High-Flying Torrance Copter Firm Took 14 Years to Get Off Ground
It may not be the ultimate driving machine, but it sure beats traffic.
And these days, the two-seat helicopter that Frank Robinson designed in his garage is also beating the competition.
These are high-flying times at Robinson Helicopter Co., the Torrance firm that rose from obscurity to its current position as the nation’s top producer of civilian helicopters. Robinson shipped more than half of all the commercial helicopters produced in the United States last year.
Yet, it took the company 14 years before it first turned a profit in 1987. Since then, it has surpassed such industry stalwarts as Bell, Sikorsky, Boeing and McDonnell Douglas to dominate the market.
Today, you can find Robinson’s trademark R22 mini-chopper around the globe--they are used by Australian ranchers to herd cattle and by South American fishing companies to spot tuna. The West Palm Beach Police Department owns one. So does Chrysler Corp. President Robert Lutz. The piston-engine helicopter with the $108,000 price tag has become a staple of flight schools around the world.
On a recent tour of his modest plant near Torrance Municipal Airport, Robinson smiled as he recalled the days when drafting tables cluttered his Palos Verdes Peninsula home and he struggled to design a low-cost, low-maintenance helicopter.
The simplicity of the machine belies the difficulty the 61-year-old aerospace engineer had in building it. When he started the company in 1973, he had to deal with nervous investors and sometimes give employees stock instead of paychecks. And there was a string of dark years when the company teetered on the brink of insolvency.
While the other helicopter companies concentrated on large, turbine-driven choppers for the military, Robinson focused on his idea of a small, accessible, no-frills craft.
That he could buck the industry trend and dominate the commercial market with one product seemed as unlikely as a spacecraft landing like an airplane.
“I knew even when we were starting that the chances of success were less than 1 in 100,” Robinson said. “It was one of those decisions where I knew that if I didn’t at least try it, I would always regret it.
“We had nothing but hard years. . . . But then we came along and upset the apple cart.”
Upsetting the apple cart meant convincing the industry, and occasionally himself, that there was a market for a small piston-powered helicopter--anathema to an industry that favored turbine-powered machines. But Robinson said his fascination with the idea was enough to propel him from his job as an aerospace engineer to the ranks of the self-employed.
“I was 43 and I’d reached a point in my life where you’re either going to do something or you have to forget it,” he said.
Although he managed to build the first prototype in 1975, it would be four more years before the Federal Aviation Administration certified the craft for flight. It would be several more years before the first models were ready for shipment.
Sales have skyrocketed. Robinson shipped 204 helicopters in 1988, 310 the following year and 384 in 1990. Despite the recession, he expects to sell well over 400 for 1991. Company revenues have jumped accordingly, from $23.5 million in 1988 to $47.3 million last year.
“It’s dependable, it’s safe, and it’s inexpensive,” said Gordon Jiroux, president of Arizona Wing & Rotor, an aviation company near Phoenix that has purchased 20 of the R22’s.
“It’s rare when you find a machine that works this well and is affordable,” Jiroux said. “It just puzzles me why other (helicopter) manufacturers haven’t followed his lead.”
The key to the firm’s success has been its ability to control costs by building the vast majority of its own parts at the 100,000-square-foot factory in Torrance. While most aircraft companies rely on subcontractors to manufacture their parts, Robinson builds its own rotors, transmissions, instrument panels, passenger cabins, wiring harnesses and other parts.
“We can control quality much better that way,” Robinson said. “With aircraft, quality and safety are everything.”
But it’s the price that has allowed Robinson to dominate the market. With the average sales price of about $115,000 with options, the R22 costs about half as much as competing helicopters, and outperforms them as well. The craft holds the altitude and speed records in its class and has maintained an outstanding safety record. Fortune magazine this year included it on a list of the 100 best-made American products.
Currently, about 70% of the company’s helicopters are exported, with Japan, Britain, France and Australia among the top markets. The helicopter is sold by a distribution network of about 85 aircraft dealers in 30 countries.
Sloane Helicopters in Northampton, England, sells about one per week, targeting the Rolls-Royce and Bentley crowd, according to Sloane’s sales manager, Peter Fraser.
“A lot of our guys have a lot of money and they’re looking for another toy to play with,” he said during a phone interview last week. “It’s not that they’re looking to use it to replace their Rolls-Royce. They’re looking for something in addition to the Rolls.
“The U.K. is an ideal spot for helicopters because it’s so small. But the other thing about the Robinson is that they’re so fun to fly. So it’s practical, but it can also be seen as a very expensive toy.”
In addition to flight schools, aficionados of the little whirlybird include cattle ranchers, photographers, rural doctors and executives.
“A lot of the time we don’t know what they’re going to be used for,” said Barbara Robinson, company vice president and Frank’s wife. “We still don’t have the faintest idea what they’re used for in Japan.”
Frank Robinson said the company can continue to fly high as long as it doesn’t lose its focus. It plans to expand its production line to include a four-seat model, called the R44, which is currently undergoing certification by the FAA. Robinson hopes to begin selling the craft sometime next year, a plan that will require the firm to double the size of its factory and staff. He has yet to decide where the extra work will be done.
The new model will mirror the smaller craft’s niche in the industry. Robinson said the R44 will probably cost under $250,000--less than half as much as the four-seat machines currently available in that end of the helicopter market.
Robinson said the company’s success has not diminished his role as a hands-on operator. As with his earlier model, he has done much of the test flying for the R44. When he walks through the factory, he talks in great detail about the manufacturing of each helicopter part.
“The running of the business is a necessity, but not my first love,” he said. “I’m an engineer, and I love to fly. I’ve been intrigued with helicopters from the time they were invented, even though I hate to admit I’m that old.
“This is just something I always wanted to do. It was a case where I knew I could fail and still be able to walk away as long as I tried. But I had to try.”
