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Helicopter : Rotor Raters

Does the Robinson R44 Raven II helicopter really deserve its acclaim? Private Air’s reader-driven rater panel takes the chopper up for a spin.

By: Nick Kolakowski
May/June 2007 , Page 76

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It’s a bright, blustery early morning on the last day of March at Miami’s Opa-locka Executive Airport — the kind where gusts send folding chairs flipping like poker chips — when another mighty wind arrives, from a Robinson R44 Raven II helicopter touching down on the runway. Sleek and bright red, it resembles an aerodynamic lozenge.

Over the next few hours, Private Air raters, culled from our tens of thousands of readers, will strap themselves, three at a time, into this four-seater, as it roars over the still-sleepy patchwork of the single-story homes and ponds that form greater Miami before buzzing the beachfront towers and azure froth and returning inland for a light touchdown.

The raters’ task is simple: Evaluate the R44 — the Clipper II edition (it features floats on its runners) — for its flying characteristics (stability of ride, in-flight handling), power plant/engine (governing start-up time, lift), ease of entering and exiting, exterior (finish quality and ease of access to maintenance panels) and cockpit layout and comfort.

For a first-of-its-kind consumer helicopter rating panel, it’s a hands-on chance to evaluate craft performance straight from the manufacturer.

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For most of the raters at the event, a perfect aviation day would more likely involve flying to Turks and Caicos for a long weekend, not taking a helicopter from a Miami airstrip to downtown. Still, each is game to test the R44 on 32 elements ranging from fuel endurance to headroom to safety features. And once the rotor dust settles, more than a few report that if they had to purchase a short-range copter, they’d give the R44 a serious look.

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