A New Helicopter Model Built with OMAX Innovation
A New Helicopter Model Built with OMAX Innovation Frank Robinson has had a long history with helicopters. beginning, we hand-cut sheet metal, one sheet at a time. Fresh out of college, Robinson worked at Cessna on their Then, we used CNCs.” That sped things up, Paul says, Skyhook helicopter in the late 1950s, then spent time since the sheets could be stacked to 250-thousands of an with Kaman Aircraft and Bell Helicopter before ending up inch. But the abrasive waterjet made cutting even faster, at Hughes Helicopter, where he worked on their highly and with the advanced taper-removal Tilt-A-Jet® cutting successful Hughes 500 design. In the early 1970s, head, cutting remains high tolerance without sacrificing though, Robinson saw a market for a small, inexpensive helicopter. When no one at Hughes shared his vision, Robinson decided to do it himself, and in 1973, Robinson Helicopter Company was born. For decades, Robinson Helicopter produced their R22 and R44 helicopters through traditional machining processes. In 2004, as production began to skyrocket, Robinson purchased their first abrasive waterjet, an OMAX 55100 JetMachining® Center that was brought in to cut sheet metal. “Our abrasive waterjets have really helped us expand production yet minimize out-sourcing” says Paul Johnson. As head of Robinson Helicopter Company Tooling Department, Paul has watched Robinson production grow. In 2010, with a new turbine-powered 5-place helicopter coming into production, Robinson added 133,000 square feet to their production facility. This new model, plus continuing high demand for the R22 and R44, saw production rates in 2012 reach 45% over 2011.
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