Aero Commander 680F flies from Fresno to Monterey Bay
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 25 ส.ค. 2012
- John Hollingsworth and pilot Ryan Douthitt fly from Fresno, California to Monterey Bay in a 1961 Aero Commander twin model 680F. We stop in Salinas for fuel. Heading back we follow Highway 99 and fly over John's farm in Fowler, CA. The flight was our first major flight after having both engines pulled out for rebuilding. In the middle of the video are nice shots of the instrument panel and all the instruments while flying. The plane is kept at the Chino, California airport.
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I really love those old Commandors with the geared engines and the augmented exhaust! They sound great!
Gotta love an AERO COMMANDER
I love those 680's. I flew a few 680FLs for 2 years when I was a little kid for Combs Freight Air. mostly geared engines. never had an issue as long as you keep the power on all the time in the decent.
Best 680 video so far - two pilots with check lists, wonderfully roomy cabin. And the supercharged Lycomings at loiter engine speed. The haul capacity is obvious.
that must be a fast plane with those big moters
I love the info prompts...very nicely done.
Love the 680 . heavy hauler and great speed. If light loaded I sure would baby those engines !! Max power only on short runways Have fun !!
Nice video and great airplane! didnt know those were geared engines! ...
Geared engines are actually nicer to have - less vibrations and more power at that engine rpm range. The direct drive engines must produce the same power at much lower rpm, so the increased torque is like driving a car at high gear on lower speeds. The only really stressed component on geared engine is the gear.
love to see old commanders in the air great video!! keep her flyin boys !! please post some more if you have time !! thanks!!
I've watched all your videos. You have great videos. They show flying and your personality.
This was our first significant flight after a year of work on the plane. The Aero Commander flies beautifully. It has 7 seats and can carry about 1500 pound with full fuel.
Chandler Airport! That's where I got my Private at... Memley Aviation at the time (Fresno Flyers not). I miss that place - lots of incredible memories!
+Todd Barker I took a few lessons at Memley. My plane is located at Chino in Southern California. Ryan there really understands the Aero Commanders.
Nice one, John. I have an old 520 that I fly a lot in. She's just in for her annual now. I hope you keep the 680F flying! The IGSO-540's demand a deep pocket!
The 1955 A.C. 680 Super did have auto feather at 2,400 rpm or slightly less.
Lycoming IGSO-540-B1A (380 HP) require careful attention to RPM and BMEP monitoring. Recommended TBO is only 1200 hours, but some that fly the Grand Commander have flown theirs to 1800 hours. You are allowed 5 minutes @ 3400 RPM at take-off, I pull back to 3000 after rotation and the gear comes, plan on 35 GPH and 190 knots above 10,500 feet AGL..
+Stephen Ruby Our flights are short. Usually Fresno to Southern California. Isn't the full power a 2 minute rating?
The secret to the longevity of these geared engines is to not ovwer boost or over rev them. Manual says max RPM and BOOST for TWO minutes Maximum. Many people over rev and over boost them leading to catastrophic engine failure.
My 1955 680 Super had auto feather . I stayed at 2450,no lower.
I don't fly too fast. It is fun to fly. I try to save fuel. We are very careful with the 689F's geared engines.
Fuel economy is key so we fly where the full potential is realized ...But when were younger it seem's that speed was always king...it wasn't until I was a bit older that I learned Economy is King and while speed is nice if your flying a saber liner or Jet-star there is nothing economical about speed ...I enjoyed your video..
Flying slow makes no sense. The fuel you save is almost nothing in comparison to the per hour maintenance costs of the aircraft.
Only time to fly slow is for weather or if you are getting paid by the hour to do survey work.
Pro tip : you can watch movies at Flixzone. Been using them for watching a lot of movies lately.
@Ephraim Zachariah Definitely, I have been watching on flixzone for since november myself =)
Is 7380 one of those new VFR cruising altitudes I've been reading about? ;)
I'm wondering are your engine's using a Geared type Super charger Or are they turbo charged and If you switched from Carburetors to F.I. wouldn't you realize more efficiency in cost per hour ? reason I asked is I worked for a busy NY City area FBO and we had 4 different type's of the Rockwell Commander in our hanger from the Jet commander to your Twin commander with two Turbo prop Commander's and our Chief Mechanic did the fuel injection turbo charge upgrade and from what he said from his check out flight it's a completely different aircraft now..
The speeds you call out are Knots, not MPH.
The 500B did NOT have auto feather. I had one of those on lease.
I to have one,but its been converted to a SHRIKE with air-conditioning . HID landing lights and two 345 HP Lycoming engines instead of the 290 Lycomings I run 2300 RPM and 21" Hg Sit at around 10,000 ft and higher at 12,000 ft. I am used to high altitude flying so 12,000 ft is peanuts
@@steinwaygrande3971 What is the comfortable high altitude for that configuration? I am interested in over-the-mountain-range capability - but it must be able to do it on one engine, if needed.
Are you flying from Monterey to Fresno if you are heading East? The title says Fresno to Monterey which would be West, correct?
+SanFranciscoBay A lot of the video is the return flight, heading east.
better be careful. fresno is loaded with violent ufo's i used to live in turlock and my commander was shot at by ufos at least 2 times. that was a sunday morning on my way to merced for breakfast, had to get the right wing replaced on landing, no biggy i always carry a set of spare wings. lol quick release pins. 30 minutes and good to go nah i love my mine is a 1965 680 i have owned her for over 40 years. best airplane i have ever owned. taken her all over the country and to europe 4 times. great off airport plane when i bought her she was parked in a hanger at the old turlock muni, paid 35 grand for her. 6 months later she was good to go. then to arizona for mew paint and interior.looks like a brand new plane new instrument panel. last month now a rarely fly her. im in washington state. i do not fly in the winter..they are a simple plane to fly.
3ft short of the numbers :-)))
hello this great friend greetings ok
I'm confused about something and hoping you're still around to answer. You showed 21" and 2700 RPM at 7000'. Why? Wouldn't you want more inches and less RPM?
You also were indicating 140KT as if that was good? I thought the plane would fly 200KT. Just curious if you were purposely flying that slow or if the plane really is that slow?
Thanks,
Glenn
+Glenn Hancock Mainly, I want to save fuel. We were in no hurry. Just enjoying the flight. I often fly Fresno to Southern California. We don't fly too fast. Those are expensive engines. I don't push them.
+Glenn Hancock
This a high rpm engine so many times the RPM is above MP. He said he was trying to save gas so the power is way back. I flew a Queen Air with this engine and averaged 22gph until we started pulling it way back. I found it to be a very smooth and powerful engine. Now 163mph on that power is very good indeed. True at that altitude is probably around 190mph.
Many Commanders auto feather at 2,400 rpm or less.
These are actually piston version of the Commander and they would never do that. In fact there is no auto feathering on these planes at all.
He's staying well clear of "auto feather'.My 680 Super pulled 30 inches and 2450 [hi. B.M.E.P.] I got max. hours .e would be faster pulling more inches
They're IGSO 540, not GSIO 540
yes and if I'm not mistaken the 540 being Cubic inches ? Or I'm I wrong ?
@@TheRoguelement Cubic inches is correct but I don't think it matters much in what order the alphabets are given because they are self-explanatory - I is for fuel injection, G for gear, S for blower (T is for turbo) and finally O is for opposite cylinders. However, Continental seems to use the same definitions but in different order. So to differentiate between Lycoming and Continental engines the order of alphabets may be relevant but 680 never had Continentals (if I'm not mistaken).