Aircraft model
AERO COMMANDER S2R
Everything here is true of every aircraft of the type, not of any one aircraft.
The Thrush Commander is a purpose-built agricultural aeroplane designed by Leland Snow and produced under the Aero Commander name after Rockwell acquired his company. It is a single-seat taildragger with a 600 hp radial, a chemical hopper between the engine and the cockpit, and a structure built to survive low-level work and the occasional wire strike.
It is working equipment and is bought as such: hopper capacity, engine time, airframe hours and cycles, and above all corrosion from years of chemical exposure, which is what ultimately retires these airframes. The R-1340 radial is well supported by warbird standards but expensive to overhaul. Most surviving piston Thrushes have been converted to turbine power, which creates a substantially different and more valuable aircraft. Agricultural flying is a specialist discipline with its own insurance market.
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- AERO COMMANDER S2R
What it is
| Seats | 1 |
|---|---|
| Landing gear | taildragger |
| Engines | 1 |
| Engine | Pratt & Whitney R-1340 (radial) |
| Horsepower | 600 hp |
| Fuel | 100LL |
| Certification basis | CAR3 |
| Production start | 1965 |
| Production end | 1977 |
| Endorsements required | high-performance;tailwheel |
Performance
| Cruise speed | 100 KTAS |
|---|---|
| Range | 300 nm |
| Service ceiling | — |
| Climb rate | — |
| Stall speed (Vso) | 55 KCAS |
| Takeoff over 50 ft | — |
| Landing over 50 ft | — |
Load and fuel
| Seats | 1 |
|---|---|
| Useful load | 2,700 lb |
| Full-fuel payload | 2,100 lb |
| Max takeoff weight | 6,000 lb |
| Empty weight | 3,300 lb |
| Usable fuel | 100 gal |
| Fuel burn at cruise | 33.6 gal/h |
Cost of ownership
| Price, low | $39,000 |
|---|---|
| Price, high | $150,000 |
| Prices as of | 2026 |
| Engine TBO | 1,200 h |
| Overhaul cost, low | $90,000 |
| Overhaul cost, high | $155,000 |
The fleet and its record
| Registered, all time | 369 |
|---|---|
| Active fleet | 60 |
| Median year built | 1972.0 |
| NTSB events, last 10 years | 11 |
| Fatal events, last 10 years | 1 |
| Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years | 183.33 · thin base (low)1 |
| Personal-flying events per 1,000 active | 16.67 · thin base (low)2 |
| Ownership transfers, last 24 months | 7 |
| Transfers per 100 active | 11.67 · thin base (low)3 |
| Airworthiness directives | 0 |
| Directives, last 5 years | 0 |
| Rate confidence | low |
- Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 60 active.
- Personal-flying events per 1,000 active: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 60 active.
- Transfers per 100 active: per 100 active aircraft · base 60 active.
Peer scores6
| Peer class | Fixed wing single-engine, piston, 1 engine, 1-2 seats |
|---|---|
| Accident record | 7 of 101 |
| Severity | 4.3 of 102 |
| Access | 1.1 of 103 |
| Support | 4.6 of 104 |
| Liquidity | 1.2 of 105 |
| Overall (sum of the categories shown) | 18.2 out of 506 |
- Accident record: class median 25 · 181 models in class.
- Severity: class median 5.
- Access: class median 987.
- Support: class median 72.
- Liquidity: class median 20.59.
- Each of the five categories places the model within its peer class, from 0 (the worst of the class) to 10 (the best): a position among comparable models, not a grade. The overall score is the sum of the categories shown that are scored, out of 10 for each (50 when all five are); it is given only when at least 4 of the five are scored, and it can be set against another model's only when both are in the same peer class and scored on the same categories.