Woo Hoo! The end of an era

RotaryWingBob

RotaryWingBob

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iHover
And the start of a new one.

My partners and I have wired our deposit on a brand spanking new Robinson R44 :yes:

We will be getting the serial number and delivery date shortly. I expect that delivery will be mid August sometime.

It's the end of an era because I will most likely sell out my remaining share in the Archer -- the R44 is almost as fast and has about the same payload with full fuel. I thought my wife was going to want me to hang onto the airplane (she's a little shy about helicopters) until she heard the magic words that every woman wants to hear whispered in her ear: "air conditioning, leather seats, AM/FM CD player, Bose headsets".

Rotors Rock :cheers:

:heli:
 
How bad is the insurance gonna be? And I hear the maintenence is very expensive. is it true that a overhaul has to be done at the factory?

Thats great news though Bob, My partner is thinking of buing one too. If he does, i will certainly learn to fly it.
 
Michael said:
How bad is the insurance gonna be? And I hear the maintenence is very expensive. is it true that a overhaul has to be done at the factory?

Thats great news though Bob, My partner is thinking of buing one too. If he does, i will certainly learn to fly it.
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It's aroun 8K a year with insurance from the factory -- they put some restrictions on such as you have to go to the Robinson safety course to act as PIC, no PAX until you have 200 helicopter hours and 50 Robinson hours including 10 in an R44. Non factory insurance would have been upward of 40K for the same coverage -- liability and full hull.
 
RotaryWingBob said:
It's aroun 8K a year with insurance from the factory -- they put some restrictions on such as you have to go to the Robinson safety course to act as PIC, no PAX until you have 200 helicopter hours and 50 Robinson hours including 10 in an R44. Non factory insurance would have been upward of 40K for the same coverage -- liability and full hull.
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Very cool. So how does a newbie rotor guy get hours if they requirments like that just to have insurance?
 
smigaldi said:
Very cool. So how does a newbie rotor guy get hours if they requirments like that just to have insurance?
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Join the military... :)

Actually, how many rotor wing guys learn on their own?
 
Bob. That's great. There's an excuse for another ride. :yes:

Plus you can always rent a fixed wing easier than the helo to keep the skills sharp.
 
RotaryWingBob said:
No excuse needed to give you a ride, Anthony. It would be nice, though, if you bought me a beer afterwards :cheers:
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Deal!!!
 
As a student pilot how is not even THINKING of flying whirlybirds....is traveling in a helicopter for distance as practical as an airplane?
 
tdager said:
As a student pilot how is not even THINKING of flying whirlybirds....is traveling in a helicopter for distance as practical as an airplane?
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That depends on the airplane and the helicopter in question. Some, admittedly very expensive, helicopters can blow the socks off of most singles. Vne in the Raven II we're buying is a much slower 130 KIAS. For a given speed, fuel consumption in pistons is somewhat higher, and is significantly higher in turbines.

Since we'll be flying the Robinbson back from the factory in California to the east coast, I'd have to say it's practical :)

Pilot fatigue is more of an issue without an autopilot -- trim an airplane right and you can fly it hands off -- not true of a helicopter -- if you don't pay attention they'll start getting in whacky attitudes rather quickly.
 
RotaryWingBob said:
Pilot fatigue is more of an issue without an autopilot -- trim an airplane right and you can fly it hands off -- not true of a helicopter -- if you don't pay attention they'll start getting in whacky attitudes rather quickly.
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Exactly my concern about flying my Pitts from Jax to Gastons in June and then to OSH in July. Fortunately, only being able to carry enough fuel for 2-hour legs will help.
 
RotaryWingBob said:
Since we'll be flying the Robinbson back from the factory in California to the east coast, I'd have to say it's practical :)
.
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Where in CA is the factory? I'm guessing SoCal somewhere.
 
Bob,

Let me know when you're coming to Torrance. I'll trade a T28 ride for an R44 ride, if you have time and inclination. I have done the Robby Safety Course, it is real good. I really like the Raven II it's a fine machine.

Joe
 
smigaldi said:
Very cool. So how does a newbie rotor guy get hours if they requirments like that just to have insurance?
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Write lots and lots of checks....

I have a friend doing this very thing building hours in an R-22 @ HEF.

Greg
182RG
 
Areeda said:
Bob,

Let me know when you're coming to Torrance. I'll trade a T28 ride for an R44 ride, if you have time and inclination. I have done the Robby Safety Course, it is real good. I really like the Raven II it's a fine machine.

Joe
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Now that, is a fine deal :yes:

Right now all of us are scheduled for the Safety Course in Sept. Although we don't have the delivery date from Robinson yet, the dealer is trying to move up the course so that whichever of us fly it back will have the school. Robinson requires that the ferry pilot be factory approved which means the dealer or his wife with one or two of us logging transition instruction on the way back.

When I win the lottery, I'll get a 407 for going places, a Hughes (MD) 500 for screwin' around, and, and ...

In the meantime, Robinson makes pretty nice helicopters that have reasonable operating costs. My intention is to stay in the R22 partnership because it's a fun ship to fool around in and is pretty cheap to fly. And the Raven II for more serious flight.
 
Ken Ibold said:
Exactly my concern about flying my Pitts from Jax to Gastons in June and then to OSH in July. Fortunately, only being able to carry enough fuel for 2-hour legs will help.
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Ken if your Pitts is a two holer, and you were planning on going solo,I will gladly keep you company over the flight from JAX to Gastons. It's a whole lot cheaper for me to fly commercial to JAX than to anywhere near Ark.
 
Bob,
I hate you:D .

Enjoy it in good health!

Chris

p.s.
If you ever get into the ADIZ come down to Tipton (FME) and you can look at Our (the County's) 407 while I drool on your R-44.
 
wesleyj said:
Me for one, tried a robinson, didnt like it, just soloed an enstrom.
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Ya pays yer money, ya takes yer choice. Robinsons are squirrely (and so are lots of turbine a/c like the 206 and 407), and because of that they require a very delicate touch. Some people don't like that, but as a local FSDO guy said a while back, "If you can fly a Robinson, you can fly anything.".

It works both ways -- one of my partners has about 500 Enstom hours and was adament about choosing a Raven II. Go figure :)

Congrats on the solo!
 
Well I guess its double good news.

1) Your getting a new whirlygig

2) Saftey class is in Sept so you can make the wings Fly B-Q.
 
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