I'm not really a 'Robinson person' but I take my hat off to what old Frank achieved for the industry in terms of making rotary-wing operations increasingly accessible through cost-effectiveness.
And .. I've not been following the 'progress' of the R66 that closely either but .. this
Helihub report seems interesting:
Sloane Helicopters, the UK and Ireland Robinson Dealer since the mid 1970's has, along with many other potential European buyers, been frustrated at the delays to EASA certification of the R66.
During the original FAA certification of the R66, the FAA granted Robinson an exemption from the redundant control valve regulation. Several non US countries do not accept exemptions;
Therefore, Robinson elected to work with the FAA to establish an Equivalent Level of Safety (ELOS) finding, thereby negating the need for the exemption.
The ELOS involved a rigorous analysis and test program to demonstrate the single-valve design was equivalent in safety to a redundant design. Robinson has now received the ELOS, which will remove the exemption from the R66 hydraulic control system.
This should therefore open the way for the R66 to be certified by those Authorities that do not accept exemptions. We therefore wait with interest to learn of EASA's response to this significant step.
Sloane Helicopters encouraged with R66 development | Helihub - the Helicopter Industry Data Source