Robinson Helicopter is an amazing company - one of a kind, actually, because it was founded by a single man and grew under his management. Not only did he find a way to make his dream come true, he also became extremely successful on the way, launching probably the most popular helicopters in the world.
A persistent engineer
It should be noted that Frank Robinson's path to making his first helicopter was hard and thorny. For almost 20 years, working as an engineer in the helicopter industry, he repeatedly tried to convince potential backers to finance a company which would make small rotorcraft for private use. But all was in vain. In 1973 Hughes Helicopter Company engineer Frank Robinson for the last time presented to the management his project to make a small cheap helicopter and sell it at a price of a common car. But he was turned down again under the pretext that it was impossible to make such a helicopter at such cost, it would be unreliable and there would be no demand anyway. In the end Frank got tired of trying to talk his employers over and quit his job at Hughes.
He mortgaged his house (a very risky venture) and founded his own Robinson Helicopter Company (RHC), with most of production facilities based at his Palos Verdes home.
A good friend of Frank's who also owned a business and was interested in helicopters took part in designing the newly established company's first-born. He was a great help and soon the first prototype of a two-seater R22 was designed and built.
Dream come true
R22 took off in 1975 - just two years after the company was founded. Flight-testing and obtaining the FAA certificate needed for production and sales of the model took four long years. During that time the company more than once found itself on the brink of bankruptcy, but finally in March, 1979 R22 went into production. It was marketed at a basic price of only $40,000!
Until about 1983 the company had been successful enough to stay afloat without the need to attract external investors. By the mid-1980’s the sales had grown enough to bring serious profit. The small R22 immediately became the most popular craft for initial training across the USA, and in many other countries as well. Very soon this machine became the industry standard, with at least 80% of all civil helicopter pilots having been trained in it. It was a veritable triumph, and a start of a good market.
Robinson Helicopter didn't stop there and started working on a new four-seater piston-engine machine, actively using the concepts and solutions tried in R22. The result was R44, with the first prototype taking off in 1990. In 1992 it received the FAA certificate and in the spring of 1993 went in production. The market welcomed the new design triumphantly, and after a short while R44 sales had actually exceeded those of its elder brother.
Robinson today
In 1994 Robinson Helicopter Company moved to a new venue with almost 80,000 m² of production floor space, not far from Torrance Airport in South California. Currently it employs about 1,200 people and on average makes just over 3 helicopter per day. It has global sales and maintenance network: more than 110 official dealers and 290 service centres in 50 countries, including China and Russia.
On the whole, Robinson keeps over 90% of world small piston-engine helicopters' sales. The demand for this kind of rotorcraft had steeply grown in 2004-2006, exceeding 800 machines a year.
The company's new success was a new version of R44 model called Raven II, introduced right during that period.
Last March, at HELI-EXPO 2007 the company presented a brand new model: five-seater R66. This multipurpose machine is primarily designed for business use and long-range flights, competing with Bell 206 and Eurocopter EC120 Colibri. The helicopter is 20 cm wider than its predecessor R44; it’s the first Robinson machine with a luggage compartment.
The history of Robinson Helicopter is unique indeed! Established just over 30 years ago in the garage of a private house, with practically no resources apart from the owner's enthusiasm, it became one of the most successful and best-selling companies in the world. And their wonderful machines have been the top of the world sales rating lists for quite a while. Isn't that a true American dream?..
Dmitri Gnatenko
Photoreport
USD:
EUR:
