A Surprise Visitor Today

As I was sitting at my desk today, I heard the distinctive sound of a helicopter buzzing the office.  I didn't think anything of it because I thought I missed it.  Then I heard the sound again and I figured that it was circling the area.

 So I grabbed my camera and headed outside.  Sure enough, this helicopter was circling the area.  I couldn't really tell it's purpose at the time but after looking at the pictures, I got a better idea.

 The helicopter itself is a Robinson R44 which is produced by the Robinson Helicopter Company out of Torrance, CA.  I've seen these helicopters before and I'm pretty sure I've posted pictures of one before.  The company itself was founded in 1973 by Frank Robinson who was a former employee of Bell Helicopter and Hughes Helicopter.  His first helicopter was the R22 which had it's first flight in 1975 and delivery in 1979.   Because of it's fairly low cost, it is used as a trainer around the world.

 This particular helicopter was being used to photograph something in the area.

The R44 was designed as a four seat version of the R22.  It is powered by a 545 horsepower engine which gives it a top speed of 130 knots.  It can carry 748 pounds of cargo.  The first flight was in 1990 and delivery in 1993.  Since that time, 5610 have been produced and they have been sold around the world.  I'll have to say it is a pretty cool helicotper.