Robin DR-380 Prince

Aircraft Information
> Aircraft Make: Robin. Model: DR-380. Nickname: Prince
> Aircraft Mil Civ Description: Airplane SE Piston
> FAA Category and Class: Airplane SE Land
> Engine Description: Single engine

Aircraft Experience
> As of: 11/6/2024
> Number of Hours Flown: 1.2
> Number of Times Flown: 1
> Other Aircraft Models Associated: none

First Flown Information
> Sequence First Flown: 190
> Date First Flown: 9/11/2022
> Location First Flown: Saint Girons, France
> Who and/or What Organization First Flown With: Matthieu Olivier, ATR Test Pilot

Recollections: The Robin DR380 “Prince” is a common private airplane in France.  I had the chance to fly one during an FAA trip to France, to attend a quarterly meeting of the Flight Test Harmonization Working Group (FTHWG), of which I was a member and topic leader.  This group–charged with working on difficult flight test technical topics (ones that had caused “disharmony”)–was made up of 25-30 members.  Only a few of them were Test Pilots and it was my pleasure to get to fly the Robin with one of those test pilots, Matthieu Olivier of ATR.  Moreover, our flight was in formation on the wing of Airbus test pilot Philippe Castaigns.  Both of these gents are literally world famous test pilots and getting to fly formation in light airplanes with them was an unexpected treat.  My wife Anne was with me as well, which gave her some added appreciation for my job. Also in the lead airplane was John Cinnamon, the ALPA rep to the FTHWG and a UAL Captain.

We tookoff from Saint Girons, France (where we’d been flying gliders as part of a voluntary, informal event dubbed “jet lag therapy”) and returned to Toulouse (where the Robin was kept, near Airbus headquarters).  But, we didn’t go straight back, we went via the medieval town of Carcassone for a flyby and then a low pass at the local airport.  The picture shows me on the wing over the medieval city.  At that point, I think I was idle power and, with no speedbrakes, starting to advance slowly ahead on lead…moments later I fixed the problem by crossing under to Philippe’s right side.  It’s a testament to the Robin’s handling qualities (and to Matthieu’s patience) that the flying–first time in the airplane–was as comfortable as it was during this high-gain task of flying formation.