Turbo Commander 1000??

[fisherpilot]

I flew a 690D (900) for about a year. It had the meggitt magic avionics suite and had the -10's. It was amazing!!!! We could consistently true out around 300 kts. Still, to this day I don't think I have flown an aircraft that has as much power as it had for the size of the aircraft. The only problem we had was that it was hard to find parts and MX was expensive. I loved the Garrett's.... The plane would do anything you wanted.

 

[Tristar]

Eagle Creek in Indianapolis (KEYE) seems to be the big service center for them now.

Not recommended based on multiple experiences of a good friend who flew a 690 for several years. They actually ended up flying theirs from Indiana to Oklahoma for service to avoid doing business with Eagle Creek Aviation.

 

[fisherpilot]

we had ours serviced at KPWA. The lead mechanic at the time, don't know if he is still there, was working on them when they were being built. The 900 we flew is basically a 1000 model with -5's. Ours had the -10's made it pretty much a 1000. As far as the steering goes, you will hate it at first and then will grow to love it. One word of advice......get rid of the main gear doors

 

[Tgaug6300]

we had ours serviced at KPWA. The lead mechanic at the time, don't know if he is still there, was working on them when they were being built. The 900 we flew is basically a 1000 model with -5's. Ours had the -10's made it pretty much a 1000. As far as the steering goes, you will hate it at first and then will grow to love it. One word of advice......get rid of the main gear doors

His name is Carl Toey. He retired about two years ago. Great guy, Nobody knows those plane better than him. A true Commander Jedi Warrior.

 

[SIG600]

The thing is a rocket powered truck. It's fast, and if you can close the doors it'll fly. I loved the thing. Someone mentioned the ground steering... that's a no sh!tter!!!

 

[EverelAirborne]

Just wanted input from anyone who has flown this type. ..Or even turbo commanders in general. Any pros & cons would be appreciated. I can read all the tech stuff myself-- but I highly value the opinions of other pilots who actually operate them. (just considering eventually starting a 135 op.. someday-- when I have a few $$mil to lose.. haha).

We own a 1981 Turbo Commander 1000 (695A) and have now 300 hours on it, and we have taken it across the Atlantic both ways. I spent 4 years researching the best airplane for our particular missions. We regularly fly more than 1,000 NM East and West over the Rockies. Private use only - owner pilot. Enough space for me, a 6' 2" big guy at 300 lbs with O legs. On-board lav. Reasonable economics.

I have looked at all the VLJs, all the single engine turbo props and the multi engine turbo props. Again and again I came back to the Commander 1000. The VLJs are too small for me and have short legs. The new Single Engine Turbo props like the Eclipse, the TBM, the PC 12 are outrageously expensive at $ 5 mill plus. The Piper Cheyenne is not supported, almost impossible to get a low time Cessna Conquest and the King Airs are way overpriced, at least 2x the Commander. In the end we went for a low time Commander 1000 with a Garmin G600 glass cockpit, dual GTN 750s with a modern Genesys (S-Tec) 3100 autopilot. We upgraded to the 5 blade MT props. All in $ 2 million.

Of course , we are biased, but I have to say we LOVE the Commander 1000. It never left us stranded. We can fly for 6 hours and go 1,500+ NM, if the misson calls for it. The aircraft and the Honeywell (Garrett) TPE 331-10 engines are very efficient and very reliable. The TPE 331 has been built by the 10s of thousands and is still in production, especially for the military (drones). At regular cruise of 285 kts to 290kts we burn 70 gal of JetA (for both engines). We can take advantage of tail winds up to FL 350 and we can stay low at 4,500 ft to avoid the headwinds without loosing too much range. When I push back the pilot seat, my legs won't touch the pedals and my knees are roaming freely. Try that in a Phenom or a Mustang or a TBM...

The 5 blade composite props are significantly lighter than the 3 blade metal props. In addition to the weight savings, that means start up of the engines is a lot quicker and easier on the batteries. Since I have the new props, I never had to use an external power source (GPU) for starting the engines. Temperatures during start up are also lower. In terms of performance, acceleration, take off and climb perfromance is about 15% improved. No impact on cruise performance. And of ocourse they are much quieter and produce less vobration.

In terms of support, Twin Commander Aircraft company supports the type certificate and part supply. There are service centers in IN, IL, OK, and OR. Commanders have been exported around the world and you will always find knowledgable people even internationally and the TPE 331 is well supported.

Every mission has the perfect airplane. For our missions, the Commander is the perfect airplane at "reasonable" cost.