During this past weekend’s Flight Sim Expo 2025 in Providence, Rhode Island, Black Square showed off renders of an upcoming aircraft model that is sure to please fans of the developer’s approach to creating unapologetically realistic aircraft. Quietly playing on a TV screen at the booth of Black Square’s sales, marketing, and support partner, Just Flight, were several renders of not one, but TWO Aero Commanders in development. In the same approach taken with the Black Square Duke, it appears that the developer will bring both the turboprop and piston-powered versions of the aircraft to Microsoft Flight Simulator.
The Aero Commander is a series of twin-engine aircraft developed by Aero Design and Engineering Company, later a division of Rockwell International. It featured a low-slung fuselage and was known for its speed, reliability, and unique design features. Part of the legendary Aero Commander 500 line of aircraft that included the Shrike 500 flown by renowned aviator Bob Hoover, production of all variants of the Aero Commander saw nearly 3,000 built.
The turboprop Commander 690B is powered by two single-shaft Garrett AiResearch (now Honeywell) TPE-331 engines, each producing 717.5 shaft horsepower (SHP). Over 200 were produced, and many are still in regular use today. It features a wide cabin with easy entry thanks to the low-slung fuselage. Nearly identical in design, the piston-powered Commander 685 was produced in fewer numbers compared to the turboprop 690B. Today, only a handful are active in the FAA registry, and the aircraft earned a reputation for a comfortable and quiet interior, but was handicapped by expensive, maintenance-hungry, geared Continental GTSIO-520K engines with a relatively low time between overhauls (TBO).
Those familiar with Black Square will be sure to point out that the Aero Commanders fit in well with the developer’s product line, especially given lead developer Nick Cyganski’s self-proclaimed affinity for preserving the history of unique aircraft. The Commander 690B and 685 are the second Rockwell International aircraft that Black Square has revealed since showing previews of the Commander 114 piston-single last year. With Starship’s launch, Black Square will continue to focus on the upcoming Professional Series and other product updates for MSFS2024.
As the development efforts for the Aero Commanders are just getting started, no release timeline is available. Be sure to stay tuned to FSElite as more details are revealed.
