I am an ex R-44 owner and looked for my next move and bought a 206 B3, as there was no turbine version of the Robbie....I still fly the 44 and have to say when I am in it I love it. But it has the obvious downsides of looking ugly and sounding like an old truck starting up.
I am shocked that nobody from the design dept came up with something that has better looks for the 66? It now sounds like a real heli, but still has the look of a very old and odd helicopter.
22's and 44's were always aimed at private owners and I haven't met a private owner of one yet that wouldn't want to make the Robbie design sleeker...
So, the 66 is going to have to be CHEAP to compete with other single engine turbnes, and had they spent a bit of time on the look of it, they probably could have taken the Jetranger, EC120 and other singles head on.......
Nice to see it finally fly, but hope this is a prototype that is in "design stage" rather than the "final" ugly bird it is?
