Robinson R44

R44
Role	Light utility and trainer helicopter
Manufacturer	Robinson Helicopter Company
Designer	Frank D. Robinson
First flight	31 March 1990
Introduction	1993
Status	in production
Produced	5610 (2012)
Unit cost	from US$425,000 (2011)
Developed from	Robinson R22
Developed into	Robinson R66

The Robinson R44 is a four-seat light helicopter produced by the Robinson Helicopter Company since 1992. Based on the company's two-seat Robinson R22, the R44 features hydraulically assisted flight controls. The R44 was first flown on 31 March 1990, and received FAA certification in December 1992, with the first delivery in February 1993.

Design and development

The R44 is a single-engined helicopter with a semi-rigid two-bladed main rotor and a two-bladed tail rotor and a skid landing gear. It has an enclosed cabin with two rows of side-by-side seating for a pilot and three passengers. Tail rotor direction of rotation on the R44 is reversed compared to the R22 for improved yaw control authority. On the R44 the advancing blade is on the bottom.

Designed during the 1980s by Frank Robinson and his staff of engineers, the R44 first flew on 31 March 1990. The R44 Astro was awarded an FAA Type Certificate in December 1992, with the first deliveries taking place in January 1993. In January 2000, Robinson introduced the Raven with hydraulically assisted controls and adjustable pedals. In July 2002, Robinson introduced the Raven II featuring a more powerful, fuel-injected engine and wider blades, allowing a higher gross weight and improved altitude performance.

Robinson produced 186 R44s in 2014.

During November 2015 Robinson announced the Cadet a Raven I with a cargo area instead of the two back seats with a slightly less powerful engine and a more efficient muffler.

Operators

File:Arena Robinson R44.jpg

An Arena Aviation R44 Raven II with a Cineflex V14 high definition camera system

File:Robinson r44 raven g-ravn arp.jpg

R44 Raven at RIAT 2008

File:Robinson r44 astra helicopter view at kemble arp.jpg

View from an R44 Astro at Cotswold Airport, England, showing part of the instrument panel (2009)

File:R44-in-the-mud.jpg

An R44 parked in a clear cut area near Manitoba, Canada

Civilian Operators

The aircraft is operated by many private individuals, companies and flying clubs.

In 1997, a Robinson R44 was piloted by Jennifer Murray for the first helicopter circumnavigation of the world by a woman, covering a distance of 36,000 miles in 97 days. As of 2014, an R44 holds the piston speed record of 227 km/h.

Russia

• Aerial Forest Protection Service (Russia)

Police Operators

Philippines

• Philippine National Police

South Africa

• South African Police Service Air Wing

United States

• Alaska State Troopers

Military operators

Dominican Republic

• Dominican Republic Army

Estonia

• Estonian Air Force

Jordan

• Royal Jordanian Air Force (eight on order)

Lebanon

• Lebanese Air Force

Accidents and incidents

The R44 was found to be prone to post-accident fires due to the damage to aluminum auxiliary fuel tank, causing the fuel to leak out. In 2009, the company began installing bladder-type fuel tanks in all new R44 helicopters. It also issued Service Bulletin SB-78 on 20 December 2010, requiring R44 helicopters with all-aluminum fuel tanks to be retrofitted with bladder-type tanks to "improve the R44's fuel system's resistance to a post-accident fuel leak." The company recommended that the change should be done as soon as practical, but no later than 31 December 2013. The compliance date to 30 April 2014.

An accident investigation by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) in March 2013 found after analyzing historical data that a significantly higher proportion of R44 aircraft (12%) caught fire after crashing, compared to accidents involving other types of piston-engine helicopters (7%). Preliminary analysis by the ATSB of the NTSB's accident database found a similar statistic, with 15% of accidents in the US involving R44 helicopters having post-crash fires.

Heli Air Robinson R44 Raven II arrives for the 2014 Royal International Air Tattoo, England

Although the data did not consider which type of fuel tanks were fitted, the report mentioned four fatal accidents to the R44 fitted with bladder-type tanks, but as far as they knew, did not involve a post-accident fire. The ATSB recommended that the Australian Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) take further action to urge R44 owners to fit bladder-type tanks. The FAA, the governing body in the country of manufacture whose directives would normally be followed in other countries like Australia, had not mandated the retrofit; CASA therefore issued Australian-specific airworthiness directive AD/R44/23, grounding R44 aircraft on 30 April 2013 that had not yet been upgraded.

On 19 February 2015, New Zealand's Civil Aviation Authority issued an Airworthiness Directive grounding 80 of the country's R44 helicopters after two people were killed in an accident traced to a particular type of main rotor blade, the P/N CO16-7 or Dash 7, which a preliminary investigation determined had failed in flight - the second failure or partial-failure in two months. This was the largest-scale grounding of any aircraft in New Zealand's history. The CAA determined through laboratory tests that the rotor blade had failed due to overload during the crash and was not the cause of the accident and the fleet was ungrounded on 24 February 2015. The CAA left the Airworthiness Directive requiring repetitive inspections in place, however. Director of Civil Aviation, Graeme Harris stated, "we don’t want to see any complacency amongst operators as there is still a concern with these blades and we are waiting on test results from the USA before we review the Airworthiness notice." Following the grounding in New Zealand, Australia's Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) also grounded R44 Helicopters with the same rotor blades.

Specifications (R44 Raven II)

Data from Robinson R44 Raven II Pilot's Operating Handbook and FAA approved rotorcraft flight manual, dated 13 June 2005.

General characteristics

• Crew: one or two pilots
• Capacity: four, including pilot
• Payload: 748 lb (340 kg)
• Length: 38 ft 3 in (8.96 m)
• Rotor diameter: 33 ft (10.1 m)
• Tail rotor diameter: 4 ft 10 in (1.5 m)
• Height: 10 ft 9 in (3.3 m)
• Empty weight: 1,450 lb (657.7 kg)
• Loaded weight: 2,500 lb (1,134 kg)
• Powerplant: 1 × Lycoming IO-540-AE1A5 6 cylinder, flat engine with fuel injection, 245 bhp (183 kW)
• Fuel: 100 low lead (100LL) fuel or 100/130.
• Main tank capacity: 31.6 US gallons (120 liters)
• Main tank usable fuel: 30.6 US gallons (116 liters)
• Auxiliary tank capacity: 18.5 US gallons (70 liters)
• Auxiliary tank usable fuel: 18.3 US gallons (69 liters)

Performance

• Maximum speed: 130 kn (240 km/h; 150 mph)
• Cruise speed: 110 kn (200 km/h; 130 mph)
• Range: 300 nmi (560 km; 350 mi)
• Fuel consumption: 15 US gallons (57 L) of Avgas per hour Not given in Pilot's Handbook.
  
• Altitude restrictions: 14,000 ft (4,300 m) density altitude or 9,000 ft (2,700 m) above ground level in order to be able to reach ground within 5 minutes in case of fire.

See also

Related development

• Robinson R22
• Robinson R66

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration and era

• Bell 206
• Enstrom F-28
• MD Helicopters MD 500

External links

• Official website
• European Aviation Safety Agency – Type Certificate Data Sheet – R44 and R44 II pdf
• accident database at Griffin Helicopters