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Article selected from our quarterly magazine dedicated to the largest
and most luxurious boats with information, interviews, technical
articles, images and yachting news
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ROBINSON R22 BETA
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We are back on the Robinson subject, i.e. the most economical and most
sold helicopters in the world (thanks to the preference of four stroke
combustion engines over turbine ones). In addition to the R44 with
which we opened this review, the U.S. manufacturer now also produces
the smaller R22. "Smaller" is very much the operative word as it is a
straight two-seater (including pilot). This limitation is greatly
superseded by the very low running costs which easily make it a
favoured object amongst the modern American and Australian cowboys who
use it freely to push the herds in the right direction. It therefore
seems that the lack of seating space is really of no consequence as
some 3600 examples have been sold in over 60 countries in the world.
The initial price tag (close to 200.000 euros for the standard
version) probably will have also contributed to its popularity
together with the low operative costs. It should suffice to imagine
that between two 100 hour services, checking the oil level is all that
is required. Nonetheless, there are over 250 Robinson Service centres
located around the world. This small helicopter, undoubtedly part of
the "entry level" bracket, is only slightly larger than a micro-lite
but offers decidedly much higher levels of technology. The "Governor",
for example, is just one of the standard pieces of equipment (an
automatic system which fixes and varies the engine revs. with the
pitch of the main rotor blades), an auxiliary feed system is another
as is the automatic interphone system, etc., all this is achieved
whilst still managing to keep weight on take off down to 615 Kilos
(385 empty). The dimensions are naturally somewhat curtailed: maximum
length is 6.5 metres (8.8m. including rotors). Performance is also
quite impressive: cruising speed is set at 180 kph with a consumption
of between 27 and 37 litres/hour. Given the fact that the main tank
holds 80 litres and the auxiliary provides a further 40, a maximum
autonomy of 3 to 4 hours is attained giving a range of between 3 to
400 nautical miles.
All this is thanks to a four cylinder aircraft engine with Lyoming IO-
360 injection, downsized to 131 HP at 2650 rpm. The seats are very
comfortable and the cockpit provides great visibility to both crew
members. The circular controls include a central rudder placed between
the seats on a "T" bracket which is removable from the passenger side
to favour access. Thanks to the vertical extension epitomising the
Robinsons, the rotation blades are at 2.7 metres from ground level to
avoid any problem while boarding. If you have never owned a helicopter
and you wish to embark on this adventure to decide if piloting is fun,
this is what you need.
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