AVIONS ROBIN STARTED manufacturing an earlier version of this aeroplane as long ago as 1978. Production ceased in 1985, after only seven years. However, it was restarted in 1994--a fortunate reprieve, because this latest development, the Robin Alpha 160i occupies a very useful niche.
The manufacturer (now restyled Robin Aviation) has incorporated many detail improvements in the new model--better canopy seal, corrosion-proofing, electrics and brake hydraulics--but it is effectively the same aircraft as first appeared in the seventies. However, one substantial difference is that there is now a fuel-injected version with a full Christen oil system, the Alpha 160i, providing fuel and oil in all attitudes including negative and zero g. It is this aeroplane that is the subject of the flight test.
Despite the age of the design, the Alpha 160i is a significant aeroplane. Robin claims, with some justification, that it is the only certificated, basic trainer fully cleared for aerobatics that is currently in production.
The Alpha 160i merits serious consideration by flying schools because it has the potential to provide a route for newcomers to aviation to learn 'pure' flying i.e. stick and rudder skills, beyond the basics required for a PPL. The aircraft's handling is that of a learn-to-fly trainer and it is designed to be used in this role. Alternatively, newly-qualified PPLs can transfer to the Alpha 160i to develop their flying ability in a familiar cockpit environment. Control forces, landing procedures and cockpit layout are similar to a Cessna 152, Alpha 2120 (Robin's 120 hp non-aerobatic trainer with substantially the same airframe as the 160i), Piper Cherokee or Tomahawk.
For private owners the Alpha 160i offers a rare combination. It is a comfortable, almost luxurious tourer, albeit with a slightly limited range and only two seats. The handling, as you would expect for an ab initio trainer, is very relaxed, and there is a substantial safety margin, yet the aeroplane will perform a wide range of aerobatic figures.
To fly the updated and injected Alpha 160i, I went to Goodwood Aerodrome, the base of Mistral Aviation, the UK agent for Robin Aviation. John Kistner, the managing director of Mistral, has a separate business selling chemicals, but is now equally involved with the distributorship of Robin aircraft. How he came to be representing these aircraft makes an interesting story.
John owned an early R 2000-series aeroplane in the eighties and was so delighted with it that he contacted other British owners and started an owners' club. When Robin's new owners decided to restart production, they telephoned John, as the club president, to ask him to recommend a British agent. Together with his partner David Smithells, John rapidly formed Mistral Aviation and offered to take on the distribution. Robin accepted.
Mistral sells the whole Robin range, wood and metal, and now has its own flying club, Vectair, which teaches the AOPA aerobatics course in the Alpha 160i. I intended to evaluate it in a more demanding environment by flying it through a contest sequence.
The Alpha 160i is a low-wing, nosewheel aircraft of conventional riveted aluminium. The only composites are the engine cowlings and wheel spats, and there isn't so much as a square centimetre of Dacron. My first impressions were pronounced dihedral (just over 6°), a relatively short-span (27ft 4in) and long-chord wing, and a lot of vertical tail area.
The fin is supplemented by a strake below the fuselage. Other commentators have described this as an ugly bolt-on, but I rather like it.
One mark of a classic aeroplane is that it should be instantly recognisable. The strake not only provides the Alpha 160i with an unmistakable profile, but it also gives the aeroplane a purposeful and racy appearance--just as the spoiler does a Porsche. The sports-car look is accentuated by some beautiful<