CEA/ Robin DR300 & DR400 series
Part one Prototypes & c/n 301-600

BACKGROUND

Built at Dijon. CEA became Avions Pierre Robin in 1969. APR became an autonomous part of the Apex group in 1988.

APR became Constructions Aeronautiques de Bourgogne (CAB) in Jan 2002, but continued to use Robin as a trade-mark. CAB is shown on the plates as the builder.

Following financial problems, Finch Aircraft was formed Mar 2010 and planned to resume production from 2011 at Dijon but only one DR400, c/n 2650, is registered as built by Finch. Robin New Aircraft formed Jun 2011. Restarted manufacture end of 2011. See http://www.robin-aircraft.com/

DR300 family - Nose-wheel development of DR221 - various engines & fuel tank capacities.
DR400 family - Upgrade of DR300 from 1972 including forward-sliding canopy.

A change was made from four to six cabin side-windows from c/n 1774 in Jan 1988. This then applied to all models except the DR400/100 Cadet which continued with four windows until the model ceased after c/n 2101 in Feb 1992.

The following info is mainly from Simpson's and Masse's books. The dates should be regarded as approximate- some of them relate to the marketing "model year", i.e starting in the latter part of the previous year. Most model names are unique to a specific engine variant, but "Major" was used on the 140 up to 1980 and then on the 160, also Dauphin was used after 1980 suffixed 80 then 2+2 on the 400/120, and from 1987 simultaneously suffixed 4 on the 400/140B.

DR300/108 & 400/100 = 2+2 then Cadet from 1987 ceased 1992 - 108 hp Lycoming O-235-A3A

DR315 & 300/120+125 & 400/120+125 = Petit Prince then Dauphin 80 from 1980 then Dauphin 2+2 from 1995 - 115/120/125 hp Lycoming O-235-L2A

DR330 = Acrobat - 130 hp Continental O-240 (reworked with +9/-4.5G stress limits) [one prototype only s/n 470. This design was then the basis of the /180R Remorqueur]

DR340 & 300/140 & 400/140 = Major (& Earl in UK 1972-75) . - 150 hp Lycoming O-320-E2A (low compression). change to 400/140B in 1977 With 160 hp Lycoming O-320-D2A (high compression). None built 1980-87. Restart as 400/140B Dauphin 4 from 1987. Since 2005 all aircraft initially certified and registered as 140B have then been converted to Thielert/Continental 135 cdi or 155 cdi diesels.

DR360 & 400/160 = Chevalier (& Knight in UK 1972-75) then Major from 1980 - 160 hp Lycoming O-320-D2A (high compression)

DR380 = Prince - 180 hp Lycoming O-360-A3A to 1972

DR400/180 = Regent - 180 hp Lycoming O-360-A3A from 1972

DR300/180R & 400/180R = Remorqueur (Glider tug) - 180 hp Lycoming O-360-A3A. Based on the DR330 aerobatic airframe.
(Note that a few standard aircraft have been retrofitted with towing hooks and relabelled as Remos, but do not have the strengthened wings)

DR400/180RP = Remo 212 - Remorqueur with 212 hp Porsche PFM3200 engine

DR400/180S = Remorqueur with German/Swiss silencing mods

DR400/200R = Remorqueur/Remo 200- 200 hp Lycoming IO360-A1B6

DR300/235R & DR400/235R = Remorqueur - conv to 235 hp Lycoming

DR400/500 = President from 1998 - official certificated designation of model marketed as DR500 - see separate listing.

Diesel Engine Variants

DR400/135cdi = 135 hp Thielert Centurion 1.7 litre then Thielert TAE-125-02 2.0 litre diesel engine from 2003. Three-bladed prop & CSU

DR400/155cdi = 155 hp Thielert TAE-125-02s 2.0 litre supercharged diesel engine from 2010. Three-bladed prop & CSU

The diesel-engined aircraft were built, test flown, certified and registered as /140B, then converted to Thielert Centurion using Thielert's German Supplementary Type Certificate. Initially they were flown to Germany for conversion, then the conversion was done at Dijon. Not known if this continues or whether they are now simply built with the diesel engines. Thielert ceased trading in April 2008 but revived in 2010.. They was taken over by Continental in 2013, and the engines are now named as Continental Diesel, see http://www.continentaldiesel.com/

All petrol-engined variants were built with two-bladed propellors, while the diesel variants have three-bladed props with CSU. Several Remorqueurs have been retrospectively modified with three or four bladed propellors.

With the switch to Constructions Aeronautiques de Bourgogne (CAB) as the official name of the manufacturer, Robin continued to be used as a trade-mark. The model designations were changed from 5/02, though these were just new marketing titles. The established type-certificate designations of DR400/120 etc, continued to be used as the official registered types: They were announced as follows, though their actual use is uncertain.
DR420 Dauphin 2+2
DR440 Dauphin 4
DR460 Major
DR480 Regent
DR500 President

The upgraded DR401 family was launched at the Friedrichshafen show in April 2014. Several changes including 10 cm wider cockpit, ply-topped wings, changes to seating, instrumentation, controls etc. They have continued to use the existing DR400 type-certificate designations on official paperwork. The marketing designations of the 2014 model range were announced as follows, though these have not necessarily been marked on aircraft:-

DR401/120A Ecole = 118hp hp Lycoming O-235-L2A
DR401/160A Ecole = 160 hp Lycoming O-320-D2A
DR401/160LR Long-Range = 160 hp Lycoming O-320-D2A extra tanks
DR401/180LR Long-Range = 180 hp Lycoming O-360-A3A (CSU option)
DR401/200Ai Country = 200 hp Lycoming IO360-A1B6 (CSU)
DR401/135CDI = 135 hp Continental Diesel 2.0 diesel engine (CSU 3-blade prop)
DR401/155CDI = 155 hp Continental Diesel 2.0s diesel engine (CSU 3-blade prop)
DR401/180R = Remorqueur (Glider tug) - 180 hp Lycoming O-360-A3A (CSU option)
DR401/200Ri = Remorqueur (Glider tug) - 200 hp Lycoming IO360-A1B6 (CSU)
DR401/155RCDi = Remorqueur (Glider tug) - 155 hp Continental Diesel 2.0s diesel engine (CSU 3-blade prop)

DR401/100 Lite, is a reduced weight two-seater with 118 hp Lycoming O-235-L2A engine as a club trainer, It was introduced at the Friedrichshafen show in April 2017. (prototype s/n 2703). The model designation was soon changed to DR401/120 Lite.

DR401/912 is a club trainer with Rotax 912iS engine introduced in December 2022.

DR401/Turbine is a prototype registered F-WOOD. It has a Turbotech TP-R90 turbo-prop engine currently rated at 130 hp, but being upgraded to 160 hp. See
https://www.turbotech-aero.com/solutions/
It was exhibited at the April 2023 Friedrichshafen show. See interview on:
https://flyer.co.uk/flyertv/aero-2023-robin-aircraft-and-the-turbine-dr401/

The DR401 family are officially registered using the type-approved DR400 designations. The Diesel engine variants continue to be registered in France as DR400/140B and changed to 135CDI or 155CDI using the Continental Diesel (ex Thielert) STC. It is notable that the140B engine option itself is not now offered for sale, and all of the new aircraft since 2005 certificated as 140B have then been converted to diesel. The changes are often not followed through on many official registers, though the Swiss BASL official register shows DR400/140B as the model and DR401/155CDI as the Marketing designation.

Standard fuel tank capacity was about 110-115 litres up to the 140 models.
The 160 and 180 (except the 180R) also had extra triangular wing-root fuel tanks, originally of 40L capacity and later 80L.
From the 140 models upwards, there is an option of an extra 50L auxiliary fuselage fuel tank.

The production serial number sequence starts from 301. Previously the DR250 and DR253 models ran from 1 to 200. It then continues in sequence for the DR300, DR400 and DR401 variants. The DR400/500, marketed as the DR500 President, has a separate sequence.

Factory line numbers (No. Fabrique) were introduced in late 1971. These were used to identify aircraft under construction. The serial numbers (No. Serie) were allocated at a late stage of manufacture and were often not in sequence with the factory numbers. These serial numbers are used as the official construction numbers for registration purposes. The Factory numbers have been added from Robin factory records with grateful thanks to Joel Thomas.

Continue to Robin DR300/400 part 2
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