KlausM
Two new aircraft introductions in one day… And they’re real aircraft. This is just great. 
It might only be a ten place Super Cub speed but it goes vertical 
This is a little better picture: Robinson Helicopter Company
Two new aircraft introductions in one day… And they’re real aircraft. This is just great.
It might only be a ten place Super Cub speed but it goes vertical
This is a little better picture: Robinson Helicopter Company
Oh! So it does have a tail. 
Was getting a bit worried that about half a helicopter would be going into service and nobody was going to say anything…
So you are against taildraggers, for the same reason, I’m guessing: they don’t forgive pilot incompetence.
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You base that assertion on what information, exactly?
Im a taildragger pilot. My point is not whether it works or not, or whether its safe. Im not in a position to judge. That feature however has been extremely controversial over the years and many people wouldnt go near a Robbie because of it. Here in New Zealand, government agencies are banned from chartering them. I’m a product designer by trade. When you are designing a product to compete with well established market players, why would you specifically include a controversial feature that will alienate a large percentage of potential customers?
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There really isn’t anything “controversial” over a 2-bladed teetering rotor system. The Bell 206 is one of the most popular helicopters and uses a 2-bladed rotor.
As with anything in aviation, and in particular, helicopter rotor designs, there are advantages and disadvantages to everything. The main disadvantage everything thinks about with a 2-bladed rotor system is mast bumping, but if flown correctly, it’s not really a problem. And one big advantage to a 2-bladed rotor is that it takes up a lot less hangar space than a 3-or-more-bladed rotor system does (unless you add in a complicated and heavy blade-folding system), and it’s less expensive to produce.
Where Robinson got their “dangerous reputation” from was a lot of low-time helicopter instructors teaching new helicopter pilots in a helicopter (the R22) that was not built as a training aircraft. The “problem” was that the R22 (and the R44 too, though to a lesser extent) uses a comparatively light-weight rotor system (compared to, say, a Huey or 206), so when flown incorrectly you can find yourself in a bad situation more quickly. So just as the FAA did for the MU-2, they created a special SFAR to ensure that instructors and pilots are aware of the characteristics of the Robinson rotor systems and fly the aircraft correctly.
But 2-bladed rotor systems aren’t the only ones with disadvantages. All other rotor designs also have their own advantages and disadvantages, and variations in implementation.
Obviously, when one wants to own the market, one goes with the value proposition, the two-blade teeter.
And guess who owns that market?
(The only two helicopters that I’ve been in were a Bell 47 with no doors, and a JetRanger. I seem to have forgotten how dangerous they were, perhaps I shouldn’t have gotten in. Though the 206 had many thousands of hours …)
It is sizeable.
Robinson does not reveal rotor system, there’s has had problems…
Web site flash not specifics.
“Axis”, as in another servo is involved, not axis as in a mathematical grid sense. But I didn’t make up the terminology the autopilot manufacterers use.
I guess Russ hyperlinked it to refer to the source.
It opens and displays normally. In unedited form its a mile and a half too long and reads more like a avertorial, rather than a news-bit.
Strange, I see grey text on white background, hence my IMC reference.
Robinson’s web site is not aviation quality.
6 equations of Motion. Stuart Platform for FFS Is for Roll Pitch Yaw heave sway surge. Helicopter sims often have another 3 axis in a separate vibration platform.
An Axis is correct term as it relates to a reference frame. Whether that be a linear or rotational reference frame. A Channel isn’t really correct as a channel may incorporate many redundant subsystems that make up that autopilot axis. For Instance twin FADEC’s for a single engine It is twin Channel single Axis of Throttle.