The first version was produced as the R22, followed by the R22 HP, R22 Alpha, R22 Beta, and R22 Beta II. The doors may be removed for flight, as is often done for photographic flights, interior cooling in high temperatures, or a 10.4 lb weight saving. It has an enclosed cabin with side-by-side seating for a pilot and passenger. The tailcone and vertical and horizontal stabilizers are aluminum.
The forward fuselage is made of fiberglass and aluminum with a Plexiglas canopy. The basic structure is welded chromoly steel tubing. The Mariner version, no longer manufactured, provided floats. The normal production variant has skid landing gear. The tail rotor has only a teetering hinge. The main rotor has a teetering hinge and two coning hinges. The R22 is a light, two-place, single reciprocating-engined helicopter with a semi-rigid two-bladed main rotor and a two-bladed tail rotor. Tip weights were added to the R22 to increase rotor inertia, but the small rotor limits weight. Due to the specific training required by the low inertia rotor system and a teetering main rotor, operation of the Robinson R22 or R44 in the US requires a special endorsement by a certified flight instructor. Thus its flight controls very sensitive and require a light touch to avoid over-correction, and students who master an R22 are usually well prepared to transition to heavier helicopters. The R22 has a very low inertia rotor system and the control inputs are operated directly by push rods with no hydraulic assistance.
ĭue to relatively low acquisition and operating costs, the R22 has been popular as a primary rotorcraft trainer around the world and as a livestock management tool on large ranches in North America and cattle stations in Australia. Flight testing and certification was performed in the late 1970s by test pilot Joseph John "Tym" Tymczyszyn and the R22 received FAA certification in March 1979. The majority of flight testing was performed at Zamperini Field in Torrance, California.