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.

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, but "Major" was used on the 140 hp up to 1980 and then on the 160 hp.

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 ( +9/-4.5G stress limits) [one prototype only - but this design was then basis of the /180R Remorqueur]

DR340 & 300/140 & 400/140 = Major (& Earl in UK 1972-75) [none built 1980-87] then 400/140B Dauphin 4 from 1987 - 140 hp Lycoming O-320-E2A

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

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.

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

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

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

DR300/235 = 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 are built and certified as /140B then converted to Thielert Centurion using Thielert's German STC.. Thielert ceased trading in April 2008 but revived in 2010.. Thielert 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:-
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 are:-

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

Again, these are officially registered as model DR400, and the Diesel engine variants continue to be registered 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, even though the majority of the production is certificated as such and then converted to diesel! The changes are often not followed through on 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) 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 fuel tank.

The production serial number sequence starts from 301, following on from the DR253 model. It then continues in sequence for the DR300, DR400 and DR401 variants. The DR400/500, marketed as the DR500, 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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