Actually we fly an R44 II in Italy for short sightseeing tours of app. 10 flight minutes each. (sorry for my english
).
Many passengers arrive in two to fly so we fly principally two passengers at a time. This configuration is also ideal in the R44 for weight and balance. For this reason the R66 can halve the current number of rotations with 4 pax/flight.
Can someone help me compare the operating costs (the R44-2flights/tot20min.) and (the R66-1flight/ tot10min.) considering the limits of the turbine cycles (TBO engine) for this short flights as 10 min. RHC/RR give a tbo limit of 2000 hours/3000cycles (an average of 40 minutes per flight)
Thanks!