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The Rockwell Commander 700 is a twin-engine transport aircraft with a
pressurized wide-body twin-engine business aircraft for up to two crew
and seven passengers. The fuselage is constructed mainly from aluminum
alloy and the tail unit has swept-back vertical surfaces and shallow
dorsal fin. There is a built-in airstair in the left side of the
fuselage. The Rockwell Commander 700 is fitted with two 340 hp Lycoming
TIO-540-R2A piston engines. Development of the Commander 700 started in
1971, when Fuji Heavy Industries of Japan began with the design and
development of a pressurized wide-body twin-engine business aircraft.
Three years later the company entered into an agreement with Rockwell
International whereby the General Aviation Division of the American
company would share development, and would assume responsibility for
marketing the aircraft in the US, and for final assembly from
Fuji-produced parts. Six development and certification prototypes were
planned, three in each country. The prototype Fuji FA-300 c/n 30001 flew
first with testregistration JQ5001 on 13 November 1975; the first
Rockwell-assembled Model 700, registered N700FA, flew first on 25
February 1976. Type certification was received by the JCAB (Japan) on 16
May 1977, and by the FAA (USA) on 30 September 1977. The aircraft
entered production with Rockwell and customer deliveries began behind
schedule late in 1978. The Commander 700 proved heavy and underpowered
with the 340 hp Lycoming piston engines, and, with a full load of
passengers, range was severely compromised for all but short-haul
journeys. In Japan an uprated 450-hp version, known as the Fuji FA-300
Kai (in the USA as Rockwell 710), flew first on 22 December 1976, and
since appeared with a number of modifications, including Whitcomb
winglets. Rockwell did not take up their option to produce this
aircraft. With the death of Willard Rockwell in 1978 and the stepping
down of Willard Rockwell Jr. in 1979, the Rockwell International Corp. started
a long series of sell-offs. In 1979, Rockwell stopped producing the
Commander series. By early 1980, 42 shipsets of the Commander 700 had been delivered to
Rockwell, of which only 29 had been delivered to customers, and the
Rockwell International Corp. announced the termination of its joint development and
marketing agreement with Fuji. In 1981, the production rights to Rockwell's General Division
went to Gulfstream, who never produced any of either model.
Including prototypes a total of 49 aircraft were produced. |
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On 18 September 1978, Rockwell Commander 700 s/n 70007 was registered
N700GA with Rockwell International Corp., Bethany, Oklahoma. On 26
December 1976, registration N700GA was cancelled as exported to Germany
and the aircraft was registered D-IMCB. Registration D-IMCB was
cancelled as exported to Russia on 16 October 2006. The aircraft
was delivered to Russia as D-IMCB and registered RF-00730, despite RA-
is the prefix for the aircraft registered in the Russian Federation. In 1992, the prefix
RF- was suggested for the aircraft registered in the Russian Federation,
but this was not accepted by the ICAO. |
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