Peasacake

Havent decided yet, very impressed with the machine couldnt fly it as the wind was 40 kts plus with horizontal rain, actually wished I had taken the windsurfer with a 3.5 m sail !
Underwriters havent decided how much to insure at the moment, which might be a problem. As a machine it knocks everything else into a cocked hat and most of you know I love the 300 series, but they are the same as 1960's.

Having looked looked at the Helicopter in 2008 I was extremely impressed.

The only issue I can think of is spares availability "if" anything is required.

Judging by your comments on factory replying to your e-mails regarding a complete helicopter it looks like owners may be grounded for a while awaiting spares support.

Are there any owners out there who can comment on spares availability?

@H500

:E U see :cool:

A9 interesting comment it would suggest that you know something the rest of us don't ?
Would that be no returned calls poor service lack of spares,???.
A customer with money is the best customer you can get in to-days market
Company's with good products can still fail.
We are also looking for a change of machine but asking the factory for details \ delivery (12 months ago) with no reply & reading this thread, I would suggest Guimbal G2 is not the way to go
If communications are so poor regarding purchase what about back up tech info, spares?
The training environment is dire, people would like to fly\learn in a modern machine but can a school afford to have down time, paying customers being told
"sorry cant fly the widget is broken, no we don't know when it will be delivered" at least with a 300 or 22 there are enough you can usually find the widget you want.
The other worry would be the glass panel, really nice, tells us a lot, easy to read? easy to use? but at what cost if it glitches ? is it Sagem seen prices between $50 & 70K in R44 what price repairs exchange??

G2 comparison
 

Well I certainly hope the G2 sells well over on the Continent because after looking at this comparison it just doesn't make sense from a cost perspective for a U.S. operator. Shame too because I really wanted to see one over here.
The All New Cabri G2 | Helicopter Wise - An online Helicopter Magazine

The comparison is old and has been posted before. There are a few odd numbers in there if you ask me - for example, why is labour cost per man-hour listed at only
$55 on the S300,
$65 on the Robinson but
$85.71 on the Cabri?
Do Schweizer engineers work for less?
The listed price of fuel per gallon is different for each one, too.

What about the pathfinder "insurance" quoted for the Robinson, vs. real 6% hull insurance on the Cabri?

Are there any Robinson owners out there who can actually run a Raven I at anywhere close to $165 per hour?
Or is it that Cabri is simply posting realistic numbers, while Robinson is.. well... Robinson?

I think you need to take this cost comparison with a few grains of salt.
Nonetheless, with the Euro/USD exchange rate the way it is, unfortunately the Cabri won't become a common sight in the states any time soon.

Yes, you bring up some interesting points but the numbers that jump out at me more than anything are the acquisition cost and useful load figures which I don't think were fudged. Basically I can buy a 4 place Raven I for LESS than the Cabri. I noticed a bit better useful load in the tired old 300cbi as well.

Have looked very closely at the cost comparision. The Cabri is much better when you compare apples with apples. For example labour rate Bruno quotes 80 euros an hour Robinson quotes $65well change that to £ 85 an hour the current price quoted by a certain UK service centre then the figure start looking more favourable. Move on to a composite airframe and blades then you can forget about corrosion, very important to an operator in the UK !
Also having no calender life helps alonhg with items like blades going to on condition

@Airspeed....
Will be news about USA, we hope in short...

@500e
There is so far more than 22 happy customers out there, that is only
fact I know

:)

Why would anyone want to learn to fly in one when there will not be any available to hire. It means they would have to convert onto the Robbo anyway to keep their licence current. And before you mention professional pilots who will probably go on to turbine - how will they hour build.

The customer service aspects sound typically French, there have been horror stories about TB (Fixed Wing) and Eurocopter owners having AOG awaiting response from the manufacturer.
I guess being ex Eurocopter has enabled them to adopt the Eurocopter business model without too much effort.

I would be wary of purchasing based on what has already been said. i.e. if they can't be bothered to respond when you are holding your (substantial wedge of) cash out to purchase, how interested are they going to be responding to warranty claims?
It is a well known fact in any business that the most successful products are not normally the best, but the ones whos manufacturers/suppliers provide the best support.

I think a few more than 22 satisfied customers would be needed to make a convincing business case.
How many of those customers are Government sponsored?

Not many if any Gov related customers so far...

It is pleasure to go on Robbie, after all you are enough
live to do that, after initial PPL H training :}