Airtest -Robinson R44 Astro

Robinson R44

Astro If you get it right the first time, why change it? These thoughts sprang to mind as I walked around the brand new Robinson R44 helicopter sitting in Heliflite’s hangar at Castle Hill.

I had been invited by Lyndsay Edmonds, of Heliflite, the Australian Distributors of the R44, to sample the new helicopter which had only recently arrived as the first of the new type in country. Bill Miller of Bankstown Helicopters was to be my guide and mentor for the flight.

Robinson Helicopters

Clearly, Frank Robinson, unquestionably one of the world’s most successful helicopter designers and manufacturers, had the “don’t fix it” philosophy very much in mind when he set out in 1986 to design the R44 Astro. After extensive structural and dynamic component fatigue testing the first flight took place in 1900 with FAA certification being awarded in 1992.

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