Selling my AC Commander

vdub280

Newbie
Joined
Apr 20, 2010
Messages
35
Location
Clarendon Hills, Illinois
Okay, since it's official and I'm now laid off, I've decided to sell my Commander and get ahead of the curve on what may prove to be tough financial times. I'll put the Gyrobee project on hold until things improve.

What I've got is an AC Commander "Classic" in very nice original condition. It's never been flown. I'm the second owner; the first owner put it together but didn't quite finish everything up. It was stored away in a garage for the last 20+ years. It's in great shape with some scratches and scuffs from storage, and some minor corrosion on some of the fasteners from humidity.

It has a Rotax 447 on it; it was never run until I purchased it. I went through the Bing carb and replaced the o-rings and all of the gas lines, siphon bulb, filter, clamps, altitude line, and sight-line. I broke it in following the Rotax manual precisely, on a 50:1 mix of Yamalube R2. It runs great.

The gyro also has a Wunderlich prerotator, hydraulic brakes (which I filled and bled out since they had never been set up), 23' Skywheels (nice shape with some minor scuffs and scratches from storage; they don't appear to have ever been mounted), and a gauge pod with German Winter guages (altimeter, air speed, cylinder head temperature and tach), 60" Warp Speed 4-blade prop, and a rotor brake.

Since this is basically a virgin time-machine kind of craft, it reflects exactly what was sold in, I believe, 1987. None of the suggested updates or safety retrofits have been done.

Everything is in nice shape; heck- it's all basically NOS. The seat tank is clean since it never had fuel in it until I broke the engine in. There are no leaks from the brakes or fuel taps. Seat cover is nice. Tires are clean, hold air fine and have no cracking or checking. There's some minor adjusting necessary to the various controls and cables, some minor hardware that should be replaced (mostly the Nylock nuts which show minor corrosion on their tin shells), and some torquing of the various fasteners, since this was never completed (I just snugged up whatever hadn't been tightened, since I don't have the manual for the AC and Air Command doesn't respond to emails). The only things missing from the unit are four of the blade bolts/castellated nuts and the 2-pair electrical cable from the gauge pod to the engine. It was never installed and went missing somewhere along the way. All I've done is wipe the unit down and do the aforementioned break-in and tinkering. I would completely disassemble the gyro sequentially or by sub-assemblies and clean and check everything, but at least you get to start with something that hasn't been bent, crashed, fatigued, worn out or even flown! It would be a good starting point for a CLT conversion or a makeover into a two-seater.

Add a horizontal stabilizer while you're at it.

I thought I'd offer this to the forum members first, before I put it on Craigslist or Ebay, since you've all been very friendly, accommodating and helpful to me in getting into gyros.

I'm asking $7500 OBO; please feel free to ridicule me about, or comment on, the price. I'll also consider selling it for the best offer without the Rotax 447 on it, since I'd kind of like to keep it for the Gyrobee project when I can finally return to building it. PM me if you're so inclined. I have lots of other photos and will try to answer any and all questions to the best of my ability.
 

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Well- thought I'd have a better response on selling the AC here on this forum, but I guess it's not to be. Thanks to those few who responded; next is Craigslist and ebay for a week and then it gets cannibalized for parts. Thanks again.
 
Well you newbees this is a good buy. You cannot build a bensen style or gyrobee for this price. Yeah you need to add a HS but this is still a good deal!!!
 
The prop is not a WD either.
 
Gyro- I assumed the prop was a Warp Drive unit because I was told that was what came on the original ACs. Who made it for them? The only markings on it are "Max 3100 RPM" marked on each blade. The blades are removable. Thanks, Mark
 
I'm going to hold off on ebaying it for a day or so in case anyone here is interested. Also, I have other photos if anyone would like them. I zipped up 3 sets of 9 photos, so I can email them if you'd like. I hate to sell it, but being laid off is forcing my hand here and with the miserable job market, I'm worried about staying ahead of the curve financially.
 
Gyro- I assumed the prop was a Warp Drive unit because I was told that was what came on the original ACs. Who made it for them? The only markings on it are "Max 3100 RPM" marked on each blade. The blades are removable. Thanks, Mark

Looks like an UltraProp.
 
gyromike- I believe you are correct, sir. I just looked up UltraProps and it is indeed one of them. Thanks for the information.

By the way, your YouTube video flying your Bensen has to be my favorite gyro video.
 
This is a good deal for all you newbies counting your pennies,
Of course plan on spending some more money to do the needed upgrades.
You can't build a gyrobee this cheap.

Good luck with the sale, and good luck finding employment.
 
Last edited:
Gyro for sale

Gyro for sale

I heard you talk about the gyrobee. I am a newbie and am interested in several designs. I am trying to sell a police motorcycle to get one. I have gyrobee plans. Is this a good design for a beginner? I live in SW Arkansas, how much do you think the shipping would cost? :hippie:
 
I've listed the AC on ebay for the third (and final) time. If anyone is interested, now's your chance to get a bargain on an unflown AC Commander. After two bad ebay experiences with deadbeats, I'm offering it one last time for a 3-day auction before chopping it up for parts. After being laid off, I need to get some sort of money out of it, so unfortunately, it appears parting it is the only way to generate any interest in it (most parts of it are spoken for if I go that route). The auction number is 300439508477 if anyone would like to check it out.
 
I'm asking $7500 OBO; please feel free to ridicule me about, or comment on, the price.
Okay you said I could.
When I was looking for a gyro 3 or so years ago and when the economy was good
I found AC 503s with all the up grades done to them ( mast/ cyclic/ pod /HS & some had N numbers.
30 - 80 hours on them tested and flown $6000,0
Sooo.... maybe your asking to much for what ya got?
I'm just sayin!
Also I don't know how much you paid for it.
Good luck.:)
 
Please post the link.
 
Just tell your friends (the deadbeat bidders) to stop bidding on it to drive the price up and you will get a buyer :boink:
 
Aww man.... are those current pics on there ?

She is beautiful ! It's like new ! I love it !

If I had the cash now, I would grab it in a second !

To me , those blades are priceless ! I hope I never hurt my Skywheels or I will be kicking myself for not buying yours.
 
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