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Robinson Announces New R44 Raven II
Robinson announced that it will now
accept orders for the new R44 Raven II. The Raven II has more power, a higher
gross weight, a 28-volt electrical system, and increased altitude performance.
The Raven II is currently completing FAA certification testing, and Robinson
expects to receive the FAA type certificate in late August or early September 2002.
Robinson announced a base list price of US 335,000, just $28,000 higher than the
current R44 Raven. Optional avionics and equipment will be priced the same as the
current model. See the chart (below) for the Raven II's preliminary performance
specifications.
Raven II Preliminary Specifications
Preliminary Data Revised lo July 2002
Powerplant: Lycoming lO-540 Fuel Injected, Angled-valve, Tuned Induction
Max continuous rating in Raven II to 10,000 ft ISA: 205 BHP at 2718 RPM (102%)
Minute take-off rating in Raven II to 5,200 ft ISA: 245 BHP at 2718 RPM (102%)
Electrical System: 28 Volt with 70 amp alternator
Weight: 2,500 16
Empty Weight w/standard equip: 1,500 16
Passengers, Baggage, etc. - with standard fuel (30.6 gall : 816 16
Passengers, Baggage, etc. - with auxiliary fuel (18.3 gal): 70616
Hover Ceiling [GE @2500 16 GW: *8,400 ft
Hover Ceiling OGE @2300 16 GW: *6,800 ft
Hover Ceiling OGE @2500 16 GW : *4,200 ft
*Pertormance specifications are based on RHC flight testing to date and may change.
Metro Networks Takes Digital R44 Newscopter
 Robinson delivered its first
digitally equipped R44 Newscopter this month to Metro Networks. This helicopter is
Metro's ninth R44 and Robinson's twentyninth ENG helicopter. The new digital Newscopter
is equipped with a 360-degree, continuous rotation, five-axis, gyro-stabilized camera system.
It has an Ikegami HL-S9WNA digital camera and Canon 2 ix lens.
The high-resolution broadcast camera system includes a redesigned, lightweight,
ergonomic laptop control console designed specifically for the R44. "Everyone is asking for a digital
platform," reports Steve Lentz, Vice President of Aviation for Metro Networks.
"Robinsons are making helicopter ENG a profitable program for us."
"We've opened new markets where we wouldn't have been able to have a
helicopter because of the R44's affordability," continues Lentz. "This system could
create even more demand. "
 Robinson produced the new camera
system entirely in-house to control development, quality, and production scheduling.
Robinson selected the compact, light weight Ikegami camera and redesigned the
gimbal for a periect iit. In addition, the control console was redesigned to house the digital remote
control and Robinson extras, including integrated transmit, intercom, and
video switches.
With the higher resolution, broadcast quality picture, the digital system provides
ease of precision operations through the digitally-controlled gimbal.
The new digital system is lighter, easier to maintain, and is better able to
tolerate extreme temperature changes and harsh environments. The Newscopter's new
ergonomic control console (right) weighs only four pounds and features integrated transmit,
intercom, and video switches, snap zoom function, access to full camera menu, lighted
display, and a joystick that controls X, Y, and Z-axis movement.
Robinson Donates
$I Million to the American Helicopter Museum
 In May, Frank Robinson, founder and
president oi Robinson Helicopter Company, delivered $l million to Peter Wright,
Chairman of the American Helicopter Museum - the only "all-helicopter"
museum in the United States. Robinson is commilled to making sure helicopters are not
second-class citizens in the nation's avialion museums; he made another
$ 1 million contribution less than two years ago to the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum to
assure that its new facility at the Dulles Airport will include a section devoted
specifically to rotary wing aircraft. Wright flew to Robinson's Califomia
factory to accept the check - by far the largest contribution ever received by the museum.
The funds are earmarked specifically for
the purchase of the museum's leased facilities on five acres of the Brandywine
Airport in West Chester, Pennsylvania. Robinson's contribution will allow the
museum to occupy the entire building which has ample capacity for visitor
growth and expansion of the museum's collection and exhibits, including display of
one R22 and one R44 helicopter to be loaned by Robinson. Also planned are
expanded teaching facilities, with particu-
lar emphasis on interactive exhibits, to provide exciting learning experiences for
students and to remind all visitors of the positive impact helicopters have on everyday
life. The project is scheduled for completion in approximately two years. Opening
ceremonies are tentatively set for October 2004 to coincide with the 75th anniversary
of the first successful rotary wing flight in the United States. The American Helicopter Museum was
founded in 1993 and began operations in 1996 under the leadership of founder Peter
Wright, Jr. and a dedicated group of volunteers who have contributed more
than 100,000 hours and helped restore many of the historic aircraft in the museum's
collection. The museum is unique in its exclusive focus on the science and technology of
rotary wing aviation and was voted "Best Scientific Outing" by Philadelphia
Magazine. Current facilities include a gift shop, a restoration area, and exhibit space
with over 35 helicopters, autogiros, and convertiplanes, eight of which are fully
accessible for hands-on experiences. The museum launched its capital
campaign in April 2002 to raise $4 million. In addition to acquiring the building, the
museum will use additional funding to increase exhibit and programmatic space,
and to build an endowment to sustain future operations and programs. With the
Robinson gift, a total of $1.3 million has been raised to date.
For more iniorrnation about the museum,go to the museum's website
www.helicopterrnuseum.org.
R22 Owner Flies to Ground Zero the Day Afler
 On the morning oi September 11, 2001
Pennsylvania Cardiologist Michael Selig was waiting to take an airplane checkride
at Queens City Airport in Allentown, Pennsylvania when he saw the devastating
news.
That afternoon he received a fax from the Pennsylvania Medical Society alerting
him that New York City needed volunteer physicians to help with the September I I
terrorist attacks. Seligs wile suggested he go to assist, but all the roads, tunnels and
bridges into the city were closed. The local twin-turbine Medivacs were not interested
in taking volunteer physicians to the site. Being just 50 miles away by helicopter, he
decided the best way to get to Manhattan was via his R22-HP helicopter.
On September 12, Selig began making calls to see how he could fly into the city
to volunteer his services under restricted, high-security airspace. "I called the Tower
at Lehigh Valley International Airport and  Flight Service, and htlth were at a loss as
to what the procedures were or what I needed to do he recalled. "It took hours.
I finally got a lifeguard squawk code used for the local EMS helicopters. They
instructed me to keep the transponder on with that frequency, or I would be shot
down. It was a no tolerance situation. I began having second thoughts."
It took twenty minutes for Selig and his partner Rich Nash (an experienced
helicopter pilot) to receive permission from clearance delivery and another ten minutes
before the tower would let them go. Once
in the air it became the most serie flight of their lives. Selig was cleared for 3,000
feet, but asked for lower. The response was, fly wherever you want. You are the
only one in the sky." "I just can't explain how lonely it felt, how strange," Selig
said. The two could see the smoke on the horizon ten minutes into the
forty-five- minute [light on that crystal clear day. "I was scared to
death, because I had just received my private license a few months earlier and was
not sure what was going on with the restrictions," he said. "It was so desolate.
There was no one at all on the radio, and I was so used to it being busy. No one was in
the air except for a couple of police heli- copters and F-16s. Newark Airport looked
deserted. It was as though an atomic bomb was dropped. As we got closer, we could
see the Statue of Liberty on the right and the towering smoke on the left; what a
paradox". Selig was handed off between airports and approach controls. Unfortunately,
approach forgot to hand off the little helicopter to Wall Street Heliport
which resulted in the doctor and his partner being greeted by thirty
police men with guns drawn
yelling for them to shut down the engine. Once the confusion cleared, the shaken Selig
and Nash were transported via police car to St. Vincent hospital. "We
were driven through the streets at 60 miles per hour. No one was on the roads, other than emergency vehicles.
There was a three-inch layer of what looked like volcanic ash everywhere."
Selig arrived at the hospital only to discover there were more doctors than
survivors. One medical student who ;tood with a group of doctors in front
of the building told him, "We were called in to sign death certificates." The doctor then
hitched a ride with the police to Ground Zero where he thought he might be oi
better assistance. After checking in and getting a  hardhat and carbon filter mask, he
learned his services were still not needed.
"There was so much disorganization and devastation," he explained."It was
breathtaking. Everyone was helpiul, kind, and attentive. You would not have even
thought that you were in a large city. We checked around on our own and then
headed back."
Selig retumed to the city on September 16th, this time after calling Wall Street
Heliport himself to alert them. There was now a call for psychiatrists, so he flew hi;
colleague, Dr. Sam Carson, in to help.
While he answered the call ior help twice, Selig was never able to assist a; a
physician. However, he was able to fly in Dr. Carson, whose services were in
demand, and helped significantly in his role as a helicopter pilot and R22 owner.
China Receives Its First R44 Police Helicopter
 Robinson delivered China's first R44
Police Helicopter to the Zheng Zhou Public Security Bureau iollowing the
China Police Expo 2002 earlier this month. Prominent Technology Enterprise (PTE), Robinson's author-
ized dealer in China, delivered the helicopter to the Zheng Zhou Police.
PTE Director and Manager Wilson Liao stated that the agency is anxious
to use its new R44. "Two police officers from Zheng ~ Zhou have already received training
in the R44 and want to begin using the R44 Police Helicopter immediately," Liao said. The police agency
plans to use the helicopter primarily for patrol, surveillance, and training.
Prior to delivery, PTE displayed the new R44 Police Helicopter at the China Police
Exposition in Beijing. The R44 Police Helicopter features the FSI 445G-MKII
infrared camera system, Spectrolab SX-5E searchlight, and a complete FM radio
package with NAT AMS 42 Dual Audio Controller. The audio controller allow; the
observer to communicate independently on up to three FM radios. PTE invited
Robinison
Product Support V-P-Kurt Robinson and El Monte Police Officer, Agent Robert Muse, to
deliver a seminar at the exposition on how American police agencies use helicopters.
Liao noted, "Our first goal is to educate the police agencies in China on the role of the police helicopter
in law enforcement. Now that China has an R44 Police Helicopter in the He Nan
province, our job will be much easier."
English Pilots Fly R44 Helicopter to the North Pole
U-K- pilots Steve Brooks and Quentin Smith flew Brooks'R44 Raven helicopter,
G-NUDE, to the North Pole in late June 2002. The pair left Anchorage to fly north
over the Arctic Circle and then followed the Northwest Passage to Resolute Bay.
From there, G-NUDE and a twin Otter flew fuel to Ward Hunt Island, the most
northerly landmass, from where most polar explorers start their expeditions.
Once fed and rested, Brooks and Smith flew 200 miles onto the polar cap to set up
their forward fuel dump. Due to the ice drifting, technology was required to track
the fuel. However, technology failed, so Smith left Brooks on the ice with a tent, rifle, and
hand-held radio. Some ten hours later, Smith returned with additional fuel, and the pair then
refueled the helicopter and flew to the Geographic North Pole, landing at
N90.00.00. Having set up camp on the ice with a small hole in the ground as
the ice bucket, the two pilots raised their glasses, whereupon Smith
promises,.to return Brooks to England withii tvio weeks for his marriage to Joanna Veltey; a
professional photographer and licensed R44
pilot. After a good night's sleep, despite the 24-hour daylight,,the pair retumed once
more to the Canadian coastline and Ward Hunt Island. Their adventure marked the
first flight of a piston-powered helicopter to the North Pole.
 AUDI
HELICÓPTEROS
Av. Olavo Fontoura, 1000 - Hangar Audi
São Paulo - SP - Brasil - helicopteros@helicopteros.com.br
Fone (11) 6990 5000 / Fax (11) 6990 5001
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