Party at Frank’s House

Wednesday, March 04, 2009 - Guy R. Maher, Vertical Magazine

Frank Robinson knows how to throw
a party. Guy Maher Photo.
In last year's Heli-Expo report, I predicted that the Robinson R66, certified or not, would be one of the stars of this year's Heli-Expo. Admittedly, it wasn't much of a stretch, but Robinson Helicopter founder Frank Robinson didn't make a liar out of me.

If there is one thing the helicopter industry should know by now, it's that Robinson Helicopter Company runs one way: Frank's way. Many people were disappointed to find that the eagerly anticipated turbine R66 was not part of Robinson's display at Heli-Expo. Instead, Robinson showed it off at a factory open house on the afternoon of the closing day of the convention.

This made sense: between Robinson's booth on the Heli-Expo show floor and the adjacent static exhibit, five different Robinson R44 configurations and one R22 were on display. So the R66 didn't steal show floor thunder from the bread-and-butter machines currently rolling off the company's production lines. With the factory less than an hour's drive from the Anaheim Convention Center anyway, Robinson wisely opted for the home-court advantage of an open house.

Among its features, the R66 boasts an ample
cargo compartment. Guy Maher Photo.
Actually, it was more like a coming-out-slash-hangar-party: plenty of catered food and drinks, factory tours, and a constant flow of customers hitting the Robinson retail outlet. And in the center of the “main ballroom,” R66 ship No. 2 stood proudly for all to see and pore over. Configured identically to what Robinson believes will be the production version, the five-seat interior was all in place, and the panel was neat and simple: standard round gauges and an easy-to-scan instrument cluster on the lower panel. It's obvious that a smooth and easy transition to the R66 from other Robinson models was paramount in the design.

The baggage area — sans all of the space-grabbing test gear — really made it clear that this helicopter will be able to haul plenty of stuff. Crunching some basic numbers, the R66 appears ready to handle four adults, their gear and a good load of Jet A. And the decal says it all: “R66 Turbine.”

All eyes were on the R66 during its demo
flight at the Robinson factory. Guy Maher Photo.
Even an hour before the reception was scheduled to start, the room was filling up. By show time, it was packed. The hangar doors were wide open, with a long roped-off area mirroring a Hollywood red carpet restraint. Some photographers took their places early for a front-row view of the flight line, waiting for company chief test pilot Doug Tompkins in ship No. 1 to strut its stuff. But when Tompkins cranked up the Rolls-Royce RR300 engine for the demo flight, the stampede to the rope resembled Wal-Mart on the morning after Thanksgiving.

When the R66 was coming alive, it reminded me of those Hollywood films where the sound mixer uses the engine noise of a Bell 47 for JetRanger footage — only in reverse. Something just didn't seem right. But it was right: the start was smooth and quiet, blades turning right away from the direct drive shaft to the transmission, no belts squealing and crunching to the beat of a rumbling piston engine.

At the Robinson Helicopter open house in Anaheim on Feb. 24, company chief test pilot
Doug Tompkins showed off the R66's distinctively turbine exhaust. Guy Maher Photo.
 
It didn't take long after the start before Tompkins was deftly lifting the R66 to a hover. The process began with the helicopter rising up on the heels of its skids a good bit before leaving pavement. The hover attitude was quite tail-low — or, more accurately, nose-high, as the tail rotor ground clearance was ample. With just Tompkins on board and a good bag of fuel this aft center of gravity was to be expected; still, it seemed more pronounced than the R44's aft C.G. under similar circumstances.
 
Tompkins turned the tail towards the crowd, showing off the exhaust end of the helicopter and its accompanying turbine sound. Even then, the helicopter was amazingly quiet. The helicopter appeared quite smooth, too. Peering in with the long lens, I didn't notice any signs of a vertical from Tompkins (but he's in good shape with no extra fat to bounce around).
 

The R66 during its demo flight outside the Robinson factory. Guy Maher Photo.

Tompkins performed a couple of fly-bys at a few hundred feet and the noise signature — beyond sounding odd for a Robbie — indicated that this will be a good-neighbor machine. Back on the ramp and after an engine cool-down, Tompkins shut her down. Through the entire process, the rotor system remained rock steady. No tail boom wiggles, or shuffling of the main mast and housing.

The R66 design and certification process is in the conformity stage now. The design is locked in, blue-printed and serialized. The RR300 engine is now certified. A look at ship No. 1 revealed the strain gauge survey equipment fully in place. Tompkins told me he's flown the R66 up to Palm Springs for hot operations with good results.

All indications are that certification should progress in such a way as to allow a slow ramp-up for targeted deliveries in 2010, with all-out production in 2011. All I know is that I'm anxiously awaiting my turn to be in the R66 looking out, rather than on the outside looking in.

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