600E Designation used for aircraft sold in Europe. 600A Model 600 with some minor detail changes. 600 Initial production model with two 290hp Lycoming IO-540-K engines, 282 produced under four different company names. Model 400 Modification of first prototype with 200 hp (150 kW) IO-360 engines. Variants Model 360 First prototype, powered by two 180 hp (130 kW) Lycoming IO-360 engines. Conceived with a jet-powered design structure by Ted Smith from the very beginning, the Aerostar Aircraft Corporation continued its R&D and finally completed Ted Smith's dream to convert the design into a twin fan-jet aircraft, with 6-seat (including 1 pilot) and its version of the 8-seat stretched variant. The Aerostar type certificate and manufacturing documentation were sold in 1991 to Jim Christy and Steve Speer, who had been part of the Ted Smith Aerostar operation, and now operate Aerostar Aircraft Corporation in Hayden Lake, Idaho, providing maintenance and support of the aircraft and new R&D of its family of aircraft. The Aerostar was last built there in 1984. After discontinuing production of the non-pressurised models, Piper moved production to Vero Beach. It continued to build two variants (600A and 601B) and then re-introduced the 601P and 602P. In 1978, the company was taken over by the Piper Aircraft Corporation. In 1976, the company name was changed to the Ted Smith Aerostar Corporation. Another variant was the Aerostar 700 Superstar. The 601P had engines with higher-rate turbochargers to feed a cabin pressurization system. He also introduced the pressurized Aerostar 601P. In 1972 Ted Smith bought back all the rights to the aircraft and continued to manufacture Aerostars in Santa Maria, California. In 1971 Smith attempted to purchase the rights, and announced he would be building an all-new design that was better than the Aerostar, but initial deals broke down. The new company was named Aerostar Aircraft Corporation and it was intended to move production to a Mooney plant at Kerrville, Texas. The acquisition was not a success and in 1969 the company was sold again to Butler Aviation, owners of Mooney Airplane Company. The aircraft were originally built at Van Nuys in California, when in 1968 the company was bought by the American Cement Company. Light construction, low drag and high powered engines also contribute to fast climb rates. Also produced, and the base of most of the subsequent models, was a version with turbocharged engines, the Aerostar 601.ĭuring the time of production, the Aerostar held the speed record for fastest twin piston general aviation aircraft, capable of cruise speeds from 220 kn (408 km/h) for the earliest 600 models to 261 kn (483 km/h) for the later 700 models.
It was fitted with luxury accommodation for six. It was a mid-wing cantilever monoplane powered by two wing-mounted Avco Lycoming piston engines, with a tricycle landing gear. Ted Smith flew the first Aerostar 600 in October 1967.
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