• Wing span: 110" 
• Engine:   Twin 35cc Gas 
• Weight:  37 lbs  

First a little history.  It is not a Piper Aerostar!  It was built by four companies, Piper being the last, ending about 1984.  A total of 1010 built.  Ted Smith was the project engineer of the Douglas A-20 bomber in the mid 1940’s.  He got some guys together and after work they designed and built the Aero Commander.  Kind of a smaller version of the A-20 and they sold it.  Then came the Jet Commander, a mid-wing, swept tail, lengthened fuselage, jet powered Aero Commander.  Ted left Rockwell in 1963 with the Aerostar idea, a shortened fuselage, swept forward wing version powered by piston engines instead of jets, based on the Jet Commander.  Ted Smith Aircraft Company was established in the beginning of 1965 to design the structure and produce the proto type.  I was employee number 7 designing structure.  I left in 1966 to fly for TWA.  I designed and built a wood and composite homebuilt while at TWA.  This model uses my knowledge of the real aircraft and design and building my homebuilt.  The Aerostar is about the fastest piston twin even at more than 50 years old.  Ted wanted it fast and used the low drag 64A212 airfoil, no twist wing and no side or down thrust for the engines. 

by Stan Burak