Full Answer
What kind of helicopter is a Robinson R44?
Robinson R44. The Robinson R44 is a four-seat light helicopter produced by Robinson Helicopter Company since 1992. Based on the company's two-seat Robinson R22, the R44 features hydraulically assisted flight controls.
What is the difference between the R44 and R44 II?
The R44 is a four-seat development of the Robinson R22. The R44 II differs from the R44 I by having a fuel injected Lycoming IO-540-AE1A5 engine instead of the carbureted Lycoming O-540-F1B5 engine and a maxium weight of 1089 kg / 2500 lbs instead of 1134 kg / 2400 lbs. max. Takeoff Weight
How much do helicopters weigh?
They need to be as light as possible to fly, but you may be surprised at just how much some of them can weigh! Helicopters can weigh from 600 lb/275 kg all the way up to 123,400 lb/56,000 kg with every weight and size in between. Helicopters have a Basic Empty Weight and a Maximum Gross Takeoff Weight.
Are there any accidents with R44 helicopters?
Accidents and incidents. The R44 was found to be prone to post-accident fires due to damage to the aluminum fuel tanks, allowing fuel to leak out. In 2009, the company began installing bladder-type fuel tanks in all new R44 helicopters.
How much is an R44 helicopter worth?
Depending on numerous factors, the average price for a pre-owned ROBINSON R44 Raven II is $393,651.80.
How much weight can a R44 helicopter carry?
Our Robinson R44 can carry a party of 3 with a combined weight of around 42st / 267kg depending on where they sit. There is a seat weight limit of 21st / 136kg and it is unlikely that anyone weighing over 15st can occupy the front seat if 3 are flying.
What fuel does Robinson R44 use?
A low tail-rotor tip speed, newly designed muffler and large cambered tail reduce flyover noise. Raven II helicopters are powered by Lycoming's IO-540 fuel injected engine.
How long is a R44 helicopter?
30′Robinson R44 / Length
What is the safest helicopter?
The Robinson R44: The Safest Helicopter in the World.
How much does helicopter fuel cost?
Cost ExampleHelicopter TypeAverage Fuel BurnFuel Per HourAS350 B3 Astar50 GPH / 189 LPH$210/hourBell 212HP100 GPH / 379 LPH$420/hourBell 205A-1++90 GPH / 341 LPH$380/hourSikorsky SK61170 GPH / 644 LPH$715/hour6 more rows
Can you land a helicopter anywhere?
Technically, due to their size and unique operating characteristics, helicopters can land just about anywhere, including in residential areas, in parking lots, at airports, and on water. In reality, though, there are FAA, state, and local restrictions that must be adhered to that can limit where a helicopter can land.
What is the cruise speed of R44?
124 mphRobinson R44 / Cruise speed
How loud is a Robinson R44?
I figured it might be a good idea to see just how loud the helicopter was. And the answer? The cabin of my 2005 Robinson R44 Raven II helicopter is right around 100 decibels at cruise flight — 110 knots — with all doors on.
How much fuel does a R44 use?
Specifications & DimensionsRaven IClipper IStandard Fuel (29.5 gal)177 lb (80 kg)177 lb (80 kg)Auxiliary Fuel (17.0 gal)102 lb (46 kg)102 lb (46 kg)Pilot, Passengers, and Baggage (with standard fuel)773 lb (351 kg)723 lb (328 kg)Cruise Speed at Maximum Gross Weightup to 108 kts (200 km/h)up to 101 kts (187 km/h)10 more rows•Jun 29, 2022
Are helicopters safe?
According to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), helicopters crash at a higher rate than airplanes. The crash rate for general aircraft is 7.28 crashes per 100,000 hours of flight time. For helicopters, that number is 9.84 per 100,000 hours.
What is the difference between a Robinson r22 and R44?
They will be treated to a more stable ride with the R-44s hydraulic assist and extra weight meaning the R-44 handles similarly to the R-22 but is less 'twitchy' than the R-22. Make the occasion extra special by adding a bottle of bubbly so you can celebrate in style when you land.
How much weight can a R44 lift?
The Robinson R44 Raven II is capable of lifting items up to 300kg, the Eurocopter AS350B2 has a lifting capacity of 900kg and the Hughes 500D can lift a total of 550kg.
Are Robinson R44 helicopters safe?
Since January 1, 2000, there have been 165 people killed in 96 crashes involving Robinson helicopters in the United States, according to National Transportation Safety Board records. Since 1982, there have been 512 deaths in 291 Robinson crashes worldwide.
How high can a R44 fly?
Robinson R44 Raven I and II Combined Weight with full fuel: 700 pounds. Cruise Speed: average 113 knots. Range of Flight: maximum 251 nautical miles on a tank of gas. Altitude: 4,500 feet maximum.
How long can a R44 fly for?
If the fuel tank is full, you can enjoy 2 hours 10 minutes of flight time with a sensible reserve. The engine and airframe of the Robinson R44 helicopter have an approved service life of 2200 hours or 12 hours if properly maintained.
Robinson R44
The Robinson R44 is a single-engine four-seat light utility helicopter produced by the US-American manufacturer Robinson Helicopter Company.
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The web portal flugzeuginfo.net includes a comprehensive civil and military aircraft encyclopedia. It provides code tables for aerodromes, air operators including the world's major airlines and for ICAO and IATA codes for aircraft. The website has also a photo gallery and gives you an overview of all aviation museums worldwide.
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What is a R44 clipper?
The R44 Clipper is fitted with floats, skis, or conventional landing gear. It was designed to be used in commuter and air taxi roles. The helicopter is capable of carrying 2-3 passengers in addition to the pilot.
What is the Robinson R44?
NEXT. Saab 340. The Robinson R44 helicopter is a four seat, single engine aircraft that has been in production since 1977. It features an advanced airframe and rotor system with a high degree of redundancy to achieve rugged reliability.
What is a R44 Raven?
The Robinson R44 Raven is a four bladed, single engine helicopter designed for recreational and commercial operations.
How fast is a rotor blade?
The rotor blades are driven by hydraulic motors and have a maximum speed of 250 rpm. The throttle control is automatic with pedal input for manual control in the event of engine failure.
What is the tail plate on a helicopter?
The tail of the helicopter has an anti-skid plate installed which allows the helicopter to slide without becoming trapped in snow and ice. When all three blades are fitted, minor glide approaches are possible.
How many people can fit in a R44 helicopter?
The R44 comfortably seats four adults , and passenger views are unobstructed due to the R44’s open cabin design. A low tail-rotor tip speed, heavy-duty muffler, and large cambered tail decrease flyover noise, resulting in a community friendly helicopter.
How long does a R44 take to service?
All life-limited components have approved service lives of at least 2200 hours or 12 years.
What type of engine is used in the R44 Raven?
The high-performance R44 Raven II has a Lycoming IO-540 fuel injected, angle-valve, tuned-induction engine , which eliminates the need for carburetor heat. The standard 28-volt electrical system ensures good starting performance in hot or cold weather and provides additional electrical power for optional equipment.
Where are Robinson helicopters made?
To ensure the highest quality, Robinson manufactures, assembles, inspects and flight tests all of its helicopters at its Torrance, California factory. The facility features state of the art equipment including computer numerically controlled (CNC) machining centers, electrical discharge machines (EDM), and water jet and laser cutting machines. Coordinate measuring machines (CMM) capable of checking dimensional tolerances within 3 microns or 120 millionths of an inch are used to inspect precision machined parts. This level of accuracy is essential to the design and fabrication of interchangeable parts.
What is a R44 helicopter?
If you put in a control input, the helicopter responds immediately and dramatically. A heavier helicopter responds more gradually. The R44 is like a sports sedan; the big turbine he licopters are like trucks. The piston engine provides instant power changes without the spool-up time of a turbine.
How long can a R44 helicopter be in service?
Unlike other brands of helicopters, the R44 has one big time-in-service limit: 2200 hours or 12 years. When you reach that point, the ship must be overhauled. You can send it back to the factory or you can buy an overhaul kit and have your mechanic do the work. The latter is less expensive, but the ship won’t as nice cosmetically.
How many seats can a R44 helicopter hold?
Reinforcing the concept that the R44 is really in a class by itself is the fact none of the other piston-powered helicopters can seat four; they only accommodate three and do it by placing everyone on the same bench-style seat. Except for the R44, one must keep climbing the market ladder until reaching the Bell 206 and the Hughes 500—both of which are turbine-powered. As mentioned, there’s also the R66—the turbine-powered Robinson.
How many hours does a R44 helicopter need to be overhauled?
A result of complying with the 2200 hours/12-year overhaul requirement is flying what is basically a brand-new helicopter every time that milestone rolls around. Another is that resale value is maintained—most prospective buyers will want to use the R44 at least some of the time for commercial purposes and will have to comply with the overhaul requirements, anyway. Too, complying with—and documenting—the overhaul and other factory maintenance recommendations eliminates problems when selling your R44. The downside is your wallet is a lot lighter.
How much does it cost to add private R44 to a fixed wing certificate?
One training facility with which we’re familiar suggests budgeting around $19,000 to add on private R44 privileges to an existing fixed-wing certificate. That presumes all rotorcraft time will be in the R44; some cost savings can be found by using the less-expensive R22.
What is the engine in the R44?
It’s powered by Rolls-Royce RR300 300 SHP turboshaft derated to 270 SHP for takeoff and 224 SHP continuous.
What is a pilot's mission in mind when looking for a used helicopter?
Pilots looking for a used aircraft usually have a mission in mind: Carry a specific payload over a certain distance in a minimum amount of time. And if you need to get to and from remote locations while mixing it up at nearby Big City International, you might have overlooked the helicopter.
Where was the wreckage of Robinson R44?
Wreckage of Robinson R44 N7530R near Newport Beach, California (Credit: via NTSB)
What happened to the pilot of the helicopter that was unable to perform weight and balance calculations?
The pilot’s failure to perform weight and balance calculations before departing on the flight, which resulted in his operation of the helicopter outside of its published weight and balance limitations and a subsequent loss of control shortly after takeoff.
What attitude did the helicopter take before it began a climb?
The helicopter briefly descended and appeared to transition into a level attitude before it began a climb. The helicopter continued the climb while transitioning to a nose-low pitch attitude as it traveled out of frame.
How many hours did the pilot fly in the helicopter?
The passenger recalled that the pilot never asked any of the passengers about their weights, nor did he assign them seats. The pilot had flown only 195 hours in total.
What is Robinson Safety Notice SN-44?
Robinson Safety Notice SN-44 discusses carrying passengers and the responsibilities of a pilot. Other Aerossurance loading articles include:
Where was the Robinson R44 destroyed?
On 30 January 2018 a privately operated Robinson R44, N7530R, was destroyed on impact houses near Newport Beach, California about a minute after takeoff from John Wayne-Orange County Airport ( SNA ), Santa Ana, California. The private pilot and two passengers were fatal injured, one passenger sustained serious injuries and one person on ...
Was there a mechanical defect in the Robinson aircraft?
No mechanical defect was found with the aircraft. Weight and balance calculations were completed by Robinson and are in their report (50Mb) in the public docket.
How much does a Robinson R44 helicopter cost?
Overall, one can say about the R44: The Robinson R44 helicopter is small, but nice! At around US $ 500.000, it is relatively cheap to buy compared to other helicopters, which often cost several million euros. The same applies to flight operations. Nevertheless it is fast, agile and uses comparatively little fuel. The possibility of “parking” the helicopter in a long, high garage naturally offers very compact accommodation for helicopter conditions. Not everyone has a helipad - a helipad - with an R44 garage in the garden, but even in a normal hangar the machine takes up little space. Last but not least, it is of course important for sightseeing flights: the view to the outside. All passengers (and meaningfully also the pilot) have a window seat! The large front windows, which extend far down, and the rather compact instrument panel also allow a very clear view of the front and the bottom. An ideal sightseeing helicopter.
How much HP does a R44 have?
The number 540 stands for the displacement in cubic inches. That translates to an almost proud 9 liter displacement! Since the engine runs at an almost constant speed of 2718 revolutions per minute in flight and a large amount of torque is available due to the large displacement, the R44 gets by with “only” 205 HP in normal cruise flight. For the start, up to 225PS can be used with the Astro and Raven I, and even up to 245PS with the Raven II. The engine could also provide higher performance up to more than 260PS, but is limited to the specified values in order to increase the service life and thus the operational reliability. This procedure to protect the engine is called “derating”: The engine could do more - but it shouldn't so that it can work longer and, above all, more reliably.
What is an R44 Astro?
The R44 Astro is the first version of the R44 range. Their first flight took place at the end of March 1990. It is powered by a 6-cylinder boxer engine with a carburettor. The lack of hydraulic control is characteristic of this early version. This is comparable to a car without power steering. Without these hydraulics, as a pilot, you can feel the steering forces directly in your hands or arms, which many pilots - including me - really appreciate. You can really become one with the machine and feel the forces acting on the machine in your own muscles while flying. After eight hours of flight, however, you want hydraulics that save power when steering - similar to power steering in a car. The hydraulics were the most striking innovation in the successor model, the R44 Raven I. In the meantime, the R44 Raven II has also been around for a number of years, in which the carburettor engine of the previous series has been replaced by a more powerful engine with gasoline injection. In addition to the higher take-off power, which means that air conditioning can also be offered as an optional special request from this model, the comfort for the pilot is further increased because he no longer has to worry about the potential icing of the carburetor. Since the Astro and Raven I had an engine with a carburetor and therefore there was a risk of carburetor icing up under certain conditions, carburetor preheating had to be manually adapted to the flight situation on these models.
How many blades does a Robinson helicopter have?
With the help of the main rotor consisting of two blades and the classic two-bladed tail rotor, the machine lifts itself into the air. Not only the R44, but also every other Robinson Helicopter model has two main rotor blades and two tail rotor blades. This often leads to great surprise among our passengers: don't helicopters always have four rotor blades? No, there are different designs between two and 8 main rotor blades. There are people who say you can join only one Fly the rotor blade closer to the rock face, but that must be classified as a joke 🙂! In one of our next blog posts you will learn more about why different helicopters have different numbers of rotor blades.
What is the R44 Cadet?
In the meantime, the R44 Cadet is also a training or cargo version of the R44 , which was tailored for two people with larger luggage or for material transport and is intended to replace the very small 2-seater R22, but is therefore not relevant for our sightseeing flights .
How fast is a helicopter rotor?
The rotor speed is around 15% of the engine speed, which is primarily reduced by the main gearbox from 2718 to 408 revolutions per minute. The tail rotor does not turn much slower than the motor with 2426 RPM (RPM = revolutions per minute = revolutions per minute). If the engine and tail rotor were to run at the same speed, there would be mutual excitation of vibrations, i.e. a so-called resonance case. The consequences could be strong vibrations or even destruction of the helicopter. Thank goodness the engineers have thought along and designed the tail rotor speed sensibly.
What is a helicopter clipper?
Helicopters that are suitable for use over water and for landings in the water have the nickname “Clipper” instead of “Raven”. The most striking difference is the floats attached to the runners. There are large, constantly inflated plastic floats that have the disadvantage of significantly increased air resistance, as well as a smaller version that is normally attached to the skid when folded and can be activated by the pilot if necessary, similar to an airbag. The latter swimmers are known as “pop out floats”. An R44 Clipper without these float devices reveals to connoisseurs, including you now, your identity through additional position lights at the top of the main rotor mast fairing.
How much does a helicopter weigh?
Helicopters can weigh from 600 lb/275 kg all the way up to 123,400 lb/56,000 kg with every weight and size in between. Helicopters have a Basic Empty Weight and a Maximum Gross Takeoff Weight. The difference in the two is the useful load which includes the crew, passengers, fuel, baggage & cargo.
How much weight can a CH-54 helicopter lift?
The Astar the I fly can realistically lift around 2000lb on the hook, however, the Boeing CH-54 Chinook can lift over 20,000 lb! The bigger the load that needs to be slung, the bigger and more powerful the helicopter needs to be. In our case, we just break the loads down into more manageable sizes and sling them in multiple trips as we do not have a helicopter bigger than the Astar!
What is Helicopter Empty Weight?
The empty weight of a helicopter is when the helicopter is weighed with all of its equipment attached. Items that are included in the empty weight are:
How Much Can Helicopters Carry On Their Hook?
When helicopters need to transport bulky, large, or heavy items they are mainly slung under the helicopter. Loads can be attached directly to the belly hook/s or be slung using a length of steel or synthetic rope known as a Shortline or Longline depending on its length.
Why are helicopters oversized?
The hook and lifting systems on a helicopter are always oversized to ensure a healthy safety margin is maintained and the pilot will always reach the aircraft’s maximum power available or max gross weight before ever getting close to the capacity of the hook or slinging gear.
What is load carrying capacity?
A load carrying capacity is the difference between its maximum gross weight and its empty weight. This is all the ‘Stuff’ that can be put in a helicopter and the more load carrying capacity it has, the better it can be utilized. The most common items that make up a helicopters useful load are:
