Cover photo and lead story published in HELICOPTERS magazine,
Apr/May/June 2003
By Dave Lowery
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Proud to be the manufacturer of
the lowest cost per seat-mile of any helicopter anywhere,
Robinson Helicopter Company
began shipping their new four-place R44 Raven II in October,
2002 and quickly racked up orders for over 50 of the fuel
injected, 205 HP maximum continuously rated helicopters.
Though dimensions have remained virtually identical to
the popular R44, now known as the Raven I, the new Raven
II has an increased carrying ability of 45.45 kg bringing
its total capacity to 368.2 kgs. The new model not only
features more payload but the Lycoming IO-540, which can
generate 245 HP for five minutes and is derated to 205
hp continuously, provides greater altitude performance
with a hover ceiling (R44 Raven II — IGE @ 1136.4
kgs) of 2728 metres, up from (R44 gross weight 1090 kgs)
1950 metres and a 7.4 km/hr cruising speed increase. Maximum
operating altitudes remain the same, at 4,267 metres, but
the absence of carburetors is a welcome safety change though
the R44 carb assist automatically adds carb heat when the
collective is lowered and reduces heat when the collective
is raised. The Raven II is available in police, ENG (electronic
news gathering), IFR trainer and Clipper (pop out floats)
versions and already two ENG models have been ordered in
the first rush which saw 50 orders within the first six
months following the new model announcement. In addition
to the engine changes, Robinson designed new main and tail
blades which reduce the 150-metre flyover noise level by
nearly one decibel, despite the higher gross weight. The
noise reduction is achieved by fitting both sets of rotors
with noise attenuating blade tip caps. Additionally, the
main rotor blades have more surface area for increased
lifting capability at altitude. A helicopter industry standard
28-volt electrical system is now part of the Raven II,
as opposed to 12 volts for the Raven I, and the company
continues to use hydraulic power controls to eliminate
cyclic stick shake and control forces. Other standard features
include an RPM governor which automatically controls engine
RPM during normal operations, a rotor brake which greatly
reduces shutdown time and injury risk and automatic clutch
engagement which simplifies the start-up procedure also
reducing the possibility of engine overspeed.
E&B Helicopters is the exclusive
British Columbia Robinson dealer and was the first Canadian
company to receive
the Raven II in October, 2002. President Ed Wilcock said
it sold immediately though they have four more on order.
“I like it,” Wilcock says. “It’s
faster than the original Raven, quieter, with the redesigned
tail and rotor blades and is a nice machine. It’ll
do what Robinson says on their spec sheets.”
Greg McDougall, president and general
manager of British Columbia’s Harbour Air, bought that first Raven II
from E&B Helicopters. Though a fixed wing pilot for
25 years with 8000 hours, McDougall recently completed
his commercial helicopter licence and initially purchased
the Raven II for personal use but isn’t ignoring
the potential commercial applications.
“The Raven II was the most practical machine for
me due to low operating costs,” McDougall says. “I
don’t have a lot to compare it to but I went down
and took the Robinson factory course. I was very impressed
with the amount of engineering, reliability and practicality
for the cost of the machine. It’s a sophisticated
piece of equipment and now we’re thinking of leasing
it. We’ve got to do more research to discover whether
it fits into our market but there probably will be some
form of commercial use. It carries the same load as a Cessna
185, cruises at 222.2 km/hr, the extra cost for more horsepower
didn’t seem unreasonable and it’s fuel injected
which removes any carburetor problems. I’ve got pop
out floats on it — the Clipper model — which
was another attraction due to the extensive over-water
flying we do in this area of the country.”
McDougall was hard pressed to find any negatives with
the helicopter but speculates any disadvantages might be
encountered with commercial use.
“There’s really not a lot of baggage space.
It’s all under the seats so, used in a utility function,
it’s not that great. There are also no baggage tie
downs so we’re figuring out how to secure luggage.
There are baggage pods available but they’re not
approved yet.”
Airborne Energy Solutions also bought the new Raven which
they received in January. The company already operates
a fleet of 22 R44s and 10 R22s which they use for general
charters and specialized work such as pipeline leak detection.
Tony Hunley, the COO, says the Raven II will be used to
supplement their Bell 206 fleet also.
“We purchased the Raven II due to its increased
payload and its ability to work in higher density altitudes
over the standard R 44s,” Hunley says. “We’ve
already got around 120 hours on the new machine and we’ve
been very impressed — except for one small glitch
due to temperatures in Canada. The dual oil coolers were
super cooling the oil, so we made some adjustments to get
the temps back in line. But that’s the only negative
we have found. Our clients like it and all things point
to a very favourable aircraft. We anticipate adding another
two or three in the next 12 months.”
But get your order in soon. At
press time, Kurt Robinson, the factory’s vice president
of product support and son of founder Frank, said 130
were on order with a five
month wait time.
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