For Robinson Helicopter, this will be a bittersweet year. While the Torrance, California-based OEM celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2023, it will do so without the man who founded the company in 1973, as Frank Robinson, the legendary patriarch of the family-owned business, passed away this past November at the age of 92.
Over the past year, the manufacturer increased its production of helicopters, delivering 258 compared with 244 in 2021. “That was a good thing, but it was sure a lot of work to get there,” said company president Kurt Robinson, noting that lingering post-Covid supply chain constraints served to limit the company’s output. While the airframer has worked to become as self-sufficient as possible at its 600,000-sq ft-production and assembly facility at Torrance’s Zamperini Field, manufacturing everything from wiring harnesses to rotor blades, Robinson expressed frustration about the wait for some of the longer lead-time components not made in-house, such as bearings.
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