Aero Design Commander 560A          N2737B     (c/n  560-237)

                           

                               As indicated in the previous entry, Aero Design continually upgraded the Commander series.  This
                               560A was built in 1955 and differed from the 520 in having a swept tail.  .   Powered by two 270 hp
                               Lycoming GO-480-B engines the aircraft cruised at 200 mph.     A smaller, four seat version was intro-
                               duced in 1958 known as the Aero Commander 500.   Seen below is the fifth production model of this
                               'smaller' Commander.  In 1960 company became the Aero Design Division of the Rockwell-Standard
                               Corporation, which in itself became North American Rockwell in 1967.  Finally, the design was sold to
                               Gulfstream in 1980.   The Commander series continued in production throughout these corporate changes
                               for many years, the final versions being turbo-prop powered.    In the late 1950s the main distributor for
                               the Commander was at Santa Municipal Airport.  For some reason I became infatuated with this machine
                               and photographed virtually every one that I saw which passed through the distributorship.  I have literally
                               dozens of photographs of them, mostly taken (like the two here) at the west side of Lear's Learstar
                               conversion hangar.
                                                                                                                      
                                Aero Design Commander 500    N6236B                     (c/n  500-638-5)