US Federal Aviation Administration officials on 25 October presented helicopter industry icon Frank Robinson with the completed type certificate for the company's first turbine helicopter, the R66. In development since 2001, the programme began in earnest in 2005 when Robinson, now retired, reached an agreement with Rolls-Royce to develop a new turboshaft engine - the RR300 - for the five-place helicopter. Deliveries are scheduled to begin in November, though Robinson has already sent the first production helicopter, S/N 0004, to Helistream, a long-time Robinson dealer in California.
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Frank Robinson front centre with R66 project manager Kurt Robinson, left |
Source: Flight International
