Robinson Unveils New Large R88 Rotorcraft

DALLAS—Robinson Helicopters has announced the launch of the R88, its much-anticipated new large rotorcraft and the company’s first major product-line refresh since the R66 turbine was revealed in 2007.

Punching up into new territory above the company’s traditional light rotorcraft market sector, the multimission helicopter represents a significant growth step beyond the company’s four-seat R66 and is designed to undercut the operating costs of larger single- and twin-turbine-powered competitors.

With a planned internal payload of more than 2,800 lb. and a range of more than 350 nm, the R88 will be powered by a single 1,000-shp Safran Arriel 2W turboshaft. Seating up to eight passengers and with places for two crew, the aircraft’s reconfigurable 275-ft.³ cabin is designed to accommodate multiple seating layouts and be accessible via large sliding side doors and a truck-bed-style rear door for simpler cargo and stretcher loading.

While clearly recognizable as a Robinson product, the R88’s rotor mast is a slightly shorter version of its R44/R66 stablemates, on which the engine is located aft of the cabin. The R88’s turboshaft is aligned with the transmission and enclosed in a fairing above the cabin roof. “That's a big change for us," says David Smith, Robinson president and CEO. "It means that we were able to have the cowling and lines above the roof deck that fair in that mass quite a bit.”  

Unveiling the R88 on the eve of the Vertical Aviation International Verticon convention here, Smith says the new helicopter is “a bold expansion of our product portfolio, a product designed to meet the diverse and evolving operating needs we see all over the globe.”

Describing the R88 as “the most capable, affordable and easiest to maintain workhorse in its class and perhaps in the next class beyond,” he adds that “it will retain all the hallmarks of our brand—ease of operation, predictability and affordability of maintenance—[and] our goal is to give you superior performance for an affordable price.”

More than two years in gestation, the R88 has grown bigger as the concept evolved, Smith notes. “The team started to lay it out as a smaller aircraft at one point, but as we gained knowledge about both the available performance of this new Arriel variant and we understood better our own architecture on the powerplant, drive train, gearboxes, all that, it gave us the flexibility to say, ‘no, we can do more,’” he says.

Targeted at roles ranging from aerial firefighting and air medical transport to utility and passenger transport, the R88 will be available with standard skids or optional high skids for increased ground clearance and compatibility with a firefighting water tank. Optional equipment is planned to include a 3,000-lb.-rated cargo hook, utility basket, wire strike protection kit and pop-out floats.

Maximum takeoff weight and associated performance limits have yet to be defined, Smith says. “From a max takeoff weight perspective, we're not talking specifics at this point," he remarks. “It is well above the seven-seat category of aircraft but still well below the twins. That gives us healthy headroom to the Part 27 [certification] boundary as well, so you can think in the 5,500-6,500-lb. range, and we're dialing that in as the product gets shaped and built.”

The decision to finally launch the R88 follows persistent requests for a larger family variant from many dealers and operators within Robinson’s loyal community base, Smith says. “They've been begging us to do something like this, though most of them thought we would go a half step to this point, so maybe a direct competitor to an [Airbus H125] Astar or [Bell] 407,” he explains. “But when we got down to it, we feel like there's an opportunity here to offer much more payload, much more economics for when you need lots of seats, you've got them. When you don't need the seats, you can load a ton of materials in the back.”

Compared to some competing twin-turbine helicopters, the economics of the R88 “are going to make it super difficult to justify a twin,” Smith says. “The data does not support this thesis that twins are safer than singles. Singles are safer than twins. The data shows it.” He is referencing the large number of emergency medical service operators in the U.S. that currently use single-engine machines. “Air medical and utility are two of our bigger target markets here,” he adds.

The R88 cockpit will be dominated by a Garmin avionics suite, including G500H TXi displays and GTN navigators with touchscreen controls. The helicopter is also to feature a four-axis autopilot with functions such as level mode, hover assist, limit cueing and low-/high-speed protection. New for a Robinson will be 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 dual cyclic feature is “a big difference that you're going to notice right away,” Smith says. The change from the center cyclic configuration traditionally used in Robinson designs is driven by the extra width of the R88. This helicopter is “so large that the teeter cyclic was going to be very tall on one side and very tall when you tip it over on the other,” he adds.

Robinson also intends to seek optional single-pilot instrument flight rules (IFR) certification for the R88 as a key element of keeping the helicopter's operating costs low. “We're the first to go and certify single-engine IFR [on an all-new rotorcraft] in 20 or 30 years,”  Smith says. “We feel that the time is right, and the economics of this will change with safe IFR operation when we deliver this package at the prices we're talking about.

“Our customers have told us they want advanced flight controls, and we're doing that with the four-axis autopilot as standard on the R88," he continues. “It will be enhanced as well beyond [the standard] to give us the IFR capability. So it will be a slightly different version between the [visual flight rules] and IFR variants—but it's four-axis in both cases.” 

Some operators wanted Robinson to adopt fly-by-wire flight controls for the R88, like the modification under development by SkyRise, a Los Angeles-based automated cockpit developer that is working toward certification of the company’s SkyOS automated flight system in the R66. “We're actively collaborating with them and talking to customers about it, but out of the box, I think it is what they want right now,” Smith says.

Configured with standard data recording with data link and a health usage monitoring system (HUMS) for predictive maintenance and safety, Smith adds that low maintenance costs will be a main pillar of the R88’s expected affordability. “Our goal is to have this so that you don't need a mechanic touching the aircraft frequently at all,” he remarks. “You might go weeks at a time before you see a mechanic for a 100-hr. or 200-hr. inspection. We're trying to get to a 200-hr. [interval] on this one, but initially we'll probably start with phased [inspections] up to at 100 hr., like our R66 is today. 

“Over these last two years, we've done huge amounts of customer engagement to understand the requirements,” Smith continues. “We also have built multiple mockups and iterations of the cabin and layouts of the major structure to mature the design. The team is really progressing well on the overall project schedule. 

“We're working really hard to get the first flight unit built and ready,” Smith adds, hinting that flight testing is more likely to begin in 2026 than before year-end. “I'm always pushing the team. We have some critical dependencies on the engine—both hardware and software—which has a dimension of criticality to it. As you can imagine, the [full-authority digital engine control (FADEC)] software is a lengthy process, and it is important from a safety perspective to have all the right releases so we can go safely and swiftly from ground runs to flight into certification testing.

“So [Safran’s] schedule—I think—is a little further out than the end of the year,” Smith continues. “But we are working hard to try to find ways to compress that. In the meanwhile, our team is building components and versions of components, so we get multiple reps at it.” 

New elements for the R88 include dual hydraulics for pitch and roll flight controls—a first for a Robinson helicopter. “We make our hydraulics here in Torrance, [California], so our team is super excited to get those products through their development and learning,” Smith says. “That's one area we're really focused on.” Another focus area is the R88’s transmission, which will incorporate an additional gear in the design as an intermediate gearbox. “Beyond that, it will be largely of the same conventional style to our other gear boxes, just much bigger,” he observes.

Robinson is also working on production readiness for the R88, which will be built in the same facility in Torrance as the current R22, R44 and R66 models. “We are currently doing all the architectural planning to move things through the facility," Smith explains. "There's plenty of space here to build the R88 and do what we argue is over 1,000 ships a year here, in total, between the lines. We are comfortable that we can build out at that rate with the square footage we have.” 

The ramp-up will also require additional employees and working hours. “We'll need more staff, and we're going to need to use both shifts, because today we really don't use the second shift much," he notes. "We have about 60 people on second shift, and I’ve got 1,100 or so workers on first shift. So we are going to increase utilization and shift more of the balance into the second.”  

The company is also reconfiguring workstations and production sites within the factory to handle the R88, as much as 90% of which will be built in-house. “We're moving certain portions of the factory around so that we can accommodate the R88 structural assembly, blade assembly and all the work that needs to be done on the tail booms and the major structure,” Smith says. This includes reconfiguring major production system monuments in the current line, such as weld bays and non-destructive inspection sites that are too small to handle the new, larger helicopter.

The orderbook for the R88, which is priced starting at $3.3 million for the standard model, opens at Verticon on March 11.

—With Tony Osborne in Dallas.