A Peak View Into A Few Chapters of Stars and Commanders!

This beautiful coffee table, hardcover book is crafted with a premium cover, smyth sewn binding and 80# matte finish paper. Each book is numbered and signed by the Author, Dave Duntz. If requested the Author would be happy to write a personal note to the recipient. When checking out please provide in the "Notes to Author" box the recipient's name and any involvement in aviation, Aero Commanders, Jet Commanders or Aerostars.

• Chapter 1

  Chapter 1

  THE DREAM UNFOLDS

  Imagine a light breeze flowing across a wide-open grass field under a 1927 California sun. The wind sock is telling the lanky 21-year-old aviator the direction he should point his craft for flight. The young pilot is poised as always and looks somewhat debonair in his shirt and tie. A man should always look his best, he thought. And today was a day when he wanted everything to be the very best.

  Durant Flying Field in East Oakland was like most airports in the 1920s. No concrete runways. In fact, no runways at all. Just a large grass field that allowed the pilot to always land and takeoff into the wind. Barnstormers often flew their World War I Curtis Jenny’s from this field, with young and old hopping their first flights. But of late it had become a popular place to launch gliders. When towed by a car, the gliders became swiftly airborne. Today, it would provide the venue for the maiden flight of a newly designed single seat glider, minted in the mind of a new aviation architect with fresh ideas and lofty aspirations. ...

• Chapter 12

  Chapter 12

  NORMAN R & D DEVELOPMENT OF THE 560A AND 680

  I have found that a continuing R&D program is a necessary function in any product to stay ahead of the competition. We were on top, and it was my desire, and the desire of the company, to stay there. It was my strong belief that R&D should be entirely divorced from ongoing production, working independently on a budget set by management.

  During his visit to our factory, Mr. Charles Kettering, the genius of General Motors, said to me: “Ted, you have created a product born from a dream. From here on out it is only the pick and shovel work to be done to produce the product. Your creative genius should not be involved in the everyday production pick and shovel work, but you should direct your thoughts and efforts to the future.” These words of advisement from a great and successful man have remained with me from that day. They provided me the incentive and wisdom to set up an R&D facility at Norman and continue in the field I knew and liked best: the creative art of aircraft design. So, in August 1954 ...

• Chapter 31

  Chapter 31

  TED'S AEROSTAR DESIGN PHILOSOPHY

  Ted initially wrote a brief document for his designers outlining his Aerostar design philosophy. Much later, after the Aerostar was designed, Ted wrote a 63-page treatise, titled Summary of Engineering Concepts for Aerostar and Subsequent Aircraft, for use by future Ted Smith Aerostar engineers. A highly condensed version follows.

  INTRODUCTION

  These are my basic thoughts pertaining to the design and development of aircraft, particularly the Aerostar series. In the design and development of the Aerostar series we have adopted a ‘total concept design.’ This means when the aircraft was designed, the totality of the design was made up of 15 important areas that were each carefully considered. This provided a design that has all of these areas integral to its concept. ...

• Chapter 58

  Chapter 58

  THE AEROSTAR EXPERIENCE

  This chapter is about people and their Aerostars. It includes the following:

  - Flying and Owning the Aerostar
  - The Aerostar Owners Association
  - Aerostar People

  FLYING AND OWNING THE AEROSTAR
  Fighter pilots who have flown an Aerostar often remark “It flies like a fighter.” For those who have not been warriors of the skies and pursued more peaceful flying, they might remark as Rob Zohn has and say “Flying an Aerostar is the most fun you can have with your clothes on.” No matter what your flying background, the common denominator is “Aerostars are fun to fly.” Light but solid controls provide responsive and nimble handling. With a roll rate up to 200 degrees per second (for the short wing models), it takes just a small movement...

Chapter 1

THE DREAM UNFOLDS

Imagine a light breeze flowing across a wide-open grass field under a 1927 California sun. The wind sock is telling the lanky 21-year-old aviator the direction he should point his craft for flight. The young pilot is poised as always and looks somewhat debonair in his shirt and tie. A man should always look his best, he thought. And today was a day when he wanted everything to be the very best.

Durant Flying Field in East Oakland was like most airports in the 1920s. No concrete runways. In fact, no runways at all. Just a large grass field that allowed the pilot to always land and takeoff into the wind. Barnstormers often flew their World War I Curtis Jenny’s from this field, with young and old hopping their first flights. But of late it had become a popular place to launch gliders. When towed by a car, the gliders became swiftly airborne. Today, it would provide the venue for the maiden flight of a newly designed single seat glider, minted in the mind of a new aviation architect with fresh ideas and lofty aspirations. ...

Chapter 12

NORMAN R & D DEVELOPMENT OF THE 560A AND 680

I have found that a continuing R&D program is a necessary function in any product to stay ahead of the competition. We were on top, and it was my desire, and the desire of the company, to stay there. It was my strong belief that R&D should be entirely divorced from ongoing production, working independently on a budget set by management.

During his visit to our factory, Mr. Charles Kettering, the genius of General Motors, said to me: “Ted, you have created a product born from a dream. From here on out it is only the pick and shovel work to be done to produce the product. Your creative genius should not be involved in the everyday production pick and shovel work, but you should direct your thoughts and efforts to the future.” These words of advisement from a great and successful man have remained with me from that day. They provided me the incentive and wisdom to set up an R&D facility at Norman and continue in the field I knew and liked best: the creative art of aircraft design. So, in August 1954 ...

Chapter 31

TED'S AEROSTAR DESIGN PHILOSOPHY

Ted initially wrote a brief document for his designers outlining his Aerostar design philosophy. Much later, after the Aerostar was designed, Ted wrote a 63-page treatise, titled Summary of Engineering Concepts for Aerostar and Subsequent Aircraft, for use by future Ted Smith Aerostar engineers. A highly condensed version follows.

INTRODUCTION

These are my basic thoughts pertaining to the design and development of aircraft, particularly the Aerostar series. In the design and development of the Aerostar series we have adopted a ‘total concept design.’ This means when the aircraft was designed, the totality of the design was made up of 15 important areas that were each carefully considered. This provided a design that has all of these areas integral to its concept. ...

Chapter 58

THE AEROSTAR EXPERIENCE

This chapter is about people and their Aerostars. It includes the following:

- Flying and Owning the Aerostar
- The Aerostar Owners Association
- Aerostar People

FLYING AND OWNING THE AEROSTAR
Fighter pilots who have flown an Aerostar often remark “It flies like a fighter.” For those who have not been warriors of the skies and pursued more peaceful flying, they might remark as Rob Zohn has and say “Flying an Aerostar is the most fun you can have with your clothes on.” No matter what your flying background, the common denominator is “Aerostars are fun to fly.” Light but solid controls provide responsive and nimble handling. With a roll rate up to 200 degrees per second (for the short wing models), it takes just a small movement...