decided flying could be a career. After getting out in 2013 and spending a few years teaching at Cochise College in Douglas, Arizona, a former colleague…

You could say that Alex Papageorge was destined to fly a Twin Commander. After all, her family has owned a Shrike since long before she was born. At only 19 years old, Papageorge turns heads when she steps out of the left seat of the family Shrike. No stranger to family trips in the airplane, at 15 she started taking lessons and immediately became enamored with flying. “I loved it as soon as I started,” she said. “Once I got my license it was like an open road.” Although she loves flying the beautiful Cessna 150 that’s been in the family 47 years, she immediately knew the Shrike was ultimately what she wanted. “I worked hard to get my instrument…

As I pen this, it has been less than two months since my last airline flight as a captain for UPS airlines. It still doesn’t seem possible, and I have no idea where the last 32 years went. I so wish I could snap my fingers and be back in the cockpit of the UPS Boeing 767. The job even played a part that led to me owning a Twin Commander. I had wanted a Shrike since I was a teenager watching Bob Hoover. So, a few months ago, my wife, Ginger, encouraged me to set a goal that would take place immediately after retirement in order to ease the pain of losing the job I was still passionate about.…

If you take a fish oil supplement or love the authenticity of some anchovy in your Caesar salad dressing, chances are you’ve supported a Twin Commander. The coastal waters off northern Chile are some of the world’s most abundant fishing grounds. A top ten fish exporter, Chile is only slightly behind the United States in terms of total production, despite significantly less coastline. It’s a world leader in many areas, including anchovy, jack mackerel, and mackerel fishing. With fishing being such a major part of the economy, it’s not surprising that aviation plays a role. During the country’s nine-month fishing season, on any given day you’ll find Fredy Castillo or one of his pilots flying a Twin Commander 500S for…