Story ID: 120R44Cadet
Orders Flowing for R44 Cadet
By: Matt Thurber
Caption: The new Robinson is targeting the trainer and utility markets, with a lower-cost but better-performing two-seat ship.
Word Count: 766
Robinson Helicopter began taking orders for the new two-seat R44 Cadet before Heli-Expo 2016, and so far has logged “a number of orders,” according to company president Kurt Robinson. Heli-Expo visitors can see the new Cadet at the Robinson booth (3501).
  
The introductory price for the new R44 model is $339,000 with standard equipment and $367,000 with floats. Buyers must make a $40,000 deposit, but Robinson Helicopter isn’t assigning serial numbers or revealing delivery dates until the new helicopter receives FAA certification. By comparison, the R22 retails for $278,000 and the R44 Raven I $379,000.
  
At first glance, the Robinson Helicopter R44 Cadet doesn’t look much different from other R44s, but the new machine has some interesting features that might make it a welcome addition to the company’s product line.
  
There is, it turns out, a way to tell a regular R44 Raven I or II from the Cadet; the new helicopter has been blessed with its own distinctive paint scheme, a simple but elegant curved swoosh behind the aft window that, along with the nomenclature and registration number, is the only embellishment on the solid-color paint job. 
  
Another clue becomes evident both from a distance and up-close. At first it looks like the side window is made of one piece, but that’s not the case. Robinson simply painted the post between the forward and rear side windows black, so they look congruent, giving the Cadet a more streamlined and less segmented look compared to its older siblings. The rear window is also shorter on the Cadet because the helicopter’s main feature is removal of the rear seats, and there is thus no need to provide lots of viewing glass for the non-existent rear-seat occupants.
  
Another feature of the two-seat Cadet include removal of inside rear door handles, which are no longer needed. Without the seats, the rear area is available to carry up to 200 pounds of luggage, which includes 50 pounds inside each bucket under the two former seat bottom lids and another 50 pounds on top of each lid. Without passengers sitting in back, the volume for carrying larger items is now much larger.
  
One welcome item that can be added to Cadet is the 33-pound air-conditioning system that is optional on the R44 Raven II, currently the only model (besides the turbine R66) for which air-conditioning is available. The Cadet also has the capacity to be IFR equipped for use as instrument trainer, using the Garmin G500H or Aspen Evolution suite and Genesys autopilot.
  
Essentially, the Cadet has the same carbureted, 225-hp Lycoming O-540 engine as the Raven I, but it is derated to 210 hp. While this means the Cadet can’t haul as high a load as the Raven, it will have better performance at high altitudes. 
  
“We’ve been talking about this for years,” said Kurt Robinson. There was clearly a gap between the R22 and the R44 Raven I, and no capability to add air-conditioning or IFR avionics to the R22 without removing some compensating weight. “We started looking at the R44. What if we simplify it and focus on the ideal trainer?” A two-person helicopter would offer plenty of baggage space, he explained. And it turned out that the R22’s choice as a trainer had more to do with its cost; it wasn’t originally designed to be a training helicopter. 
  
“The R44 easier to learn to fly,” Robinson said. “It’s more stable and has more margins.” And for pilots moving into larger helicopters such as the R66, transitioning from an R44 is much more natural. “We’ve been watching the market, and we thought it would be nice to put something out there that’s lower cost, for training but also utility. And there is so much training done in hot places, [air-conditioning] will be a popular option.”
  
When the company initially discussed the Cadet, it received questions about why not just add on to the R22. But Robinson said yesterday at Heli-Expo, “We’ve done everything we could with the 22. The ship is very well maxed out.” Once details of the Cadet were revealed, the reaction turned positive, so much so that Robinson said, “We been very surprised at the positive reaction to it.” He was not ready to reveal initial order activity, but said, “We’ve already received a number of orders on it.” Robinson expects interest to continue to grow as attendees at Heli-Expo have the opportunity to learn more about the Cadet.