The Air Command Commander Tandem is an American autogyro that was designed and produced by

Air Command International Air Command International, Inc. is an American aircraft manufacturer originally based in Wylie, Texas, later in Caddo Mills, Texas and now in River Falls, Wisconsin. The company specializes in the design and manufacture of autogyros in the form ...

of Wylie, Texas. Now out of production, when it was available the aircraft was supplied as a kit for amateur construction.Purdy, Don: ''AeroCrafter - Homebuilt Aircraft Sourcebook, Fifth Edition'', page 316. BAI Communications, 15 July 1998. The design was later developed into the longer-landing gear equipped and heavier gross weight

Air Command Tandem The Air Command Tandem is an American autogyro designed and produced by Air Command International of Caddo Mills, Texas. The aircraft is supplied as a kit for amateur construction or as a ready-to-fly aircraft.Bayerl, Robby; Martin Berkemeier ...

that remained in production in 2014.

Design and development

The Commander Tandem was developed from the single-seat

Air Command Commander The Air Command Commander is an American autogyro that was designed and produced by Air Command International, with its first flight in 1984. Production was completed by 2003. The aircraft was supplied as a kit for amateur construction.Cliche, ...

and was designed to comply with the US Experimental - Amateur-built aircraft rules. It features a single main rotor, a two-seats-in tandem open cockpit with a small

cockpit fairing An aircraft fairing is a structure whose primary function is to produce a smooth outline and reduce drag.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms, Third Edition'', page 206. Aviation Supplies & Academics Inc, Newcastle Washington, 1997. ...

with a windshield,

tricycle landing gear Tricycle gear is a type of aircraft undercarriage, or ''landing gear'', arranged in a tricycle fashion. The tricycle arrangement has a single nose wheel in the front, and two or more main wheels slightly aft of the center of gravity. Tricycle g ...

with wheel pants, plus a tail caster and a twin cylinder, liquid-cooled,

two-stroke A two-stroke (or two-stroke cycle) engine is a type of internal combustion engine that completes a Thermodynamic power cycle, power cycle with two strokes (up and down movements) of the piston during one power cycle, this power cycle being comple ...

, dual-ignition Rotax 582 engine or

Mazda , commonly referred to as simply Mazda, is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Fuchū, Hiroshima, Japan. In 2015, Mazda produced 1.5 million vehicles for global sales, the majority of which (nearly one m ...

powerplant in

pusher configuration In an aircraft with a pusher configuration (as opposed to a tractor configuration), the propeller(s) are mounted behind their respective engine(s). Since a pusher propeller is mounted behind the engine, the drive shaft is in compression in nor ...

. The aircraft

fuselage The fuselage (; from the French ''fuselé'' "spindle-shaped") is an aircraft's main body section. It holds crew, passengers, or cargo. In single-engine aircraft, it will usually contain an engine as well, although in some amphibious aircraft t ...

is made from metal tubing. Its two-bladed rotor has a diameter of . The aircraft has a typical empty weight of and a gross weight of , giving a useful load of .

Operational history

In June 2014 no examples were registered in the United States with the

Federal Aviation Administration The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic m ...

, although a total of two had been registered at one time.

Specifications (Commander Tandem)

References

External links

Photo of an Air Command Commander Tandem
{{Air Command International aircraft Commander Tandem 1990s United States sport aircraft Homebuilt aircraft Single-engined pusher autogyros

Design and development

Operational history

Specifications (Commander Tandem)

See also

References

External links