Turbofan powered Rockwell Commander

[AeroFranz]

A friend of mine passed along two pictures (from airliners.net) of a Rockwell Commander modified with two turbofans. Apparently this was an "Astafan Conversion" by Miles aircraft for Societe Turbomeca back in 1979. A quick search led to the Astafan wikipedia page which has a few more details.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turbomeca_Astafan

I find it curious that this promising engine found no applications. Maybe it was a little bit ahead of its time, there certainly is no lack of interest in small turbofans these days. Add to that variable pitch fan blades...

 

[Sundog]

Cool, I've never seen this before. However, I can't help thinking cabin noise would have been a problem.

 

[frank]

That looks like more of an afterthought than Beech's jet King Air 200! I doubt cabin noise would have been much worse than a stock Turbo Commode!

Cool, I've never seen this before. However, I can't help thinking cabin noise would have been a problem.

 

[AeroFranz]

I'm thinking this was more of a testbed than an attempt at a production aircraft. Regrettable that this seemingly promising engine never led to much

 

[Just call me Ray]

That looks like more of an afterthought than Beech's jet King Air 200! I doubt cabin noise would have been much worse than a stock Turbo Commode!

Like has been subsequently mentioned, it was only a demonstrator. There is a more proper jet version of the Turbo Commander, the Jet Commander/IAI Westwind.

 

[Jemiba]

Close-Up of the installaton of the Turbomeca Astafan IV F6.The original nacelle
was retained for the landing ear, the engines mounted on separate pylons under the
wing. Probably not the aerodymically cleanest installation, bu sufficient for just
engine testing.
(from GIFAS yearbook 1977)

 

[frank]

Since it has very little in common with the Aero / Turbo Commander series, it's really NOT a 'version' of them.

That looks like more of an afterthought than Beech's jet King Air 200! I doubt cabin noise would have been much worse than a stock Turbo Commode!

Like has been subsequently mentioned, it was only a demonstrator. There is a more proper jet version of the Turbo Commander, the Jet Commander/IAI Westwind.

 

[AeroFranz]

I work by an airport and I often see a Westwind parked near my office. It always looked odd, with its high wing, compared to other business jets on the apron. You can however see some family resemblance with the Commander. Does anyone know if Turbo Commander parts were reused?