Talk About A Tough Act To Follow... Kurt Robinson Leads Robinson Into The Future

Frank Robinson, founder of Robinson Helicopter Company (RHC), officially announced on August 10, 2010 that he has resigned as President and Chairman of the Board. We all knew the announcement was coming... but to those of us at ANN who have been privileged to call him a friend, we covered Frank Robinson's retirement announcement with bittersweet feelings.

There is NO DOUBT that a large part of today's helicopter industry would simply not exist without the genius and inspiration of Frank Robinson, but we are pleased to see his legacy passed to such capable and proper hands -- his son Kurt Robinson.

Kurt Robinson, who started at the Company in 1987, stated that "while there is no one person that can replace Frank, we have a very strong team of managers that have been with the Company for more than 20 years. We are looking forward to a smooth transition and an exciting future."

Kurt has been a part of RHC for over two decades and has obviously been at Frank's side pretty much all his life... so the fact that he was chosen to take on the leadership role from his Dad assures a dedicated community that the direction of Robinson Heli remains both in keeping with Frank's vision as well as being under the leadership of a qualified, impassioned expert.  

ANN and Aero-TV sat down with Kurt after our test flights of the R66 Turbine helicopter to get a feel for how Kurt is taking on the mantle of leadership and to chat about the future of a company that changed the rotorcraft industry forever.

FMI: www.robinsonheli.com, www.aero-tv.net, www.youtube.com/aerotvnetwork, http://twitter.com/AeroNews