The Robinson R66 is a

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attribu ...

designed and built by Robinson Helicopter Company. It has five seats, a separate cargo compartment and is powered by a

Rolls-Royce RR300 The Rolls-Royce RR300 is a turbine aircraft engine (turboshaft/turboprop) developed for the light helicopter/general aviation market. Rated at up to 300 shp (224 kW) at take-off power, the RR300 is a rebadged and downrated variant of the ...

turboshaft A turboshaft engine is a form of gas turbine that is optimized to produce shaftpower rather than jet thrust. In concept, turboshaft engines are very similar to turbojets, with additional turbine expansion to extract heat energy from the exhaust ...

engine. The R66 is slightly faster and smoother than the

Robinson R44 The Robinson R44 is a four-seat light helicopter produced by Robinson Helicopter Company since 1992. Based on the company's two-seat Robinson R22, the R44 features hydraulically assisted flight controls. It was first flown on 31 March 1990 a ...

from which it is derived. The R66 received both type and production certificates from the U.S.

Federal Aviation Administration The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic ...

(FAA) on October 25, 2010.

Development

Announced in 2007, the R66 was designed to be the company's first turbine-powered product and to extend its product range to compete with larger helicopters manufactured by

Bell Helicopter Bell Textron Inc. is an American aerospace manufacturer headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas. A subsidiary of Textron, Bell manufactures military rotorcraft at facilities in Fort Worth, and Amarillo, Texas, as well as commercial helicopters in M ...

and

Eurocopter Airbus Helicopters SAS (formerly Eurocopter Group) is the helicopter manufacturing division of Airbus. It is the largest in the industry in terms of revenues and turbine helicopter deliveries. Its head office is located at Marseille Provence A ...

. Most of the R66 design is based on the earlier piston-engine R44. Robinson started taking orders for the R66 in February, 2010. It went into preliminary production in 2010, and full production in 2011. The existing two-seat R22 and four-seat R44 continued in production. A four-seat police version of the R66 has entered production with a

forward looking infrared Forward-looking infrared (FLIR) cameras, typically used on military and civilian aircraft, use a thermographic camera that senses infrared radiation. The sensors installed in forward-looking infrared cameras, as well as those of other therma ...

(FLIR) camera system, searchlight, and external

public address A public address system (or PA system) is an electronic system comprising microphones, amplifiers, loudspeakers, and related equipment. It increases the apparent volume (loudness) of a human voice, musical instrument, or other acoustic sound sou ...

(PA) system as standard equipment. In 2012, Robinson delivered 191 R66s while Robinson's competitors in the light single turbine sector delivered only 40 units between them. About 70 percent of the R66 production is exported. In 2014, the production rate slowed to about two R66s per week for a total of 101 for the year. In 2015, Robinson produced three R66s per week. RHC has contracted with Rolls-Royce to supply 100 RR300 turbines per year for 10 years. Russia certified the R66 in March 2013, while Canada certified it in June 2013. European

EASA The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) is an agency of the European Union (EU) with responsibility for civil aviation safety. It carries out certification, regulation and standardisation and also performs investigation and monito ...

and Chinese

CAAC The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC; ) is the Chinese civil aviation authority under the Ministry of Transport. It oversees civil aviation and investigates aviation accidents and incidents. As the aviation authority responsible fo ...

certifications were granted in the second quarter of 2014. The R66 Turbine Marine with pop-out floats was FAA certified in November 2014. A journalist pilot described ground landing with them as "better than the standard R66". Retrofit floats are not available for the standard R66. A cargo hook was approved in the EU and the United States in 2015. In December 2015 Robinson announced it had sold 700 R66s. On July 13, 2017, Robinson announced certification of the R66 Turbine Newscopter (R66 ENG). On 25 January 2017 Robinson announced that it had delivered its 12,000th aircraft, an R66 to a charter and tour operator, Fly Karoo Air Services. On 17 July 2017, Robinson introduced the TB17 lithium-ion phosphate battery as optional equipment. The battery weighs , which is lighter than the previous standard and high capacity batteries. The company delivered the 1,000th R66 in August 2020.

Design

The R66 is a single-engined helicopter with two-bladed main and tail rotors, and a fixed skid landing gear. The R66 is constructed from advanced composites, aluminum alloy (sheet), and

chromoly 41xx steel is a family of SAE steel grades, as specified by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE). Alloying elements include chromium and molybdenum, and as a result these materials are often informally referred to as chromoly steel (common ...

steel. Like the R44, the R66 has both electromechanical instruments and optional digital

glass cockpit A glass cockpit is an aircraft cockpit that features electronic (digital) flight instrument displays, typically large LCD screens, rather than the traditional style of analog dials and gauges. While a traditional cockpit relies on numerous ...

. The R66 is the first Robinson helicopter with a cargo hold; the hold carries up to . Robbo R66

The RR300 engine is more compact and lighter than the Lycoming O-540 six-cylinder piston engine that powers the R44—the R66 has a lower empty weight than the R44. The RR300 has a simplified single-stage

centrifugal compressor Centrifugal compressors, sometimes called impeller compressors or radial compressors, are a sub-class of dynamic axisymmetric work-absorbing turbomachinery. They achieve pressure rise by adding energy to the continuous flow of fluid through t ...

which makes it less expensive and is expected to result in lower maintenance costs. The turbine burns Jet-A fuel at a rate of per hour, compared to of

avgas Avgas (aviation gasoline, also known as aviation spirit in the UK) is an aviation fuel used in aircraft with spark-ignited internal combustion engines. ''Avgas'' is distinguished from conventional gasoline (petrol) used in motor vehicles, ...

per hour for the O-540. At Heli Expo 2018, Robinson introduced a cargo hook as an optional equipment. This modification increases the aircraft's maximum gross weight from . It is currently available in two variants.

Operators

The aircraft is operated by law enforcement, companies and private individuals. ; * National Disaster Management Authority ; * Nigerian Air Force

Specifications

References

External links