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Jet
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Unfinished Jet Commander Photo: Robert Deering 1971 Willy Post Airport (PWA) Oklahoma City, Oklahoma |
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The Jet Commander 1121
was
a further development of the twin-propeller
Aero Commander first flying on January 27,
1963. It was of broadly conventional
business jet arrangement, with two engines
mounted in nacelles carried on the rear
fuselage. However the wings were mounted
halfway up the fuselage instead of the
typical low-wing arrangement of aircraft in
this class. After successful testing, the
aircraft was put into series production with
deliveries to customers beginning in early
1965. Shortly thereafter, Aero Commander was acquired by North American Rockwell. The Jet Commander created a problem, since Rockwell already had an executive jet of its own design, the Sabreliner, and could not keep both in production because of anti-trust laws. It was therefore decided to sell off the rights to the Jet Commander, which were purchased by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) in 1968. Jet Commander production amounted to 150 aircraft in the United States and Israel before IAI undertook a series of modifications to create the 1123 Westwind and 1124 Westwind. A search of the FAA data base in January 2014 shows that there are 28 Jet Commander 1121's registered in the United States. Source: Wikipedia |
