Robinson to prioritize cargo hook and develop R66 ENG variant in 2016

Robinson Helicopter is prioritizing the certification of a cargo hook and a wire strike protection system (WSPS) for the R66, and is working on an electronic newsgathering (ENG) version of the turbine aircraft, the manufacturer revealed at HAI Heli-Expo in Louisville, Ky., last week.

Speaking at a press conference during the show, company president Kurt Robinson said Magellan Aerospace is working on a supplemental type certificate (STC) for the WSPS, which is comprised of an upper cutter, a lower cutter, and a windshield deflector, and hoped to have certification in hand in the first quarter of 2016.

The cargo hook, which will be certified for about 1,200 pounds (544 kilograms), has been a project in the company’s pipeline for the last couple of years, but Kurt Robinson said the manufacturer would try to get it finalized this year.

Little detail was given of the R66 ENG variant, except that the manufacturer hopes to have it ready in time for Heli-Expo 2017 next March.

As for rumors of an “R88″ in the works, Kurt Robinson said the company would be looking long and hard at market needs before making any addition to its product line. “We don’t want to build a ‘me too’ product, we want to build something that meets all of our criteria, which is reliable, economical, and fits a market need — and I think we’ve done that with all the products up until now,” he said. “So, we’ll take a look at that as we go to the next size helicopter. Obviously I don’t think we can go lower [in size] any more, so the only way to go is to something with more [size]. I don’t think we’re done yet, but we don’t have anything at this time on the board.”

However, the most recent addition to the Robinson family — the R44 Cadet — was the focus of most of the manufacturer’s attention at this year’s show. Sharing the same airframe, rotor system, and powerplant (a Lycoming O-540-F1B5) as the R44 Raven I, the Cadet differs through the removal of the Raven I’s rear seats, providing cargo space — and resulting in a lighter aircraft. The Cadet’s maximum gross weight has been reduced from the Raven I’s 2,400 pounds (1,088 kilograms) to 2,200 pounds (998 kilograms), and the engine power has been derated to 210 horsepower takeoff and 185 horsepower continuous. 

Kurt Robinson admitted that, with the two-place R22 and four-place R44 already in the Robinson fleet, he had fielded questions as to the reasoning behind introducing a two-place R44. 

“The answer is, very simply, we have done everything we could with the R22, and as pilots – and people — are, they still wanted more,” he said. “They want an R22, but they still want to do more instrument training, or [have] air conditioning, or other things, and frankly the ship is pretty much maxed out, and we don’t want to impose on any safety margins. 

“So what we came up with is, we took the R44 and we took away some things. We actually reduced the gross weight a bit by 200 pounds, we took the Vne [never exceed speed] and slowed it down a little bit, and the max continuous power and reduced it slightly. By taking those things away we were able to now do some things that were in the positive. One of which is you get a little bit more altitude performance. But we also focused on lowering the cost of the aircraft — lowering the initial purchase price, and then we also were able, by reducing some of those characteristics, to increase the TBO [time between overhaul] from 2,200-hours to 2,400 hours. So the Cadet is a lot less expensive as a trainer. And we’ve actually been very surprised at the [extent of the] positive reaction we’ve had to it.”

Robinson began officially accepting orders for the Cadet, at an introductory price of US$339,000, shortly before the start of the Heli-Expo. Kurt Robinson said the company is targeting certification from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in the second quarter of 2016, and said EASA certification would be applied for immediately thereafter. 

“I don’t think [certification] will be a big deal, but I can’t speak for EASA,” he said. “But it will be a priority for us to get it approved as quickly as we can.”

The development of the Cadet has also resulted in a tangible benefit for the rest of the R44 family; the Cadet has a quieter muffler (by three decibels) than the previous version on the Raven I, and that muffler will now be used across the R44 product line.

“In fact, right now, if you order a muffler, we’re going to give you the quieter one,” said Kurt Robinson. “We like to see the industry be quieter if we can. And we’re pretty proud of it.”

However, the introduction of the Cadet was just one of several major product developments at Robinson in 2015. Earlier in the year, the Genesys Aerosystems HeliSAS and autopilot were introduced in the R66 (coupled to the Garmin G500H), followed by the certification of the same Genesys system with the Aspen 1000H in the R44 and R66.

After a four-year effort, the R66 finally received certification to fly in snow conditions, and, shortly before the start of Heli-Expo, the FAA certified an auxiliary fuel tank for the aircraft. The tank carries 43 gallons of fuel, providing an additional two hours of capacity to take the R66 up to about five hours of flight before refuelling. 

“What it really allows you to do, and what we’ve had a lot of requests for, is in places like Canada, and over in Russia, and different areas where there’s a lot of remote land, [it gives you] the ability to fly an hour and a half, two hours somewhere, do a job, and then fly back,” said Kurt Robinson. “It gives you quite a bit of range in areas where fuel is hard to come by.”

In terms of sales in 2015, the company recorded 347, up slightly from 329 aircraft sold in 2014. Last year’s total included 117 R66s, 196 R44s, and 34 R22s. Kurt Robinson said 60 to 65 percent of those were to customers outside of the U.S., predominantly in Australia, China, South Africa and Europe.

The R66 also recorded a notable milestone in 2015, with the delivery of the 700th aircraft. Robinson said that in 2015 alone, R66s around the world flew over 150,000 hours, and have accrued a grand total of 425,000 flight hours since the type’s debut in 2010.

The manufacturer now has over 450 service centers and dealers around the world, and Kurt Robinson said customer support was an area of real focus. “That’s a very important area for us, and we want to continue to focus on reliability, cost and availability of parts, [and] reducing the overall cost of the aircraft and parts.”