Robinson R44 Astro

The current owner has had 198 for the past 9 years and – as you can tell from the very low hours – only flies it occasionally. He’s done about 500 hours out of the total of 850 flown.


Since he has owned 198, it has never been used for training and it has always been kept in a de-humidified hangar.


With grey leather seats and a tasteful metallic black and burgundy Astro paint scheme, 198 is in exceptionally good condition. There are just a few signs of wear and tear on the velour interior, but that’s about it!


I had a jolly good look around 198, and as far as I can see there is no corrosion whatsoever. It puts the paint jobs on the later R44s to shame.


The A/Ds and S/Bs have been done, including the latest flexible fuel lines and gascolator. It even has the upgraded carbon monoxide warning light.


It’s a fairly basic fit, but comes with night lights for night flying in the UK. And as well as a Skyforce II GPS, of course it has the ubiquitous Skyforce IIIC GPS sat-nav.


The 12 year inspection was done in March this year. To be clear, this is different from the 12 year overhaul. As you probably know, the Robinson helicopter has a life of 12 years or 2,200 hours, whichever comes first. The 12 year inspection allows the helicopter to fly for another 12 years, or until the 2,200 hours have been flown. With the inspection, the smaller parts get changed and all the engineering checks that Robinson require are done, but only the parts that fail the checks are replaced.


198 comes with NEW main rotor blades, so this really is a buy and fly away aircraft.


What all this means to a pilot is that you’ve got a R44 Astro which now has almost 12 years in which to fly 1,350 hours. For a private pilot this is more than enough, and in my opinion 198 represents the cheapest and best value way to get into R44 flying.


198 comes with ground handling wheels and a heli tow cart and is the perfect machine for a private pilot who doesn’t want to tie up a lot of money in an aircraft that he (or she) won’t use that much. OK, it isn’t new, and it isn’t the latest Raven II, but it’s a LOT less than the 350,000 Euros plus VAT that these types of R44s cost!!

And 198 is a VAT PAID aircraft which is a great thing for a private pilot.


Currently 198 is based in the north of England, and the nearest international airports are Leeds and Manchester. If you want to come to view we’ll be delighted to collect you from these airports, or even elsewhere if it helps you.

Posted: Feb 18, 2012