Rockwell Commander

D

DARRELL Porter

Filing Flight Plan
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Jun 19, 2018
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2pilot
hello there I am looking to buy a commander but I would like to fly one first does anyone know where u can rent one
 
How far are you willing to travel to fly one?
 
I a location in Illinois so anywhere in the US as long as it not gonna cost a lot to get there
 
Which model do you want (112A, 112TC, 114, 115, ...)? I think the cabin is the same, but the performance is different.

A friend has a 112A. He added a turbo and it's much better since that. It's built like a tank, so the useful load is a bit low. We were bumping up against the max weight with fuel at tabs even when the kids were younger.

That said, it's a nice plane.

Don't know that I've ever seen them rented though. May be a few rented somewhere. You may want to join the Commander Owners group and look for someone that would give you a test flight to check it out.



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I don't know about rentals, but I know a local pilot/A&P in southwest Michigan that has a 112. If you could get up here, I can check to see if he'd take you up for a demo ride.
 
I owned one. That's a 112TC in my picture. Great planes, solid platforms, great IFR if equipped (most are). Sold it a couple of years ago as I wasn't flying enough.

What part of the world are you in?

You might reach out to the Commander Owner's Group or Judy at Suncoast Aviation - she's a broker but deals primarily in Commander singles. Probably knows more about them then most. http://suncoastaviation.com (full disclosure, she brokered the sale of my plane, all was above board and quite well handled).
 
EdFred said:
I don't know about rentals, but I know a local pilot/A&P in southwest Michigan that has a 112. If you could get up here, I can check to see if he'd take you up for a demo ride.
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That would be great I would love to talk with him about it I would pay him
 
I was looking hard at the Commander before I bought the 210. Got a ride in one and was sadly disappointed with the takeoff performance. Once in cruise it seemed ok, but the takeoff roll seems unusually long and we wernt overweight and it wasnt hot. Nice and roomy tho. And I still LOVE the look of them, but I needed the performance. No way could I go with less than a 114.
 
@Mtns2Skies - thanks for pinging

Darrell - I am in Denver-ish - but with a 114 and am very happy with it. For me it was a question of where I live and the useful load. To operate out of Denver I decided it had to be a turbo version of either the 112 or 114 would be better - but - for me - the next best thing was the normally aspirated 114. When I started shopping in earnest, I found that the turbo, turbo-normalized versions were more than I wanted to spend and that most of my flying was towards the south and east.

@wsuffa had a great suggestion with reaching out to Judi - she has a wealth of knowledge about the airframes that are out there and can probably find you a ride near by. Also, the Commander Owners Group is very active online forum (Commander.org) - you can post read through a lot to find out more about the 112 and get connected with owners. I saw a post in that forum about someone in TX using a Commander as an IFR trainer. That could be an option if you can't find someone local-ish.

Good luck!

Dean
 
As a club in Phoenix, we briefly considered the non-turbo versions. Then we ran the numbers for an average warm day takeoff from the Grand Canyon.

Consideration stopped right there.
 
Yep - you have to be aware. If I am going to be anywhere near heavy-ish - I am leaving in the morning before the density altitude (DA) climbs. We can reach 10K for DA without too much effort. I was loaded for a camping trip, 2 adults, 200 lbs of cargo, full fuel, and about 60 pounds in the two rear seats. I was about 100 pounds under my max. I used about 6,000 feet of runway. I was leaving later than expected and it was hotter than expected. I believe the DA was about 7700 feet. I can see a club at altitude not wanting to put a Commander in the fleet.

Dean
 
DARRELL Porter said:
I am looking for a 112
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I have a 112. It’s been down for a while getting an IO-390 installed. Yes it was rather doggy with the tired 360, ref performance. I’m hoping the 390 and shedding some weight makes a difference. I only need a 3 person plane at most. The back seats out(easy) sheds another 42 lbs.

I finally hope to have my plane back very soon, within 2 weeks. I’m just behind the cheddar curtain. Judi moved to N Indiana, always has connections if thinking about buying. If nothing else, the Commander has good ramp appeal.
 
codeeno said:
Yep - you have to be aware. If I am going to be anywhere near heavy-ish - I am leaving in the morning before the density altitude (DA) climbs. We can reach 10K for DA without too much effort. I was loaded for a camping trip, 2 adults, 200 lbs of cargo, full fuel, and about 60 pounds in the two rear seats. I was about 100 pounds under my max. I used about 6,000 feet of runway. I was leaving later than expected and it was hotter than expected. I believe the DA was about 7700 feet. I can see a club at altitude not wanting to put a Commander in the fleet.

Dean
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Yikes!!
 
codeeno said:
Yep - you have to be aware. If I am going to be anywhere near heavy-ish - I am leaving in the morning before the density altitude (DA) climbs. We can reach 10K for DA without too much effort. I was loaded for a camping trip, 2 adults, 200 lbs of cargo, full fuel, and about 60 pounds in the two rear seats. I was about 100 pounds under my max. I used about 6,000 feet of runway. I was leaving later than expected and it was hotter than expected. I believe the DA was about 7700 feet. I can see a club at altitude not wanting to put a Commander in the fleet.

Dean
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You positive on 6K' of runway used?! I'd love to see the performance charts on the 114 for what it would show at almost 8K DA. The Cirrus SR20 charts show that it *should* get off the ground in 3,500' or so at 8K' DA, I'd think the 114 could at least come close to that.
 
Only time I had an issue climbing out in high DA in my 112TC turned out to be a leak in the exhaust system prior to the turbocharger. Once that as fixed, it was back to normal. I'm ignoring the couple of times that my knee hit the landing gear dump valve.
 
SoonerAviator said:
You positive on 6K' of runway used?! I'd love to see the performance charts on the 114 for what it would show at almost 8K DA. The Cirrus SR20 charts show that it *should* get off the ground in 3,500' or so at 8K' DA, I'd think the 114 could at least come close to that.
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Sooner,

You are correct - my mistake - I quoted "Take Off Distance" (the app I use now is updated and provides ground roll and take off distance).
So with a current example - Temp = 30, dp 12, BP 30.22. Take off weight at 3011 (max 3140) lbs my ground roll is 2713 and my takeoff distance is 6324 according to the app.

Dean
 
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