I do not think Paul was saying that this aircraft was overloaded on the fatal flight
The headline said:
Crashed Shrikes were overweight
What else can you make of that comment??
The sucessful tenderer started to operate, but could not meet the requirements and major changes were made. (another operator)
It would have been about this time that the STC for a 300 kg overload of shrikes surfaced.
The increased TOW STC for the Commander 500 was in place in the very early 1970's. The coastwatch contract you refer to was around Sept '87. The failure of that operator had nothing to do with Aero Commander.
It is also interesting to note that the number of in-flight failures of the model 500 worldwide are minimal (2), and the Australian STC applied to the 500S & 500U's, where there have not, to my knowledge, been any failures to date identified with the known wing problems
I agree that there is a place for writers like Paul, but to maintain his credibility he has to get it right and not stick unjustified knives into the industry that gives him work!