Robinson R22HP G-OTED / G-BMYR / ZS-HLG, c/n 0209, flew from Denham, Buckinghamshire, into retirement at the Museum on the morning of 28th February 2002. It was handed over to the chairman of Museum trustees, Elfan ap Rees, as an addition to the permanent collection. Built in 1981, G-OTED is the Museum's first representative of
the Robinson family of inexpensive, manoeuvrable and stylish light
helicopters whose first prototype flew in August 1975 with a market
launch four years later in 1979. More than 4000 R22s have been
built in total and production continued into 2007 at a rate of
around 160 per year. In contrast, 644 of Robinson's top-selling,
four-seat, R44 were built in 2007. In August 2010 Frank Robinson retired as President and Chairman of the Board of his company and was succeeded by his son, Kurt, who had started work with the company in 1987. |
G-OTED in the Museum Display Hangar is dwarfed by the giant SA321F Super Frelon F-BMHC/F-OCMF/F-WMHC/F-BTRP standing alongside in Olympic Airways livery. |
The 160hp Lycoming O-320-B2C air-cooled
4-cylinder piston engine positioned in its open cowling below and
behind G-OTED's cockpit. |