HeliExpo 2007

Georgina Hunter-Jones

The largest helicopter show revealed that growth can sometimes be too much for the manufacturers!

Finally, it happened.  At this year’s HAI HeliExpo, Frank Robinson, founder of Robinson Helicopters, instead of dancing around the subject of a possible new helicopter, admitted he was building (has in fact built, test flights are already taking place so HL was told) a Robinson R66, five  seat helicopter based on the model of the R44 and using a new Rolls Royce RR300 turboshaft engine. I’m surprised the press conference didn’t erupt in cheers this has been so long in the making; but then Frank knows how to tease and then stimulate his audience’s interest.

In spite of close questioning from the floor Frank would only say (and had to repeat quite a few times) that the helicopter will have three people in the back, will be wider than the R44 and will have a rotor mast eight inches more or less higher than than the piston model. He explained...