Robinson Helicopter Company has made delivery number 13,000: an R44 Raven headed for Texas operator SKY Helicopters in Dallas. The aircraft, serial number 14438, was delivered on April 23, and it comes fully equipped, with a brand-new paint scheme.
The R44 features the following options: a Lithium-ion battery, heated seats, and a 4K cockpit video camera, plus a Garmin 700L TXi, GTN 650Xi navigator, and a Genesys HeliSAS autopilot. SKY has been a Robinson dealer since 1996 and this addition brings its fleet total to 27 Robinsons.
SKY’s president, Ken Pyatt, said, “We purchased this R44 for our Part 135 air taxi and tour operations because we needed a safe and reliable helicopter than can fly all day, every day.” With 42 years of producing light piston and turbine rotorcraft, Robinson has served an important corner of the market with its R22, R44, and R66 models. Flying featured a history of the company in the March 2020 issue. Robinson reported to GAMA a total of 177 units shipped in 2020, including 18 R22 Beta IIs, 12 R44 Cadets, 32 R44 Raven Is, 61 R44 Raven IIs, and 54 R66s.
