At a press conference at this year’s Helicopter Association International (HAI) Convention in Houston, Robinson Helicopter CEO Frank Robinson gave a progress report on the company’s eagerly awaited R66 turbine helicopter, and the news is good. The program is on track for certification — in fact, there’s a chance it will be approved by the time this story goes to press.
The R66, you might remember, is a single-turbine-engine-powered five-seat helicopter that, while not an offshoot of the company’s immensely popular R44 four-seat piston single, is at least very reminiscent of it. The R66 is powered by the newly developed Rolls-Royce RR300, which puts out 270 hp for takeoff and 225 continuously up into the teens. In addition to its quiet turbine whine, the powerplant is very light, just 176 pounds. With that kind of power and light weight, the R66 could do things the R44 never could, including hover in and out of ground effect at very great heights, conservatively as high as 10,000 feet, though Frank Robinson hints that the actual figure is greater than that. It also has room for five — or for more gadgets for law enforcement and electronic news-gathering missions – and it has a sizable baggage compartment too, something Frank Robinson takes some pride in.
