On December 23, 2016 Robinson R66 S/N 0763 became the 12,000th helicopter to roll off Robinson Helicopter’s production line.
S/N 0763 will be delivered to Hover Dynamics in South Africa, the helicopter was purchased by a new charter and tour operator, Fly Karoo Air Services. Robinson’s first two-place R22 was produced and delivered in 1979, and revolutionised the civilian helicopter training market. The four-place R44 appeared in 1993 and the five-place R66 in 2010. Robinson also offers a multitude of variants including the recently introduced R44 Cadet, a two-place helicopter specially configured for training.
Nevertheless, according to a report in AINOnline News, Robinson’s 2016 annual delivery numbers were lower than in 2015. The 2016 deliveries included 63 R66s, 114 R44 Raven IIs, 26 R44 Raven Is, 12 Cadets, and 19 R22s. That compares with 117 R66s, 152 R44 Raven IIs, 44 R44 Raven Is and 34 R22s delivered in 2015. However, Robinson say that they are confident that 2017 deliveries will be an improvement on 2016.
To underline the point, on January 13th, Robinson delivered an R44 Cadet to the University of North Dakota (UND). UND Aerospace owns the largest civilian flight training operation in the world with three campuses and over 150 aircraft and flight training devices. According to Ron DePue, UND’s Chief Helicopter Pilot, the flight department plans to replace its existing fleet of helicopters with more mission-specific and technologically advanced helicopters. UND’s Cadet is configured for VFR and IFR training with Garmin’s G500H Flight Display, a GTN 750 navigator, a GTX 345 transponder, and a GMA 350Hc audio panel. Accessory bars were also added to the cockpit to accommodate personal navigation devices.
