Aero was formed in
Culver City, California, in
1944 to design and manufacture a light twin-engined transport aircraft.
Ted Smith, a former project engineer at
Douglas Aircraft Company, assembled a team of 14 engineers to design what would be the Aero Commander. Preliminary design was completed in 1946. The first prototype took flight on April 23, 1948, and was certified by the
Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) in June, 1950. Three men funded the company's early efforts: Philadelphia attorney George Pew and Oklahoma City brothers William and
Rufus Travis Amis. In September 1950, it became the
Aero Design and Engineering Company of
Oklahoma. Its facilities consisted of an aircraft hangar and manufacturing facility located at what is now
Wiley Post Airport near
Oklahoma City. In August 1951, the first production Aero Commander, the piston-engined model 520, rolled off the assembly line. It was designed as a business class twin-engine aircraft for corporate travelers. In 1954, the 520 was replaced by the 560 and 560A featuring a larger cabin and more powerful
Lycoming piston engines. In 1955, the
U.S. Air Force selected the Aero Commander as the personal transport for President
Dwight D. Eisenhower, ordering 15 aircraft, two of which were used by
The White House. This aircraft was a military version of the Aero Commander and was assigned a liaison function. It was used by Eisenhower to travel from Washington, D.C. to his farm at
Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. In 1958, the Company introduced the first pressurized business aircraft in the form of the model 720 Alti-Cruiser. The aircraft added
fuel injection engines and other modifications to increase performance, resulting in the 1960 introduction of the Twin Commander. With the advent of the small
gas turbine engine, the 680 T model was released in 1964, followed by the 690 series in 1971, and the JetProp series in 1979. Aero Commander sold the manufacturing rights to
Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI), who produced it as the
Westwind. In February 1981, Rockwell International sold the Aero Commander division to
Gulfstream Aerospace. The final Twin Commander model 1000, released in the early 1980s, was powered by Dash 10 engines. In December 1985, Gulfstream Aerospace was acquired by
Chrysler Corp. With a new focus on the business jet market, production of the Twin Commander ended in 1986. In 1989, the Twin Commander Aircraft subsidiary of Gulfstream was acquired by Precision Aerospace Corporation. With this acquisition, the company transformed from an aircraft manufacturer to an OEM parts, service, and support provider. In 2003, the company was reincorporated as Twin Commander Aircraft, LLC. In 2005, the company was acquired from Precision in a
management buyout. ==Aircraft==