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19-715: The Call Aircraft Company (CAC) had built the CallAir Model A series of light utility and agricultural aircraft. Following the purchase of CAC in 1962 by Intermountain Manufacturing Company (IMCO) the latter produced a new agricultural derivative of the Callair, the CallAir A-9. Production of the new aircraft started in 1963. Like the earlier CallAir aircraft, the A-9 is a single-engined monoplane with

38-431: A braced low wing. It is of mixed construction, with a fabric-covered steel-tube fuselage structure and a wood-and-fabric wing. The pilot sits behind the chemical hopper, and the cockpit is enclosed by two removable, bottom-hinged doors that form the left and right side windows. The aircraft is powered by a single Lycoming O-540 flat-six piston engine. Later, some A-9s have been adapted for glider towing operations. IMCO

57-613: 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

76-501: The Aero Design and Engineering Company of Oklahoma . Its facilities consisted of an aircraft hangar and 26,000 sq ft (2,400 m ) 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,

95-564: 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. The company later incorporated other aircraft types developed at smaller companies and marketed them as components of the Aero Commander line. It also developed a business- twinjet , the 1121 Jet Commander. The production of this aircraft

114-399: 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

133-613: The Model A, earning a type certificate in July 1944, with the future production model was designated the Model A-2. CallAir started production of the Model A-2 in late 1945, but first it had to obtain the raw materials. That same year it purchased the inventory of materials from Interstate Aircraft and Engineering as supplies of steel tubing, engines, instruments, fittings, etc had been diverted to those companies with government contracts during

152-718: The company was reincorporated as Twin Commander Aircraft, LLC. In 2005, the company was acquired from Precision in a management buyout . Ag Commander was a brand name used by Aero Commander for their line of agricultural aircraft . Two unrelated aircraft were marketed under this name: the CallAir A-9 , sold as the Ag Commander A-9 and B-9 , and the Ayres Thrush (aka the Snow S-2 ), sold as

171-537: 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,

190-559: The former factory buildings to build snowmobiles. Following the death of Barlow Call in a mid-air collision while herding horses, the Cadet type certificates were sold separately by the Barlow Call estate to William Diehl as Nikiski Marine Corporation of Anchorage, Alaska in 1969 and Arctic Aircraft Company, Inc in 1970. The CallAir Foundation maintains a museum of the company in its hometown. Aero Commander Aero Commander

209-606: The masses of war-surplus aircraft flooding the market. After 20 years of ownership, founder Reuel Call sold the company in 1959, and the company foundered by the end of the year. In 1962 the company's assets were purchased by the Intermountain Manufacturing Company (IMCO), headed by Barlow Call, Sr. and Carl Petersen. IMCO, less the Cadet type certificates, was later purchased by Aero Commander in December 1966. However, in 1968 Polaris leased

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228-594: The war. Rights to both models of the Interstate Cadet (the S-1A and S-1B) were first transferred to the Harlow Aircraft Company in what Joseph Juptner described in his U.S. Civil Aircraft, Vol 8, as a "deal of some kind" in 1945 and then to CallAir for a reported $ 5,000 in 1950 ($ 57,000 in 2023). CallAir built two S-1A Cadets: The first, built in 1951 with the ambitious serial number of 1001,

247-697: The world's first purpose-built agricultural aircraft . This was pure advertising hype as the first purpose built agricultural aircraft was the Huff-Daland Duster designed in 1923-1924, some of which were built for Delta Dusters, later Delta Air Lines The CallAir A-4 evolved into the A-5, the best seller (83 built, including the A-5 Texan) of the Model A-series. CallAir found itself struggling against fierce competition from Cessna , Piper , and

266-461: Was an aircraft manufacturer formed in 1944. In subsequent years, it became a subsidiary of Rockwell International and Gulfstream Aerospace . The company ceased aircraft production in 1986. 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

285-464: Was badged as an Interstate, likely due to the preponderance of built-up Interstate components used in construction; the second was badged a CallAir, serial number 1002, the only Cadet built with their name on it, in 1952. Production of the Model A commenced after the war with variations developed over time. Sales of the Model A grew with the A-4, which was adapted in 1954 into what Carl Petersen described as

304-511: Was delayed with the company finally delivering to its first customer, Timken Roller Bearing Corporation, on January 11, 1965. 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

323-446: Was established by Reuel Call in 1939 at Afton, Wyoming , to build a touring aircraft of his own design. The Call Aircraft Company hoped to advance the development of its CallAir Model A to the point of starting production in 1940, but the start of World War II delayed their plans, with the factory operating as an aircraft repair facility for the duration of the conflict. The company was able to continue doing research and development on

342-557: Was in turn purchased by Rockwell International in 1966, which built the plane under its Aero Commander division before shifting production to Mexico in 1971, under a joint venture there called AAMSA . Production ceased in 1984. Data from Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1982-83 General characteristics Performance Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era [REDACTED] Media related to CallAir A-9 at Wikimedia Commons Call Aircraft Company The Call Aircraft Company ( CAC or CallAir )

361-495: 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 company was acquired by Rockwell-Standard in 1958 and changed its name to Aero Commander Inc. in late 1960. The aircraft added fuel injection engines and other modifications to increase performance, resulting in

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