Airtest – Robin R2160

AUSTRALIAN AVIATION evaluated VH-SXY at Schofields and found it to be all the glossy brochure sand publicity sets it out to be.

The R2160 has been selling with success in Europe since 1977 and North America since 1981. Its appearance in Australia is the result of market foresight and carefully orchestrated planning by Canadian expatriate Jim Owen.

Owen had been making regular visits to Australia, saw there was a need for such an aircraft as the Robin in its various marques, and set to work planning for an Australasian distributorship with his co-director Regina Milford.

Owen and Milford, both pilots, liaised for a considerable time with the Canadian manufacturer of the Robin line, Avions Pierre Robin Canada, with its plant in Lachute, Quebec, about 40 nm northwest of Montreal.

The upshot was that they formed Paxford Pty Ltd to act as the Australasian outlet for this French-designed and Canadian-built light aircraft.

The Canadian company, incidentally, is about 37 per cent owned by the French parent firm, Avions Pierre Robin (France).

And so Paxford Pty Ltd was formed, in March 1981. But it took another 12 months before the Australian distributorship negotiations were concluded.

A sales promotion drive was launched in March last year, with instant product recognition and appreciation.

So far, New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Queensland have been initially covered. Other States will follow, according to Jim Owen.

Sales have so far been recorded in Canberra, Cooma and Sydney, with another looming in Maitland. Flying schools and clubs have expressed keen interest, but are apparently waiting until the nation’s economy shows signs of stabilising and resuming an upward slope.

The first Robin R2160 into Australia arrived in a shipborne container – ‘I don’t agree with flying the aircraft over and presenting it as a new aircraft when in fact it’s had a number of hours racked up on it,’ says Jim Owen.

The little Robin immediately had a number of things going for it; the DOT in Canada and the Department of Aviation in Australia have almost identical certification requirements; so as the little beauty already had a Canadian C of A, getting an Australian certificate was relatively simple.

A figure of 28 days was mentioned as the time for total certification to full operational efficiency, with 14 days for a ticket to VMC standard.

Robin R2160 VH-SXY (call her Sexy, says Jim Owen) has formed the backbone of Paxford’s marketing clout. She had logged about 750 hours when AUSTRALIAN AVIATION evaluated her and had been flown by 263 pilots of all categories when we laid hands on her.

The aircraft has done a lot of work showing the flag for Avions Pierre Robin during her life so far in Australia; from bitumen, dirt strips, on cross-country work, aerobatics, as a training hack. . . The rest was sheer Pierre Robin . . . elegance, superb looks, efficiency, everything serving a purpose, and operating excellence one would expect from a much bigger engine than the 160 hp Lycoming 0320-D2A motor hidden under a sleek two-piece cowling, and co-powered by a fine pitch fixed Sensenich prop.

Narco avionics and communications gear are standard in the Robin R2160, but the copy we flew was equipped with Bendix as an alternative. One can get King avionics if one wishes.

How much? Jim Owen quoted an approximate price of$50,000 for a Robin R2160 equipped with Australian standard VFR.

With typical Gallic cunning, Avions Pierre Robin manufactured the 2000 Series Robin line with an amazing percentage of commonality – about 92 per cent, according to Jim Owen.

We suspect there will still be a significant percentage of commonality when the 3000 Series comes out later this year – the Canadian version will consist of the 1340 and the 1380, with varying sophistication of hard or sliding top, fixed or retractable undercarriage and winglets which really do their job in fuel economising when applied to the range.

The 3000 Series will be available with either a 160 or 180-hp engine, he adds. There will not, however, be any attempt at turbo-charging. Why does an aviation buff like Jim Owen come to Australia and sink a considerable investment into the nation’s economy? We thought a little until we tasted the pleasure of flying the little R2160. . .

Then we began believing Jim’s twice-spoken claim that he isn’t worried about sales, the type will sell itself.

Paxford’s marketing strategy, its homework done long before ordering a demonstrator model or a quota, has paid off, even though a long-term sales graph has yet to be traced.

‘This aircraft has done something for me, too,’ adds Jim. I find that my flying skills have improved tremendously since flying the Robin, and I’ve taken up aerobatics. .

An example of Paxford’s commonsense and practicality is shown by the fact that they can and do offer the customer a package deal; not only do they have access to the expected finance organisations, but they have affiliated themselves with a firm of aircraft engineers and avionics experts – all under the same roof at Bankstown Airport’s Hangar 273, Rearwin Place, to be precise.

Leaving bookwork and statistics astern for a delightful while, we walked around VH-SXY with demonstrator pilot/aerobatic expert Bob Anderson before embarking on the evaluation sortie.

SXY was decked out in an all-black paint job, with a gold cheat line and gold product lettering. She really looked a classic, even in the doubtful light of a Schofields overcast.

The first thing which strikes one, after eyeballing the magnificent forward-sliding canopy, is the truly statuesque yaw strake built into her underside derriere. This, coupled with the authoritative rudder, gives excellent directional stability during all normal and abnormal manoeuvres.

The airframe has been built to withstand + 6G and – 3G; the tricycle undercarriage’s nosewheel has an offset configuration, making it interchangeable with the mains if necessary.

The entire skin has a carefully finished sleekness, and the C of G has been arranged so occupants and baggage are straddling it. Fuel is carried in a metal 120-litre tank, fillable from a point on the port side mid-fuselage line and checkable by a dipstick.

We found it hard to believe that SXY had gone through the equivalent of two years of flying school operations during her life with Paxfords. But the figures were there. . .

She certainly didn’t look like an aircraft powered by only 160 horses, but her looks certainly endorsed the claim that one could get up to 131 knots indicated at only 75 per cent power at the best altitude.

The cockpit was roomy and the panel set out in such simplistic terms that we again found it hard to believe that this was an aircraft in the two-seat trainer category, where one usually sits with half one’s person in the other occupant’s lap.

The evaluation aircraft had a few optional extras fitted, like five-point aerobatic harnesses, a dry aerobatic battery, a landing light, an anti-collision strobe and other equipment.

Ground handling presents no problems for the average pilot, ride being steady and relatively smooth. We had the canopy cracked open a mite during the initial stage of taxiing, but when we closed the lid found there was satisfyingly adequate ventilation coming in through a single nozzle-type inlet on the panel’s left.

Take-off calls for a modicum of right foot; the aircraft needs only a slight back-pressure on the stick-type control column before it leaves terra firma, and the drill is to lift off at around the 65 mark, hold her down until the speed builds up to a fraction over 80 kts indicated and then be prepared for your forward visibility to temporarily disappear, such is the remarkable angle of climb.

Rate of climb is listed as 1023 feet per minute. We bettered that by a considerable margin while turning onto a heading taking us past Prospect to the training area.

Weather precluded getting enough authorised height for aerobatics, but we put SXY through the usual gamut of turns, stalls, unusual attitudes, and a couple of touch-and-goes at Hoxton Park.

The aircraft was dynamically stable; thanks in large measure to the marked dihedral built into the wings; she wasn’t a particularly quiet aircraft, but we were wearing headsets which ironed out most of the outside decibels.

The little Robin became intensely irritated during our stall tests in clean and dirty condition but showed no real vices and had full aileron control right down to and within the stall. A developed stall produces a clean and sharp break straight down.

On the touch and goes, we found the flap control operation to be fast and as precise as one would care to make it.

Coming back to about 80 on finals and bleeding off to about 60 over the fence produced a satisfying landing, although we found ourselves suffering from a high-wing phobia – that nose-high attitude during which one wills the aircraft not to land.

Normal operation for the Robin is a slight flare and hold it until the little aircraft settles . . .

Nevertheless, the aircraft showed no nastiness apart from a firm alighting.

Take-off distance is listed as 754 ft; with the take-off flap down, the Robin laughed at that figure, even though Jim Owen had told us about the faithfulness of the claims made on his product’s brochure. Range, with reserves and normal tankage (there’s provision for a long-range fuel tank installation in the luggage compartment) is a modest 430 nm at 65 per cent power.

AT 75 per cent settings, you can expect 363 nm with reserves. Remember, this is really only a small aircraft despite her expansive looks and professional feel . . .

One of the many touches one normally finds in larger aircraft is the mini-annunciator panel built into the coaming. Warnings are given in lights of low fuel pressure; low fuel level; starter engaged; flaps not up and locked; low oil pressure; alternator failure; pitot heat on; night and day switching is available and there’s a test switch too.

Flying back to Schofields after our evaluation, we sat in our anatomically-contoured seat and believed the claim that one can sit there comfortably until the range has been exhausted. Like most other aircraft worthy of the name of classic, the little Robin literally flies herself after minimum acquaintance with the pilot.

We found rudder pressure necessary most of the time, but we were altering power settings almost constantly during our evaluation, so this was nothing untoward. Aileron trim was both effective and delicate, and setting the aircraft up for cruise presented no problem. Visibility is nothing less than excellent.

In passing, we preferred to use the righthand occupant’s throttle control rather than the one mounted on the lefthand seat occupant’s left side. Neither had a lock, but this didn’t seem necessary although we found a rev creep noV>{ and again.

After all, the equivalent to two years’ flight school operation would be enough to make any stiffness disappear in a friction run . . .

Our final landing was made at Schofields and gave ample opportunity in the early stages to test the claim that one can motor downhill at 80 indicated with full flap applied. The claim was fully justified, and so we came home.

In summary, the Robin R2160 is a delightful aircraft to fly in the touring, training or aerobatic categories. Paxford is pinning its faith on the researched claim that many people own a four place aircraft while using only two of the four seats most of the time.

That, and the knowledge that in the little Robin R2160 they have a product worthy of the ‘excellent’ label, both in price, fuel efficiency (it’s hard to beat under seven gallons an hour while travelling at 130 knots) and pleasure to fly.

As far as potential sales are concerned, Paxford certainly has an exciting prospect on its hands. The price is right, the looks are magnifique, operating costs are realistic, and backup service in engineering and avionics departments is catered for by Paxford affiliate companies operating in the same Bankstown building, giving the customer a centralised service.