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.  In 1960 company became the Aero
                               Design Division of the Rockwell-Standard Corporation, which in itself became North American Rock-
                               well 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 shot above) at the west side of Lear's Learstar conversion hangar.