Shagpile, you have no idea about the longevity of Hills design so complaining about Robinsons 12-year rebuild is very premature.
So a helicopter well hangared & looked after, doing 40hrs/year private ownership, will do 480hrs in 12 years. What exactly in this situation requires it to be rebuilt in 12 years? Simply put, Robinson are taking the piss with their blanket one-size-fits-all manufacturer's recommendation, which essentially must be followed. I bet they really hate all those forced kit sales from existing owners.
Hill is aiming for 5,000 hrs on all major components (on inspection). For example to certify Diesel (which is commonly requested, but he hasn't committed to) he said will take an extra
£1m pounds (5000hrs * 130L/hr *
£1.50). He's stated publicly some modern parts well maintained can be made to last up to 20,000 hrs so the 5,000 service interval should for the most part be good to go. The idea is that to eventually certify everything for 5,000 hrs (required for H
C50). He needs to flog his engines & prototypes so they stay the fleet leaders, and needs to be absolutely certain they last much longer than 5,000 hrs, because if they fail at 4999, it's start again. So these parts are designed to last
much longer.
Yeah of course there will be teething issues. Name any aircraft with none. And I'm sure after the first AD comes out, the Fabulous Five will predictably wave their fists at the sky in righteousness, whilst happily filling in the paperwork for their second Robby rebuild kit.