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New Member interested in acquiring a Commander

Stephes

Stephes

New member
Titusville, FL
Hello, I joined yesterday. My name is Steve. I have been out of General Aviation flying since selling my last airplane 12 years ago. I have been looking at aircraft for some time now and the Commander's look to me to be one of the finest aircraft built. I recently retired from airline flying and am wanting to have a personal plane again. I owned a Grumman Tiger for 7 years I and was in a partnership owning a Piper Seneca for 17 years. Wish I never sold the Tiger..... I still have a current CFI and am hoping to do a little instructing for fun now. I am looking forward to picking everyone brains here to learn more about the Commanders and locate a nice one to buy. I live in Titusville Florida now and I would consider a partnership with someone possibly as well if they are in the same area.
 
Hi Steve, welcome to the group. You may want to reach out to Judi at Suncoast Aviation sales. She knows pretty well the history of almost every Commander ever made. Great resource for your search.
 
I agree to check with Judy Anderson at Suncoast aviation. She will keep you out of trouble. The first thing to determine is what your mission is. If you all like me 95% of my flying is me alone so the 12 112 works out great. Joining the group is the best investment you can make. And welcome to the group
 
Welcome Steve. This group provides some invaluable resources and deep knowledge about these airplanes. Jodi is the main source of all commander's information, and she will definitely keep you out of trouble like Ken said. :D

What did you last fly in the airlines?
 
Thank you all for the comments! I live in Titusville Florida now that I am retired. I am thinking that a 112 will be a good fit as 95% of my flying will be just my wife and I with only occasional local sight seeing trips with someone in the back seat. I retired from UPS after 33 years there. I was last based in Anchorage (and lived there),on the 747.
 
Hi Steve. I was stationed at Fort Richardson close to two decades ago and I miss Anchorage regularly. Welcome to the group.
 
Steve,

Welcome to the group! Good info already passed along about contacting Judi. Good luck in your search. I fly a 112A and my bride and I love it. The rear bench seat is removed and stored in the hangar which gives us the station wagon mode. We typically carry 55 gallons and pack what we want and I’m not a skinny guy.
 
Steve, the 112's do quite well at sea level. Most of my trips are me (180 lbs) wife (120 ;)) and 12-year-old son (100 lbs) ... Taking off at max gross weight on hot days makes you feel that our little 112's are anemic, but in Florida at sea level, I think you're ok.
 
Welcome Steve. Agree 100% with the previous recommendations on contacting Judi at Suncoast as she knows where all the skeletons are buried. And if you haven't already found it, take a look at our FAQ that answers a lot of common questions about the Commander. Click the 'Articles' link in the blue bar at the top of any page.
 
What do you guys usually see as far as a realistic cruise speed and fuel burn in the 112? What power settings is it happiest at? Does the turbo on the 112 make much of a difference?........We miss Anchorage too.....at least in the summers....we left because we didn't want to deal with the winters as we got older.
 
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I can only speak for my little 112 (serial 102) so there are variations, so your mileage may vary. I cruise at 135 typically and fly at 8k (my 112 likes 7-9k)... I was doing 2400 RPM for cruise for the first year at 10 GPH, but now it's pretty much 2100/2200 and about 130 and 8.5GPH. I am buying the flap gap seals from Carl and I use hybrid solutions for ceramic coating. It makes a super slick surface.
 
Thank you Marcos, that helps me a lot. My Grumman Tiger,(and it was a pretty rough Tiger)....it was pretty basic ....it did 130 KTS at 10 GPH....and I thought that was great...but to hear that a 112 will cruise at 130 KTS and 8.5gph with the wide cabin and comfort is impressive to me. I usually climb to 8-10K to get out of the hot humid air (if I don't have adverse headwinds anyway)so that makes sense to me too. I am interested an any good speed mods of course.Thank you. I flew my Tiger as far east as Newark and west to Los Angeles....and was very happy with it's performance......I think I am gonna be really happy with a 112.
 
Hi Steve, welcome to the group. We have a straight 112 and our mission is very similar to yours. Although I get performance envy when I read of the TN and TC (or 114) models, our straight 112 does the job all the time. They are not a unicorn when it comes to getting parts any more than any legacy aircraft and you will find this group to be a tremendous resource. You may have to adjust your sight picture when flaring coming of a '47 :-)
 
Steve; if you'd like to see a 112 up close and personal, I know an owner there @ TIX who might be avail to show you.

Judi
 
Hi Steve I have a 1994 144B I would be willing to sell
 

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Stephes said:
What do you guys usually see as far as a realistic cruise speed and fuel burn in the 112? What power settings is it happiest at? Does the turbo on the 112 make much of a difference?........We miss Anchorage too.....at least in the summers....we left because we didn't want to deal with the winters as we got older.
Click to expand...

A number of performance stats are in that FAQ I mentioned, but I can see 135kts ROP although these motors like running LOP. That sacrifices about 4-5 knots but does get the fuel burn down into the 8-9 gph Marcos mentioned.

Just be aware of density altitude with the straight 112.

I flew a bit around Alburquerque on the way to Sedona one time and it was challenging in the straight 112 at gross. If I lived around mountains, I'd seriously consider the turbonormalized 112 (called the Hot Shot). Different than the factory turbo setup and maintains the IO360 TBO. Those performance numbers are in the FAQ, as well.
 
Brian, your 114 is probably out of my price range but it sure is a beautiful aircraft. I am used to underpowered aircraft. I used to climb my Grumman Tiger up until the air was cool. When I flew it out to Los Angeles that meant 10,500 over the desert in New Mexico and Arizona...... Took me several days to climb that high. And believe it or not, the original model of the 747-100 was a real dog....waaaayyyy underpowered. On a hot summer day at Gross Weight it would use all of a 10,000 foot runway and then it would take me 25 miles from takeoff to accelerate to climb speed and get the flaps up and climb through 3000 feet.....
 
Try a full Loaded 747-400 at 870,000 out of DTW to NRT in the Summer.... I actually recorded a two Minute takeoff Roll One day.....Never timed it again!!!!
 
The larger more comfortable cabin and a door on both sides compared to competing aircraft is what sold me on the Commander. People say it's a bit slower but I can pull ahead of a 182 any day.
 
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