Robinson R66

The Robinson R66 is a five-seat turbine powered helicopter designed and built by the Robinson Helicopter Company (RHC). The R66 is slightly faster and smoother than the Robinson R44 . It is also the first Robinson Helicopter that features a separate cargo compartment. The Rolls-Royce RR300 turboshaft powers the new helicopter. The R66 received both type and production certificates from the FAA on October 25, 2010. Deliveries started November of 2010.

Development

Announced in 2007, the R66 was designed to be the company's first turbine powered product and to extend their product range to compete with the larger Bell and Eurocopter helicopters. Most of the R66 design is based on the earlier piston engine R44 but a suitable turboshaft engine did not exist for the R66 so Rolls-Royce developed a new model of engine - the RR300 .

It was announced in June 2009 that it has taken longer for the company to get the helicopter ready for certification than had been expected. Certification and first deliveries was expected in early 2010. The Robinson R66 was awarded its type certification on 25 October 2010 during a ceremony held at the Robinson headquarters in Torrance, CA.

In June 2009, Robinson announced that a second R66 had joined the flight test program. The company also advised it was ready to turn the new model over to the FAA so it could begin certification flight testing. By June 2009 Robinson pilots had put more than seventy hours on the first R66, including around twenty hours with the certified engine.

The R66, scheduled to go into preliminary production in 2010 and into full production in 2011 , will coexist with the two place R22 and the four seat R44, both of which Robinson will continue to produce after R66 deliveries increase. Robinson Helicopter Company started accepting R66 orders in February 2010.

Design

The R66 is a single engined helicopter with a two bladed main rotor and two bladed tail rotor and a skid landing gear. The R66 is constructed from advanced composites, aluminum alloy sheet and chromoly steel. Like the R44 the R66 has electromechanical instruments rather than the more modern glass cockpit .

The helicopter is powered by a Rolls-Royce RR300 turboshaft which was developed specifically for the R66. The RR300 is more compact and lighter than the Lycoming O-540 six cylinder piston engine that powers the R44. The RR300 features a simplified single-stage centrifugal compressor that, along with a lower acquisition cost, is expected to result in lower maintenance costs.