Design and Development
The idea for the Commander light business twin was conceived by Ted Smith, a project engineer at the Douglas Aircraft Company. Working part-time after hours through 1944, a group of A-20 engineers formed the Aero Design and Engineering Company to design and build the proposed aircraft with a layout similar to their A-20 bomber. Originally the new company was going to build three pre-production aircraft but as the first aircraft was being built they decided to build just one prototype. The final configuration was completed in July 1946 and was designated the Model L3805.
Registered NX1946 the prototype first flew on 23 April 1948. The L3805 accommodated up to five people and was powered by two Lycoming O-435-A piston engines., it was an all-metal high-wing monoplane with retractable undercarriage from a BT-13. The market segment planned for this aircraft to be sold to small feeder airliner firms and was originally designed to carry seven passengers, but instead found use in the private business aircraft and military market. Walter Beech test flew the aircraft in 1949 and expressed interest in buying the project, but passed on to develop the Beechcraft Twin Bonanza, Fairchild Aircraft also evaluated the prototype at its Hagerstown, Maryland headquarters.
The prototype flew successfully and the company leased at no cost a new 26,000 square foot factory at Bethany near Oklahoma City to build a production version certified on 30 June 1950. Nearly 10,000 hours of redesign work went into the model includung more powerful Lycoming GO-435-C2 engines with a combined horsepower of 520. The production model was named the Commander 520 The first 520 Commander was rolled out of the new factory in August 1951. Serial number one was used as an demonstrator then sold in October 1952 to the Asahi Shimbun Press Company of Tokyo.
Read more about this topic: Aero Commander 500 Family
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