Electric helicopter tug for the Robinson R44

An R44 on skids does not roll. Every hangar move with ground-handling wheels is a lift, a set of wheels, and usually more than one person, and then the same routine in reverse when the helicopter comes home. That is a lot of handling for a flight that might only need the aircraft on the pad. An electric helicopter tug for the Robinson R44 is meant to replace that crew-and-wheels sequence with one operator and a machine that goes under the skid.

DISCOVERY H is the electric helicopter tug published for skid-equipped light helicopters such as the Robinson R44. The rating is 2,500 kg. At 11 cm tall it slides straight under the skid. A telescopic attachment arm takes hold and lifts. The drive is 48 V and 900 W, and it tows at up to 5 km/h. One person handles the move from hangar to pad, on grass or asphalt, without ground-handling wheels and without extra hands. The hull is fiberglass. A manual winch is integrated into the handle. The tug weighs 95 kg, and the published dimensions are 210 × 83 × 11 cm. Maximum load on the ramp is 500 kg.

The pace is a controlled walk, not a ramp sprint. The uses written for this tug are the ordinary ones: out to the pad before a flight, back inside afterwards, or a reposition for a wash or for maintenance. Because it is electric, it is specified as quiet enough to use in a closed hangar. You are not jacking the skids by hand and you are not asking two other people to heave the helicopter across the apron.

A smaller skid helicopter in the same light class, such as the Robinson R22, is discussed on its own page. The R44 is the type the product actually names. We still ask you to confirm the variant. The FAQ on the product page already says: tell us your type and we will confirm the fit. That sentence stays in force here. We are not publishing a new load test, and we are not adding helicopters the 2,500 kg skid description does not cover.

HELI PAD and HELI LIFT are not alternatives you can order for an R44 today. HELI PAD is an electric platform for small and mid-size skid helicopters, in development, with no specifications published yet. HELI LIFT is a scissor-lift concept on mecanum wheels, also in development, for moving a helicopter in any direction inside a tight hangar. Both stay marked coming soon. The machine that slides under an R44 skid and tows it now is DISCOVERY H.

If the R44 shares a hangar with an airplane, the airplane tugs are a separate range. DISCOVERY is the piston-single tug, GRAVITY is the light-jet and turboprop tug. Neither replaces a skid tug. Request a quote for the R44 and include whether you are on grass, asphalt, or both.