Robinson Helicopter Company Summer 1999 Newsletter

FAA Approves Pop-Out Floats for R44

    Robinson Helicopter Company has obtained FAA-approval for pop-out floats for its four-seater R44 helicopter. The pop-outs are light-weight, quick to inflate, durable, and economically priced.

    The new floats were several years in a joint development program with Robinson and its vendor, Apical. To meet Robinson's specifications, the vendor used a new lightweight material developed for airliner slides and a graphite fiber reinforced cylinder filled with high-pressure helium.

    The low-density of the helium allows it to flow much more quickly through the valves and hoses when inflating the floats than would be possible with compressed nitrogen or air. In fact, a two-second inflation has been demonstrated.

    In addition, the floats retain their shape when inflated for at least three to four days with an acceptable pressure loss. An easy-to-operate mechanical lever mounted on the collective allows the pilot to quickly activate the floats in an emergency.

    The floats are also approved for allowing the pilot to take back off from the water after the cause of the emergency is corrected.

    With the floats stowed, there isn't any noticeable reduction in cruise airspeed compared with the standard R44 utility float package.

    The base price for a new R44 Clipper equipped with pop-out floats is $299,000. The R44 Clipper with standard utility floats is still $293,000. For additional information, contact Robinson's aircraft sales.

"World's Favorite Airline" To Use World's Most Popular Helicopters

    British Airways Flying Club, a subsidiary of British Airways Limited, the "World's Favorite Airline," is embarking on a full program of helicopter services utilizing helicopters manufactured by Robinson Helicopter Company.

    The Club's rotary-wing activities, focusing on training, are to be operated with Robinson R22 and R44 helicopters using striking tail-fin art on both empennage and pylon. The fleet currently includes three two-seat Robinson R22s, with immediate plans to add one four-seat R44. Further additions to the fleet are expected as demand develops.

    A new purpose-built hangar has been constructed at British Airways' own airfield, twenty miles northwest of London's Heathrow Airport. The full support of British Airways Flying Club's established facilities are now available to helicopter customers.

    The prestigious Club, which has been operating fixed-wing aircraft for fifty years, offers a full range of continuation training and corporate entertainment services under the supervision of Chief Pilot, Captain Leon Smith.

Spitzer Purchases 10 New R22s

    Spitzer Helicopter Leasing of Hayward, California has placed an order for ten new R22 Beta II helicopters.

    Matt Spitzer accepted delivery of the firs R22 Beta II in June, and plans to make all of the aircraft available for lease as they are delivered from the factory.

    Spitzer already owns twenty-two Robinson helicopters twenty-one R22s and one R44. The R22s are leased to flight schools in California, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Nevada. The R44 is being operated by an aerial sight-seeing company in Southern California.

    The 69-year-old Spitzer is a pilot himself, and holds rotorcraft and ATP fixed-wing ratings. He purchased his first R22 in 1991. Persons interested in leasing R22 Beta II helicopters may contact Spitzer Helicopters Leasing by telephone at (510) 728-7727.

"Good Morning America" Flies R44 ENG

    In early May, a massive F5 tornado touched down near Oklahoma City, destroying 3,000 homes, injuring 700 people, and killing at least 38 people. The destruction was a headline story featured on ABC television's popular "Good Morning America" (GMA). ABC used a Robinson R44 ENG helicopter owned by SKY Helicopters of Dallas for the live aerials.

    Connie Pyatt, VP of SKY Helicopters, relates the event. "We received a call from GMA's New York office at 7:30 p.m. wanting to know if we could be in Oklahoma City ready to broadcast live at 6:00 a.m. the next morning. We launched Ken in our R44 ENG ship, and I stayed on the phone to coordinate details."

    Ken Pyatt, one of SKY's three R44 pilots, continues the story. "I landed at the downtown airport at 10:100 p.m., checked my voice mail, and fount out the GMA team had just flown in from New York on the ABC Learjet, and were preparing for the next morning's show at the local ABC affiliate, KOCO. I took a taxi to the station, coordinated with the station technical guys, and mapped out the course for the next day. The only glitch was an ATC-imposed TFR (Temporary Flight Restriction) from the surface to 3,000 MSL, which would keep us at about 2,000 feet AGL."

    The plan was to broadcast live from the helicopter to the local station, uplink the signal to ABC in New York, and use SKY's footage, along with the ground-based cameras, during the GMA show. SKY was able to program the helicopter's UHF radios to coordinate with the producers, receive site data for the helicopter's directional antenna pod was entered using a hand-held keypad.

    "It was seamless," says Pyatt. "We were able to start broadcasting with a new camera operator and ground crew with only a few minutes coordination. The pictures from the gyro-stabalized camera were outstanding, and the 40X zoom lens made the TFR a non-event. GMA used us live on three separate spots, then used the taped footage for the ABC Evening news that same day."

    SKY Helicopters is the R22/R44 Dealer in North Texas and flies their ENG helicopters for WFAA, an ABC affiliate in Dallas. SKY performs other commercial missions in the Southwestern United States and is the FBO of the Garland/DFW Heliport, the largest public heliport in Texas.

Delta Helicopters Buys Three New R44s

    Delta Helicopters Ltd., one of Canada's largest helicopter operators, has taken delivery of three new Robinson R44 helicopters. The new R44s will be used primarily for forestry and oil industry support. Delta President, Don Stubbs, attended the Robinson Safety Course and was checked out in the new aircraft at the Robinson factory in Southern California. Delta is a factory-authorized Robinson Service Center, employing 16 pilots and 12 maintenance engineers.

    In addition to the new R44s, Delta's fleet also includes five Bell204Bs, two Bell206L-1 LongRangers, eight Bell 206s, and a Cessna 185.

    Delta's is based at the St. Albert Airport in Edmonton, Alberta and also maintains four other bases within Alberta, as well as one base in Dawson Creek, British Columbia.

R44 Helicopters Tour Hawaii's Jurassic Park

    Rainbow Pacific Helicopters and its fleet of Robinson R44 helicopters have won an exclusive sightseeing contract with the Kualoa Ranch Activity Club, renowned as one of the most scenic and exotic sits on the Hawaiian Islands, and site of the "Jurassic Park" film. Approximately 1,000 tourists visit the ranch each week, and Rainbow Pacific conducts scenic flights ranging from five minutes to an hour from the Ranch's private helipad. Passengers are treated to spectacular views of the thousand-foot Kaliuwa Falls, Kahana Reserve Tropical Rain Forest, and Kaneoke Bay Barrier Reef, the "Coral Garden of the Pacific."

    Rainbow Pacific's R44s replace turbine helicopters used by operators who controlled the coveted contract for twelve years. Florian Liebermeister, Rainbow Pacific's VP and Chief Pilot, says "the R44 has proven to be the perfect sightseeing helicopter with unobstructed visibility and a guaranteed window seat for all passengers. In addition to scenic tours and excursions offered from the Part 135 operator's main base in Honolulu, company President, Mark Senn, has also added inter-island tours to Molokai, Maui and the Big Island of Hawaii. Rainbow Pacific Helicopters took delivery of its first R44 in 1994 and now operates two R22s and four R44s.

R44 Clipper Enforces Laws in Alaska

    A new R44 Clipper was delivered to the State of Alaska Department of Public Safety. The department chose the float-equipped R44 Clipper to complement its smaller two-seat R22 Mariner, which has been successfully operated by the State since 1995. The primary missions for the new R44 and existing R22 are to assist in fish and wildlife law enforcement, such as investigating kill sites and position stake-out teams, as well as search and rescue operations and response to emergencies reported by other law enforcement agencies.

    Three State of Alaska pilots recently completed the Robinson Safety Course, and three of the State's mechanics also attended the six-day factory Maintenance Course. The State has purchased the spare parts and special tools required to perform its own maintenance.

Letters

    Dear Frank,

    I enjoyed reading the article about you in the April issue of Rotor & Wing. I truly hope you aren't the last of a breed for I bet you are a great mentor to the young people in your organization.

    I am pleased your products are off our radar screen and wish you a safe and happy future.

        Jim Hall, Chairman
        National Transportation Safety Board




    Dear Sir,

    My R44 has just done 500 hours, it is not operated commercially but it has been used in the Volcanic Eruptions at Rabaul where I evacuated 75 people from below a volcano which was erupting, it has been used on flood relief throughout Papua New Guinea, undertaken major immunization programs in some of the most remote country in the world, evacuated scores of people during earthquakes in the Finisterre Mountain Range and attended to a landslide where 42 out of a village of 100 were killed.

    In 1994, the aircraft was used to fly in medical staff into the heart of Bougainville Revolution Army occupied areas under the auspices of the International Red Cross, despite the danger, it was never fired upon by BRA yet every other helicopter in Bougainville has been fired at some time or another.

    I frequently operate the R44 to elevated villages at between 6,000 - 8,000 feet in elevation with dnsity altitudes significantly higher. My only regret is that you do not supply turbo-chargers to make altitude flying safer.

    I mention this not only for you to use as a testimony to the R44, but for you to understand the extreme conditions I operate the helicopter. The R44 has made a significant difference to the quality of life in my Province of Madang and has been extremely useful in meeting many of the demands of natural disasters throughout Papua New Guinea.


        Peter Barter
        Former Minister for
        Provincial Government Affairs


New Overhaul Policy for R22 Helicopters

    For many years, Robinson has subsidized the cost of the 2,000-hour overhaul. The cost of the factory overhaul was high, because many parts were replaced for cosmetic reasons, even on aircraft that were clean and well maintained. Robinson is now offering an overhaul kit which allows qualified R22 Service Centers to perform the overhaul. The aircraft owner will decide which, if any, parts are replaced solely for appearance. Many owners are expected to have the first 2,000-hour overhaul performed by a Service Center, and the 4,000-hour second overhaul performed at the Robinson factory. By that time, the seats, interiors, paint, and other cosmetic items will need replacement.