(Newswire.net — October 29, 2021) — Since its inception 48 years ago, Robinson Helicopter Company has produced more than 13,000 helicopters. And when it comes to innovation, the company says it doesn’t plan to slow down any time soon.
Robinson Helicopter Company President Kurt Robinson says the company prioritizes innovative design and holds tightly to its reputation of producing well-engineered aircraft.
“We pride ourselves on being an engineering company, and that is something that I think we are known for,” he says. “It was obviously a marketing message; it was easily delivered by my father, just because of what he created and what he did. But also, we understand that that’s what everyone’s perception of us is, and we’re very proud of that. And so when we have an extra dollar, we don’t put it into marketing; we put it into engineering. And we’re constantly trying to develop and improve our products and do the engineering.”
Customer Feedback Enhances Helicopter Development
Robinson Helicopter Company says its customers play a valuable role in its helicopter development program. Robinson says that he often gets positive feedback from pilots who fly the company’s aircraft.
“I just recently came back from London, from one of our dealers, and it was very fun to talk to all of the operators of our aircraft and to get their feedback,” says Robinson, “and they’re positive of where we’re going with everything and how much they like using it.”
That same customer feedback factored into the company’s decision to bring each new helicopter model to market. First came the four-seater R44, which provided more payload capacity than its predecessor, the two-seater R22. The R44’s limitations then led to the five-seater R66, which boasts more baggage capacity.
“The development of the products that we come out with, they’re very much in response to what people out in the field want.”
Robinson Helicopter: Safety First
You don’t have to hop into a cockpit to know that learning how to fly a helicopter is as nuanced as it gets. Students can study for up to a year before earning their license, while private pilots may need up to four months of training. Helicopter flight also carries some inherent risks for new and experienced pilots alike. Robinson says his engineers are constantly working to make helicopter flight safer and simpler.
“We want to have ways and methodologies to let [the pilots] know when they may be coming up against an altitude limit or something like that,” he says.
Tools like the max throttle light, which illuminates when the helicopter reaches certain weight and altitude limits, is an example of simplifying the piloting experience.
“For a light to come on to tell me that I am about to approach my maximum throttle, and it occurs before I hit that point, and then have to make a maneuver, it’s just very nice to know.”
Putting Robinson Helicopters to the Test
To flight-test each proposed safety enhancement, Robinson Helicopter Company’s engineers hop in their personal helicopters and take them to the air. Many of Robinson’s engineers are licensed pilots who give the company unfiltered feedback from an engineering perspective.
“One thing that is kind of fun is most of our engineers, certainly all of our critical design engineers, they’re all pilots, we all fly helicopters,” says Robinson. “So the first feedback we get is our own … and so the first hurdle that has to be passed is it has to make us happy. And what we are constantly working with is trying to give information to the pilot to make that flying experience easier and, therefore, more enjoyable,” he says.
That includes a feature many of us take for granted: air conditioning. Helicopter manufacturers have had in-flight air conditioning systems on their drawing boards for years. However, design and integration challenges have often prevented viable solutions from reaching the marketplace.
Kurt Robinson recalls his father and Robinson Helicopter Company Founder Frank Robinson’s matter-of-fact response to customers who repeatedly asked about adding air conditioning to the company’s fleet.
“Frank used to say we didn’t have air conditioning; just take the door off. You got plenty of wind; it’s not going to be hot; you can do it.”
Years later, when Robinson Helicopter Company’s engineers learned that a competitor was marketing an inefficient air conditioning system, they knew they could do better. After an intensive design and testing work, Robinson’s engineers developed an integrated air conditioning system that improved pilots’ and passengers’ comfort and reduced interior noise levels.
It may have taken father Frank a while to catch on, but today, Robinson offers air conditioning in a variety of models.
“I have to note that once it became developed, I never saw Frank fly in a ship that didn’t have air conditioning,” he says.
Robinson Helicopter: Tapping Into AI
An increasing number of industries are incorporating artificial intelligence (AI) into their systems and technologies. According to Kurt Robinson, Robinson Helicopter Company has begun to integrate AI-enabled systems into its aircraft.
The process effectively began in 2013, when the company switched from analog to digital gauges.
“We have the steam gauges, everything that was all independent, mechanically operated, they’re very precise, they work very well. But what they can’t do is they can’t provide you with the information,” says Robinson.
With the digital gauges installed, pilots began to receive essential information that helped them fly more safely and efficiently. According to Kurt Robinson, this is important “so that, from an artificial intelligence standpoint, you can start to make decisions or it can assist you in your flying. And what that [digital gauge] provides you is that now you can see that information on the electronic monitoring unit. And that can gather all of the various pieces of information, which then can help you make decisions. As you talk about the artificial intelligence and where it’s helping is that now you feed it into a [Stability Augmentation System] or autopilot, and it can help you fly the aircraft.”
Kurt Robinson says he is optimistic about the progression of Robinson Helicopters’ autopilots and other systems.
“We see the advancements of these products down the road,” he says, “and they’re pretty exciting.”
As Robinson Helicopter Company’s aircraft continue to evolve, it says its engineers will keep innovating and testing new technological enhancements. However, the company’s top priority hasn’t changed; Robinson Helicopter Company remains focused on bringing the best small helicopters to its ever-growing customer base.