In 1973, then 43-year-old Frank Robinson sits in the cockpit of Robinson R22, Serial #0001. Photo: Robinson Helicopter


Helicopter for the Masses


As Kurt Robinson likes to put it, the original R22 is a “helicopter for the masses.”


“Its popularity was the thing that probably gave it that moniker more than anything else,” Kurt said.


His father Frank set out to create a small personal helicopter. Reaching the market in 1979 for only $40,000, it quickly became popular with private operators and opened up the world of training to more people. Its speed and agility also made it a hit with cattle herders in the U.S., Australia and New Zealand.


“You can really make those aircraft dance,” said Kurt, who has piloted plenty of them. That attribute makes the R22 a preferred choice for freestyling at the World Helicopter Championships, he added.


When people told him they wanted a flying “family car,” Frank Robinson designed the four-seat R44. Now the R66 is having its spotlight and proving that Robinson isn’t attached to a single motor type. More than 13,000 Robinsons are now in the air.


Smith describes Robinson’s common goal this way: “Make them easy to support, make them simple to operate and make them robust for hard missions.”


48 Mar/Apr 2024


Kurt Robinson Transitions


Kurt grew up watching his father Frank leave his Hughes Tool Company engineering job to create his own company in 1973 and design the R22 at home. Kurt helped launch the R22, earned his MBA and law degree, got his pilot’s license, and became his father’s right-hand man at Robinson as the company developed the R44 and R66. With FAA certification of the R66 imminent, Frank retired in 2010 and passed leadership to his son. The founding father passed away in 2022.


Feeling it’s time to pass the leadership back to an engineer, Kurt Robinson is transitioning to an advisory role while remaining on the board of directors. With more than 450 service centers around the world, Kurt said he’d like to visit more of them, now that he will have more available time on his hands.


Kurt Robinson also looks forward to fixing up his family home on Whidbey Island in the Puget Sound north of Seattle. Some of his favorite memories with his father include flying along the West Coast to the island, where their family has owned a home since 1916. The views while flying low along the coast are stunning, he related. Before Kurt got his own pilot’s license, he loved having his dad pick him up in the UC-San Diego parking lot to carry him home for the holidays, to the astonishment of his friends.


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