A helicopter designed at home

Frank Robinson was the son of a Washington State coal miner, and he spent the first sixteen years of his career moving between helicopter companies: Cessna, Umbaugh, McCulloch, Kaman, Bell, where he earned a reputation as a tail-rotor expert, and finally Hughes. Everywhere he went he wanted to build a small, affordable personal helicopter, and nobody would let him. In 1973 he resigned from Hughes and founded the Robinson Helicopter Company. Its first business address was his own home, where the two-seat R22 was designed. The prototype was built in a hangar at Torrance airport, and Robinson flew it himself for the first time in August 1975.

The trainer the world learned on

The R22 was certified by the FAA in March 1979 and the first customer machine was sold that October. It was light, simple and cheap to run, with push-rod controls and no hydraulics, which made it twitchy and demanding to fly. That turned out to be a virtue: students who mastered an R22 were well prepared for anything heavier, and it became the standard primary helicopter trainer across much of the world, as well as a mustering tool on American ranches and Australian cattle stations. The second prototype is now in the Smithsonian. By 2019 some 4,800 R22s had been built.

The R44 takes over the market

The four-seat R44 followed, first flying on 31 March 1990 and entering service in early 1993 with a larger engine and hydraulically assisted controls. Its success was overwhelming. Since 1999 the R44 has been the world’s best-selling general aviation helicopter every year, and between 2001 and 2020 Robinson delivered 5,941 of them, making it one of the most-produced general aviation aircraft of the century. In 2013 Robinson was the global market leader with 523 light helicopters sold; the Torrance factory can build up to 1,000 a year.

Turbines, and a teetering rotor

Robinson’s first turbine helicopter, the five-seat R66 with a Rolls-Royce RR300 engine, was announced in 2007 and certified on 25 October 2010, the year Frank Robinson finally retired at 80 and handed the company to his son Kurt. It outsold all its light single-turbine rivals combined in 2012, and passed 1,500 deliveries by early 2024. The company’s signature semi-rigid, two-bladed teetering rotor has a darker side: it is susceptible to mast bumping in low-g conditions. A 2016 New Zealand investigation reviewed 14 such Robinson accidents in which 18 people died, and Australian investigators prompted the fitting of cockpit cameras.

A third boss and a ten-seater

Frank Robinson died at his home in Rolling Hills, California, on 12 November 2022, aged 92. In February 2024 David Smith became only the third person to lead the company in 50 years, taking over from Kurt Robinson. Robinson by then employed more than 1,100 people and had produced over 12,000 helicopters since its first delivery in 1979. That same year it bought the drone maker Ascent Aerosystems, and in March 2025 it unveiled the R88, a ten-seat utility helicopter powered by a Safran Arriel 2W turbine, with a first flight targeted for 2026.

Továrny

• Torrance factory · Zamperini Field, Torrance, California — Headquarters and sole production site; capacity up to 1,000 helicopters a year

Lidé

• Frank D. Robinson · founder, designer of the R22 and R44 — 1930–2022; former Bell and Hughes engineer; 2013 Daniel Guggenheim Medal
• Kurt Robinson · president and chairman 2010–2024 — Founder’s son
• David Smith · chief executive since 2024 — Third leader in the company’s 50 years

Rekordy a prvenství

• R44: world’s best-selling general aviation helicopter every year since 1999
• Global light-helicopter market leader in 2013 with 523 sold
• R66 deliveries in 2012 (191) far outnumbered all light single-turbine competitors combined (40)