Great pictures, brave man flying in a Robo.... after years of flying in MD902 and EC135-P2's I never fancied a flight in one especially taking off in a x wind (looking at the bits of coloured string on the airframe)
Last edited by tonymadge on 06 Jun 2017, 11:07, edited 1 time in total.
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Great pictures, brave man flying in a Robo.... after years of flying in MD902 and EC135-P2's I never fancied a flight in one especially taking off in a x wind (looking at the bits of coloured string on the airframe)
Actually Tony, it was the landing in that crosswind...At take-off the wind was calm
My Helicopter flying in the RAF was confined to the Sycamore and I crashed in one of those twice in one week! I found this Robinson very comfortable and I was very impressed with the skill of the pilot. I have to say that this little machine felt very safe to me and I would always say yes to any future offers of a flight in it.
As for the Robbie - I was fortunate enough to see a bunch of them in close proximity and various states of disassembly after Silver State Helicopters folded (a bunch were stored in a hangar at my home airport) and they look no less well manufactured than the Bell 206 (also seen in various states of disassembly). In fact, in some ways, the R44 is better built than the 206 as the engine is cantilevered off the back of the airframe instead of on a turtledeck above it and as such, the way the frame is built around the bottom and rear is more sturdy and seems to "ride" better than the 206. Neither of them hold a candle to the 412 though (the only other helo I've flown in), and I would love to compare them to the Mi-2, but that's more of a 407 analog, and I've only been around an Mi-2, not yet gotten a flight in one.
Oh yeah - I'll take a Robbie any day over a Schweizer/Hughes 269.
