In 1981, the type certificate owner was Gulfstream Aerospace,[1] but that company had no interest in single-engine piston production.

As one reviewer put it: If people bought airplanes based on looks and roominess alone, there would likely be a lot more Rockwell Commanders out in the field.

On the ramp the Commander's rakish nose, towering tail, and upright stance set it apart from its dowdy-looking competitors.

[2]The design had been made to follow the newly released FAR Part 23 standards for light aircraft, which had an emphasis on gust response and fatigue mitigation.

Unfortunately, this also had an impact on performance, and in spite of its clean lines the 112 was slightly slower than similar aircraft like the Piper Arrow.

The doors were fixed by replacing them with new aluminum units, which added still more weight, but had the benefit of making the cabin quieter.

[4] The 112TC had a significantly improved cruise speed of 160 knots (300 km/h; 180 mph) when flying at higher altitudes, as high as 20,000 feet (6,100 m), which was aided by a 32 inches (810 mm) increase in wingspan.

In comparison, the 114 offered a far better powerplant for the airframe, providing roughly the same cruise speed as the 112TC but at lower altitudes, and the extra power giving it far better climb performance.

Production of the 112B ended in 1979,[5] while the 112TC was further upgraded with a 50 pounds (23 kg) maximum weight increase and minor detail changes.

A smaller set of upgrades, notably a three-bladed propeller and a slightly raised maximum takeoff weight of 3,250 pounds (1,470 kg), produced the 114A "Gran Turismo".

[7] Following the end of production in 1981, Rockwell sold the design rights to the Aero Commander suite to Gulfstream American.

These improved cruise speed by a significant 8 knots (15 km/h; 9.2 mph), making it more competitive with similar models from other companies.

[9] In 1995, they added the 114TC, a version of the 114B with a 260 hp turbocharged engine, primarily to improve high altitude cruise speed to just over 200 knots (370 km/h; 230 mph)s. The company marketed the aircraft primarily to non-traditional markets,[9] namely Wall Street executives, via The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, and Fortune, and middle eastern executives, for whom the extremely powerful air conditioning system was added.

Richards formed Aerodyme Corporation to sell and service conversions consisting of the engine, 78-inch Hartzell three-blade Scimitar prop and a new cowl to fit it.

[2][9] The low mounted wing has significant dihedral[9] and features fully faired retractible main landing gear.

This was found to offer too little strength and was replaced with one fixed to the fuselage behind the seat as part of a 1987 Airworthiness Directive (AD).

Data from [25]General characteristics Performance Avionics BendixKing, Garmin, Sandel, Hoskins, Insight, S-TEC, Bennett