Only the 900 and 1000 model.

Only the 900 and 1000 model.

Should be plenty of space. I'm 6'1" 185 and I have lots of extra room...

It is my uneducated observation that as Turbo Commanders get older, they tend to gain what is widely known as "Pedestal Elephantiasis". It is a common and dilapidating disease shared with many other older aircraft for which there are - sadly - no known cures. The symptoms are: As avionics increase, rather than remove stuff, they just expand and enlarge the pedestal to fit all the new junk. Partly inspired by misguided emulation of airline cockpits, partly by brain damage, these growths have gone un-culled and allowed to grow without surgical intervention. This has caused the pedestal in my plane, for example, to grow from nothing below the quadrant (when she left the factory - making entry and egress a breeze), to this huge box that's a foot long and challenges the owner with its mere existence. And not even a cupholder for my G&T in the damn thing either! This "Pedestal growth" makes it much harder to get into the pilots seat as you can't slide the seat far enough back without hitting the refreshment center (a great idea these, on paper, but in reality quite useless).

But fear not, there is a solution. If you remove the refreshment center behind pilots seat, you can install extended seat tracks from factory and - badabing - all your stiff limbed woes are gone!

It must be contagious because I see that disease in other aircraft as well.

Very objectionable, IMO.

And to think the Commanders have control columns, not through the panel yokes, which means they have more panel space than average. Oh well.

Mike C.

It is very contagious to all aircraft of a certain age. Seems to infect unusually easily between legacy twins of the 60's, 70's and 80's era. The 90's and noughties models are less affected. If any symptoms become visible, it is imperative to surgically remove the growth immediately.

Service center, maintenance facility and operator AeroAir in Oregon are selling out four of their 690's. All look to be in good shape, probably have impeccable servicing records. I know the gold tailed ones have fantastic interiors and great panels and N71AA used to be their demo plane.

Don't know if they're upgrading to newer or what but these planes could be a good fit for the right buyer (don't think I haven't thought about it!). The way Jetprop prices are going, the 690A/B's are still competitive. The killer range and long wings in the Jetprops can be somewhat matched with adding the aux drop tanks on the 690. Not as clean (steals a few knots), but gives you almost same utility as the Jetprops at half the cost. Only one of them has a permanent spar, so that will be a recurring cost every 36months (about $15K) unless you pony up for the mod. Also, most of them seem to be getting closer to a hot sections. They're all also pushing 10000hrs TTAF, which will turn off a few buyers.

$695K, 1979 690B-II
http://www.controller.com/listings/aircraft/for-sale/17771977/1979-commander-690b-ii

$545K, 1976 690A
http://www.controller.com/listings/aircraft/for-sale/17853875/1976-commander-690a

$495K, 1976 690A
http://www.controller.com/listings/aircraft/for-sale/17771985/1976-commander-690a

$395K, 1975 690A
http://www.controller.com/listings/aircraft/for-sale/17876961/1975-commander-690a

PS. Just heard, they've been replaced with PC12's and were mainly used for air ambulance duty.

It is very contagious to all aircraft of a certain age. Seems to infect unusually easily between legacy twins of the 60's, 70's and 80's era. The 90's and noughties models are less affected. If any symptoms become visible, it is imperative to surgically remove the growth immediately.

BREAKING NEWS

5-blade MT props now certified in EASA for TC's. Expect FAA certification shortly.

That was quick! Shows you that if you want stuff done these days, do it in EASA-land then bi-lateral that stuff in. Much quicker than trying to do it via the FAA rigmarole. They claim 10% shorter T/O, lower noise levels etc. But the real benefit is really that they're not life limited and you get away from Dowty Rotol/Hartzell's claws.

I look forward to seeing these props on Commanders everywhere. They sure look great!

http://www.mt-propeller.com/en/entw/stcs/twin_comm_1.htm

I was very close to putting these on my Merlin but every operator I talked to reported a 3-5 knot speed reduction so I overhauled my existing. They are very quiet and look good.

The Germans are going to have to get to where I gain speed before I swap.

I think the fastest prop is the one with the least amount of drag, which probably favors a 2-blade design for most given scenarios. But in the case of the MT's, I'd personally take the speed reduction just to look so sexy!

I heard that they had one ready for the C441 and the plane was lost on a test flight with the new prop and that the program was then cancelled. Very little ever written about that.

They lost a Turbo Commander as well in a crash when they tried to certify this about 10-15 years ago. It was later chalked down to flying into a thunderstorm over gross. But that attempt was not a factory MT-props certification, it was someone else doing an STC using the MT props, as I recall. This new certification was done my MT themselves.

It's been an upgrade on the MU-2 and Merlins for years, with no known accidents, so it's reasonable to assume it should be equally safe here. After all, they have the same engines etc.

If it doesn't mean a pickup of speed in the cruise, I fail to see the attraction - I climb at a pretty crazy rate with my 3 blade hartzell props. It is only in the cruise that I want for increased performance, to overcome my constant headwinds... Not sure I'd be interested in trading my three metal blades for 5 fragile composite and wood ones, may need to relocate soon to a shorter, less well maintained runway closer to London.

I did my becoming regular run yesterday between Cannes and Oxford Kidlington with family on board and all went well. It was 2h45 flying time, TAS of around 270 for the cruise at FL220, with probably average 30kts headwind. By far, the longest bit of commute was the trip from the airport at Oxford to our house in London - my 1 year old spent most of the trip getting carsick, which caused the nanny to get sick, which made for a very long ride with some congestion on the roads, it may have been the longest 1h45 I've had in long time ... need to relocate into a closer field without the hangars and the ILS - or maybe just drop off the kids at one and then reposition to somewhere with hangarage.

Patrick, which field you thinking of? Elstree? Stapleford?

London is painful for transportation and GA. I was based in the south at Lydd, but whenever I flew in to Elstree for business or leisure, it was still a good hour and a half to get into Soho. When I did this, the Rwy was crumbling as well. Heard they re-surfaced it now.

The best for me was always to get into Damyns Hall (EGML), but that was in a rented C152. You could maybe squeeze a very light Turbo Commander in there, but more as a stunt. Grass and short. The cup of tea in the clubhouse was only 60 pence though, and the parking was like £8 for a whole day!