Electric helicopter tug for the Robinson R22

The R22 has the same ground-handling problem as the larger Robinson skid helicopters, on a smaller airframe. It does not have wheels. Moving it across a hangar or out to a pad with ground-handling wheels still means lifting the skids and usually finding another person. For a training helicopter that moves several times a day, that routine costs more time than the flight sometimes does. An electric helicopter tug for the Robinson R22 is worth discussing when one person can slide a machine under the skid and tow.

The tug published for that class is DISCOVERY H. The product page names the Robinson R44 and states the limit in one sentence: skid-equipped light helicopters such as the R44, up to 2,500 kg. The R22 is a smaller skid-equipped Robinson in that same light class. It is not given a separate rating, and this page does not invent a kilogram figure for the helicopter. The fit we can describe is the one already published: skid gear, light helicopter, within 2,500 kg. Tell us the variant and we will confirm it before you order. That confirmation line is already on the DISCOVERY H FAQ.

The machine is 11 cm tall, so it slides under the skid rather than lifting the helicopter onto a set of wheels first. A telescopic attachment arm takes hold. The 48 V, 900 W drive lifts and tows up to 2,500 kg at up to 5 km/h. One person walks it from hangar to pad on grass or asphalt. There is a manual winch in the handle, a fiberglass hull, and a published weight of 95 kg. Dimensions are 210 × 83 × 11 cm. Maximum load on the ramp is 500 kg. None of those figures change because the helicopter is an R22 rather than the R44 named in the brochure. They are the tug's figures.

What you should not expect is a claim that we have run a specific R22 test and published the result. We have not added a test, a customer story, or a model-by-model approval list. The honest statement is the class statement: if your R22 is a skid-equipped light helicopter inside the 2,500 kg rating, DISCOVERY H is the current machine to confirm. If something about the skid shoes, the floats, or a particular variant sits outside that description, the quote is where we say so.

HELI PAD and HELI LIFT do not change that. Both are coming soon. HELI PAD is a platform concept for small and mid-size skid helicopters, with specifications still unpublished. HELI LIFT is a scissor platform on mecanum wheels, still a concept, for placing a helicopter in a tight hangar in any direction. Neither is the tug you can plan a daily R22 movement around today. DISCOVERY H is.

Training schools that also fly an R44 can read the R44 guide for the named example and use this page for the lighter ship. The quote is one form either way. Request a quote and name the R22 variant, the surface, and whether ground-handling wheels are what you are trying to stop using.