I3uller

The number is regardless. 27 percent of all of them made have crashed. Their design is flawed. The 22's have no rotor inertia. Under stall conditions the main rotor is likely to cut the tail boom off. Lol the thing is just not safe.

Lol perfect! I love the Schweizer. Great little heli. You chose well.

Granted they are used as trainers but the Schweiser is also used frequently as a trainer and has nowhere near the accident rate. I mean if a helicopter has its own FAR and you have to get specialized training to fly it, that should say something about it right there. If you look in the POH for the R-22 it states that in order to correctly perform an autorotation the pilot has to initiate the sequence 1.1 seconds after engine failure. The rotor inertia is so low it makes auto rotations near impossible unless you know that its coming. I mean you get what you pay for. Cheap helicopter, cheap design, cheap construction. I've heard of several cases of the Lycoming engine still have tags inside of it when it was shipped. People finding parts of the tag in the oil pan and having to completely take down the engine. A friend of mine that is an FAA accident investigator is allowed and encouraged to get typed in as many types of aircraft as she can. In most cases the FAA will pay for her ratings in other aircraft as a sort of on the job training. However the FAA will not only not pay for her Robinson rating, but restricts her from flying them. Call me uneducated for thinking that its a flying deathtrap but I'm going to side with my instructor who is an FAA examiner/former cobra pilot that flew in Vietnam with more hours in a helicopter than anyone here when he said "Frank has become a very rich man selling those piles of shit."

+1 Look at their accident rates..... 27 percent of all Robinson's made have crashed haha. Granted the 44 is a little safer but its still a pile of junk.

I fly a Schweiser 300CBi (also a two seater piston engine helicopter like the 22) and so long as you didn't whack the controls on the way out and hung off the skids I wouldn't mind dropping someone. Practically its an awful idea using a 2 seater for a jump though haha

The capabilities of a helicopter vary wildly depending on air density, temperature, humidity, etc. Knowing DZ.com I know you guys would love to argue the specifics of it all forever haha. Personally I won't get in a Robbie anyways. It isn't going to be a big performer since its basically the Kia of the aviation world.

I'll be there. Good time to finally pick up a ditter ya?

I think a NOTAM would be a pretty important thing to add to that list as well.

Should be there. I remember a couple months back when it broke...brought up one load...and broke again so it wasn't around for about a month but thats all based on luck lol.

If they need to or if they have enough jumpers the Twin Otter goes up. Just last weekend they put two Otter loads up. Usually if there aren't too many people they will jump the PAC. With the weather getting warmer I wouldn't be surprised if the Otter gets some more time up in the air.

I don't have any rotor time, so correct me if I'm wrong - but you don't really have any idle time, right? The startup and taxiing is where the discrepancy comes in on airplanes between hobbs and tach. Ya not really. You have to start up the engine and let the head temp get up before you engage the rotors so that takes a bit of time and you kinda have a run up where you test to see if the rotor runs free after dropping power. I'd say the engine runs for a good 10-12 minutes before you actually go anywhere..but there is no taxi haha. You just leave.

I havn't had any problems with the Hobbs reading different. Tach and Hobbs times were always the same with me...but I'm a rotor head. Could be different.

You don't go off a Hobbs?

I've definitely done the dead man fall once or twice. Just completely relax your whole body. Kinda fun. You end up falling back down and your legs and arms just kinda flail around above you. Make sure you've got some freefly bungee on your leg straps though cus they will ride up your legs. Its kinda fun to do though,

Planned on it but the local dz was closed.

Bust a gainer exit and as you come around to where you see the plane throw two huge middle fingers at the rest of the load.

I'm 6'3 and kinda fell into my rig. Rigger at my DZ happened to have a rig laying around that he got the day before and I tried it on...perfect fit. Perfect canopy, everything. Really just fell into my lap. Check with your local shop/rigger...they usually have a heap of random stuff lying around that might work for ya. Worst case you get a new custom one made for you.

The main thing thats better about the R-44 is its extra weight adds stability and it has a much higher rotor inertia than the 22. Bailing out is all well and good but if you have an engine failure the helicopter is going down. Whether it goes down slow or fast its still going down and I wouldn't think jumping out of a descending helicopter would be the smartest of plans. The base price on a R-44 Raven I is about $320,000 and dealers tend to take 3-4 percent off of that. I personally have not had any time in a Robinson. I base my opinions off of the experience of several fellow pilots (retired Cobra pilot from Vietnam that is now an FAA examiner and an FAA accident investigator who was told by her employer, the FAA, that she can not fly Robinsons) that refuse to fly them. As the old Cobra pilot said "Those piles of shit have made Frank a very rich man." Now I'm sure that that R-44 will get you up and back down again just fine, especially with your pilot's experience in them. Mostly it just takes a lot of skill to react to emergencies correctly. Like I was saying earlier the R-22's manual states that to safely land the helicopter under auto-rotation the collective pitch must be lowered within 1.1 seconds of power loss. You've got to be damn near superhuman to recognize the power loss and initiate an auto-rotation in 1 second without knowing its coming. Enjoy the jump by all means and I'm sure everything will be fine...flying a Robbie is a "calculated risk" in my opinion and calling it a great aircraft is a bit of a stretch I think The Bell 204 is a wonderful aircraft. It has so much rotor inertia you can set it down, pick it back up, turn 90 degrees and set it back down again all without any power.

I'm knocking Robbies in general. The R-44, while safer than the R-22, is still a mess. I fly Schweiser 300s...more expensive but worth it. You get what you pay for with the Robbies. . I mean there is a separate FAR specifically for the Robinson. You have to get a specific certification to fly them. 27 percent of all Robbies ever made have crashed. From mast bumping to insanely low rotor inertia...the list can go on haha. Personally I won't get in one. The biggest problem is that you have a very very demanding aircraft that is extremely inexpensive so it draws inexperienced pilots. Demanding aircraft + inexperienced pilots = bad news. I mean as long as your pilot knows his business and can step up to Robinson's ridiculous emergency procedures (like initiating an auto-rotation within 1.1 seconds of engine failure) you'll be fine!

R-44....awesome aircraft? Whatchoo been smoking dude?

Sounds like a blast. I'll be there. #4170

Dunno bout the wifi but there is pancakes tomorrow morning at 8!

If I'm not mistaken I think Raeford has a bunkhouse you can stay in.

Thats too cool right there. And skydiver shitting aircraft are hands down the coolest ones out there.

Possibly because it has a prop behind the door, as well as in front. 337s have been used for jumps (mostly demos) but generally with the rear engine shut down for exit. HW Hahaha well that makes perfect sense. In my 10 second search for pictures of it I didn't notice the pusher prop. I can see how it would be a bit of a scare getting out.