Robinson Helicopter Company announces brand new platform

Robinson Helicopter Company (RHC) announced its first all-new aircraft in nearly 15 years, the R88, a ‎larger and increasingly capable helicopter designed to meet a wider range of mission requirements ‎while maintaining the company’s hallmark reliability, affordability, and safety.

The R88 represents a ‎significant expansion of RHC’s product portfolio, addressing the increasing demand for versatile and ‎cost-effective single-engine utility helicopters.‎

The highly configurable R88 is designed for a variety of missions, including aerial firefighting, air ‎medical transport, utility work, passenger transport and more. Its adaptable interior design allows for ‎quick reconfiguration, supporting various mission needs. David Smith, President and CEO of RHC, told ‎AirMed&Rescue that in initial consultation with about 18 executives from helicopter emergency ‎medical services (HEMS), utility, aerial firefighting and other operators who “flew those missions every ‎day”, their desire for a craft that could fulfil their needs was the “North Star” guiding RHC’s ‎development of the R88.‎

‎“With the unveiling of the R88, we expect to disrupt the single-engine helicopter market, offering ‎superior performance and capabilities at a competitive price,” said Smith. “As the most vertically ‎integrated manufacturer of helicopters in the world, we have a unique opportunity to provide solutions ‎that no other manufacturer can – a highly-capable and affordable helicopter with readily available ‎parts and predictable maintenance. This is exactly what our 10,000-plus existing customers have come ‎to expect from Robinson.”‎

Growing demand for aerial firefighting craft ‎

As well as disrupting the known and healthy sector in the North American multi-mission and HEMS ‎segment, Smith told AirMed&Rescue that the growth of markets in India and Africa were being ‎particularly courted as there was an increasing demand for aircraft capable of emergency response in ‎those regions, as well as other areas across the globe. Smith cited the emerging need for aerial ‎firefighting craft, when previously operators could “migrate fleets around the world to cover the ‎seasons, but the seasons are all continuous now”. He continued by saying the demand for such an ‎accessible aircraft as the R88 was due to operators needing “distributed fleets to respond [to the ‎wildfires] and not to have to leave the regions with each season”.‎

RHC selected the Safran Helicopter Engines’ Arriel 2W engine for the R88 and is providing market-‎leading engine service and support as part of every aircraft purchase in the new Arriel 2W Serenity ‎package, a first-of-its-kind offering for any commercial helicopter. The Serenity package will be ‎included with the purchase of each new R88 helicopter. Serenity includes services such as unscheduled ‎maintenance coverage for five years or 2,000 flying hours (whichever comes first), premium health ‎monitoring, and advanced digital services. This package from Robinson Helicopter Company and Safran ‎Helicopter Engines offers additional confidence in the maintenance and ongoing support of every ‎Robinson R88 helicopter. ‎

The Arriel engine family is used in various demanding missions globally, and the partnership with Safran ‎is one of an aligned and shared focus on and commitment to helicopters, Smith told AirMed&Rescue. ‎His previous experience of working with Safran, and seeing its people grow and mature with ‎knowledge and experience in developing an engine that is proven and reliable, similar to the ethos that ‎RHC live by, meant that it was an ideal pairing. Cédric Goubet, President of Safran, added that his ‎company had its roots in the helicopter industry and for the helicopter industry it has an “unparalleled ‎expertise”. Smith explained that the Arriel engines have an accumulated flight time of over 66 million ‎hours, and it was his ambition for the R88 to swiftly double that number.‎

Key features and capabilities:‎

• Size and capacity: The R88 is the largest and most capable aircraft Robinson Helicopter has ‎designed, with capacity for eight main cabin seats and two cockpit seats. It has approximately ‎‎275 cubic feet of cabin volume‎
• Performance: The R88 offers a range of over 350 nautical miles and endurance exceeding 3.5 ‎hours. The aircraft is expected to have an internal payload of more than 2,800lb and will be ‎powered by a 950-shaft horse-power single engine in the Safran Arriel 2W
• Highly configurable interior: The highly configurable cabin features a flat floor, allowing ‎multiple forward and club seating configurations, effective air medical and public safety ‎mission configurations, and multiple future seating options. A fold-down, truck-bed-style rear ‎door simplifies cargo loading and accommodates a HEMS stretcher
• Exterior adaptability: The aircraft is available with standard skids or optional high skids for ‎increased ground clearance and compatibility with a firefighting water tank. Optional ‎equipment includes a 3,000lb human external cargo (HEC) rated cargo hook, utility basket, ‎wire strike protection kit, and pop-out floats.‎
• Advanced avionics: The R88 features a Garmin avionics suite, including large G500H TXi ‎displays and GTN navigators with touchscreen controls. The G500H TXi includes a crew alerting ‎system. A standard 4-axis autopilot has features such as level mode, hover assist, limit cueing, ‎and low/high speed protection. Standard data recording with data link and a health and usage ‎monitoring system (HUMS) simplifies operation and maintenance
• Enhanced safety: The R88 incorporates dual hydraulics for pitch and roll for critical flight ‎controls. Other standard safety features include an inlet barrier filter and impact-resistant ‎windshields certified to Part 29 transport helicopter requirements. New LED exterior lighting, ‎including pulse landing and taxi lights, tail rotor lighting, scene lighting, and entry lights, further ‎enhance safety
• Innovative design: The R88 introduces dual cyclic controls with removable controls on both ‎sides, allowing the pilot in command to be in either the left or right seat with a passenger in ‎the other seat. The aircraft will be type-certified for optional single-pilot IFR operations. The ‎all-new interior design features comfortable, functional seating, easy-to-maintain materials, ‎and a versatile layout
• Affordability: The R88 is priced starting at US$3.3 million in current dollars for the highly ‎equipped standard configuration.‎

The R88 is an all-new type certificate, undergoing rigorous testing and engineering for every aspect of ‎the aircraft. The company will be taking deposits from Authorized Robinson Helicopter Dealers starting ‎on Tuesday 11 March 2025, at Verticon.‎