Agree with you, Sheldon. Never been a big fan of the Mr RPM 400hp conversions. Heavy, drink a lot of gas etc. The geared engines are exceptional at short T/O. They just accelerate so much quicker than big direct drives. With the exception of the 500B. That one has great short field performance.

So many positive comments about the commanders! Its a wonder that there are not more of them out there. I guess the good ones dont get let go very often.

No kidding, I went to controller after reading all the positive comments to look at what's available!
Kevin

The Commander community seems like woodworkers....always happy, mellow, always have time for a newbie.
They love the airplanes, there are a couple different paths (bathtub or not, piston or turbine), but generally a great bunch of folks.....if that isn't your "thing", they smile and wish you well. Good stuff.
The BT posters bear this out, I would say.
I am really enjoying the journey, but it has been longer, tougher and much more expensive than I expected, despite reasonable expectations!
O'B

Neal,

I think "longer, tougher and more expensive " would sum up airplane ownership as a whole. You are not a minority!
Kevin

If it flies, floats or......

I can't imagine the fuel those 720's drink. I would guess you are getting near turbine fuel burn with no where near the power of the turbine.

What's the "bathtub" a reference to exactly?

Early Commanders had big nacelles before the flat, articulating gear retraction was developed.

Adam? A little help here.....

O'B

That's correct. Bathtub models are the early ones, the later models were referred to as Speedline models. The bathtub's all folded gear straight back, no twist. The Speedline turned the gear 90 degrees, so it lay flat in the thinner nacelle. The Turbo Commanders also turns the gear.

The Bathub models include:

500
520
560
560A
680
560E
680E
720

Speedline models:

500A
500B
500U
500S
680F
560F
680FP
680FL
680FLP
685

Another thing - the pointier nose you see on most 500B's, was not original. It was first developed as an add on called the Miller nose. Later on it got incorporated from the factory on the later models and the Shrike. I personally think a Bathtub model should nothave the pointy add on nose. It just doesn't gel with the lines. On the Speedline models it fits better, and most of them have it, although you still see quite a few 500B's with the snubnose.

Took my baby girl Amelia (10 yrs old) to Wash U for summer camp and used the 500. This is what one will do with the standard 156 gallons:

Wow! That is impressive. Gotta be under 25 gph total?

The "spread out" space in the bench seat is enviable as well.
Edit: 3 fighting kids in that seat, not so much, but that space with 2 of any size would be nice.

Yes it seems to work out to 23-25 gph normally running 2,100-2,300 rpm. Couch and the baggage are hard to beat! 3 do fit well when they like each other. There's an aisle to shuffle them in and out of the copilot seat when the natives get crazy

Bruce - Are you of the Byerly Aviation fame. If so, several years ago I met you at a stopover in Culpepper, VA. Thanks for your time, the 20-30 minutes that I got to hangar fly with you. Thanks for talking about Commanders and for providing guidance regarding getting shares out of a fractional company that went bankrupt shortly after we talked.

What wasn't well known to me at the time is that there is a logo on the side of Bob Hoover's Commander at the Smithsonian Udvar-Hazy Center (hangar) at KIAD. It is in green, if I recall correctly, and says Byerly Aviation.

Thanks for all that you have done for the aviation and Commander community!