North American Aviation introduced the single-engine Navion to the market in 1946. It was one of the first all-metal monoplane designs introduced after World War II. It was a success, but due to the pressures of military contracts for F-86 fighters, North American decided to sell the design to the Ryan Aircraft Company in 1948. Ryan continued production for several more years.
In 1952, a program to convert single-engine Navions into twin-engine aircraft was started by Jack Riley of Florida. The conversions consisted of rebuilding the nose of the aircraft into a baggage compartment and placing two Lycoming engines on the wings. This program was eventually sold to the TEMCO Aircraft Corporation in Texas. Later modifications by TEMCO added more powerful engines and wing tip fuel tanks. Just over 100 Navions were converted between 1954 and 1957.
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