Robinson Helicopter Co, founded by the late Frank Robinson, and led more recently by his son Kurt, has a new President/CEO.

The California based OEM is now led by David Smith, a 18 year veteran of Textron with most of his time spent in Bell, along with nearly five years at sister company TRU Simulation, latterly as Chief Executive.  Counting Textron as a single employer, Robinson is just his second job since leaving Massachusetts Institute of Technology with a BS in Aeronautics and Astronautics in 2005.

In a recent interview with HeliHub.com, Kurt and David explained the ethos of the transition was around ensuring the company is in good hands, with the expectation of the new leader being in place in the long-term. As a comparison, Kurt is now retiring from full-time working at the age of 66 after working in the company for 40 years, and will retain a place on the Board. With a smile, he pointed out to us that Frank was only in the company for 37 years.  It also seems timely to us that he should hand over when his age matches the R66 product name.

Smith has actually been working at Robinson for almost 12 months – a long transition. For many months his LinkedIn profile gave the title “Aerospace Executive at Robinson Helicopter”, and more recently “Operations at Robinson Helicopter”. Realistically it has been “CEO in waiting”, although some insiders have suggested to us that he picked up most of the responsibilities from Kurt at the start of 2024. His time at Bell included responsibility for all design, analysis, testing and certification efforts on the Bell 505, a direct challenger to the Robinson R66. On his return to Bell from TRU in September 2020, his role as VP of Operations Modernization and General Manager included the task of growing and developing all operations and efforts related to Bell’s next generation of manufacturing.

Smith is committed to maintaining Robinson’s reputation for safety and reliability and building on the company’s legacy of innovation and growth. With his experience and fresh perspective, he plans to continue the culture of excellence and collaboration, driving the company forward with new product development initiatives, enhanced business systems, and expanded manufacturing capabilities.

One of Smith’s first tasks at the production plant in Torrance has been to improve manufacturing processes, focused mainly on raising the bar even further on employee safety. He also expects to announce further product improvements on both the R44 and R66 products will be in the near future.

“Leading Robinson Helicopter Company is an extraordinary privilege. With a 50-year legacy of success, I am honored to lead the company into the next 50 years of vertical flight,” said Smith. “I look forward to working with the more than 400 service centers and dealers and the more than 1100 employees of RHC as we pursue new products, markets, partnerships, and technologies.”

It is also clear that Smith is really ramping up Sales and Marketing at Robinson. The appointment of Robyn Eagles announced in December was more strategic than replacing Kurt’s sister Terry Hane, who retired as Director of Sales & Marketing not long after Heli-Expo 2023 – a move quietly reported in the Robinson Spring 2023 newsletter rather than in a press release. Eagles’ title of Head of Global Marketing & Communications appears to encompass more than Terry’s last role in the company. A new push on video and still images will be seen in the coming months (with a few pre-Anaheim hints on social media). Marketing has historically been a low priority at Robinson, due to the company founder being so convince by their product engineering that the helicopters should “sell themselves”. (as an aside, the same situation exists at Guimbal).  Marketing as a craft has developed exponentially in the last two decades – particularly through social media – and we expect to have many more press releases, case studies and other collateral being distributed than we have ever seen before along with a big push on the social channels.

Our interview also looked at the area of “Advanced Technologies”, and how Robinson is both geared up now and also looking ahead to this area. It would appear that future announcements from Robinson can be expected regarding the company’s relationship with Phenix Solutions, Skyryse and Rotor Technologies.

We wish David Smith a long and productive tenure at Robinson Helicopter Company.

David Smith and Kurt Robinson