Interesting, from the price list above, that the R44 weighs so much more than the R66.

Why do people compare apples with bananas ??
 

The R66 is no R44, though a lot of design features are comparable. But everyone knows that if you add the label "Turbine" to an aircraft, price increase dramatically.

Look at the Piper PA-46 Malibu airplane. You can get a piston driven Mirage or a turboprop driven Meridian version. Though very very similarly versions of the same airplane, the Meridian is twice as expensive than the Mirage, with the same avionic suite.

And in my opinion, the R66 has more in common with the old Jetranger such as number of seats, payload, cargo room etc., than an R44.

- madman

Fly 7

Specifications (RR300)Data from Rolls-Royce[5]

General characteristicsType: Twin-spool turboshaft
Length: 41 in
Diameter: 26.8 in
Dry weight: 176 lb

Specifications (IO-540-K1A5)
Data from FAA Lycoming IO-540 Series Type Certificate. Retrieved: 1 September 2008.

General characteristics
Type: Six-cylinder air-cooled horizontally opposed engine
Bore: 5.125 in (130.2 mm)
Stroke: 4.375 in (111.1 mm)
Displacement: 541.5 in³ (8.9 L)
Dry weight: 438 lb (199 kg)

But not surprising; the RR300 weighs just 176lbs compared with the IO540's 438lbs, a difference of 262lbs. That's a lot of payload... :8

Agree, the saving is in the power plant, but as a bigger helicopter I'm still surprised how much weight appears to have been saved.

Well, it's not THAT much bigger (which is why that middle seat is so cramped), but I'm guessing composite materials have come a long way since the 44 was designed in the 80s. What is interesting is how a 22% increase in power and a 15% reduction in basic weight manifests itself in the machine's peformance.

Bear in mind a large chunk of that saving is eaten up by the Allison 250's higher fuel burn.

I/C

I/C - good point (what Allison 250?)

The 66 takes 73.6 gallons of Jet-A1 (493lbs); the 44 takes 48.9 gallons of Avgas (294lbs), so 199lbs gets scoffed up straight away :}

Well yes, but the thing which piqued Fly 7's interest was the difference in APS (empty) weight between the two craft.

Flying the R66
 

Well ive just come back from Wycombe having spent 30 mins flying the R66, what a fantastic machine. I must congratulate Heli Air for the fabulous facility they have there.

For the first flight, 5 of us took off, one of my pals is certainly not small and the machine with just under half tanks lifted off with masses of power to spare. The smoothness of the flight was incredible.

The next flight was just SB and myself the speed is amazing, ive flown the R44 since it was first launched, at it is a very capable machine but this is far better, engine off Auto's from quite high up are just a non event.

From what I can see the R66 is better than the R44 in nearly every point, its faster, more powerfull, bigger, more luggage space, better endurance, bigger seats, smoother, I could keep on going.

We have to remember that for a civillian heli the R44, especially in the Raven II format is a super machine, but this is better in every catagory.

People whine about the Cyclic, ive never had a problem with it, and ive instructed for years using it and its not that bad.

Every one who flew in the R66 today left the machine with huge smiles on their faces, go and try it and see for yourselves.

So who is right ?
 

Has some clever editing been going on, here is the launch video per this thread earlier with the "aggressive" take off:




this is the launch video per the heliair website, which is much more considered:



or were there 2 "launch" dates, (& the pilot learn his lesson after the first one ?)

From memory your second YT clip was the first flight with the new owners on board, then the first clip was the second flight with just one pax, and then there was a third flight with five pob...

R66 EASA certification?
 

Does anyone have any info about when the R66 will get EASA certification?

Yaaawwnnn.
 

Not meaning to rain on anyone's parade here, but am I the only one who just can't get excited about the R66?
That "UK launch" video just about sent me to sleep. Loved the brass band though, nice touch.

Is it me or was there a tiny bit of potential dynamic rollover on that takeoff?

Or just a lot of weight on the left!

Looks like the r66 is a great buy comes with A Butler and a remote battery pack to start the engine - wow :ok:

toptobottom
Allison 250 = RR300 (more or less):

Rolls-Royce RR300 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Got endorsed on our new R66 yesterday, then flew it back to base today and started the endorsement for one of our line pilots. So far I have the vast total of 8 hours on type, but it's a bloody impressive machine. The most noticeable things so far are the power reserves and performance.

It's fast. I loaded 5 adults and just over half fuel. With 80% Tq we were doing 120 kts without breaking a sweat.

Hover engine failures were interesting. We started at 1 metre skid height. I won't say how high we eventually did them from, but if I ever caught one of our pilots taxiing at that height, I'd kick their backside from here to next week. I'm guessing some of it was rotor intertia, and some was slow engine spool down, but it was impressive.

It has a fair bit of tail rotor roll. Noticeably left-skid-low in the hover, and I could easily balance it on just the heel of the left skid when picking up or setting down. When flying from the left seat, the cyclic grip is right above my right knee in straight & level flight.That's a fair way over - certainly compared to R22/R44.

The controls are heavy without hydraulics - no surprises there. They're heavier than an R44 or B206, but are well behaved (unlike an AS350, for example !) and it's very comfortably flyable down to a hover or run-on landing.

Niggles for me were: (1) It leaks just like a Robbie. We flew for a couple of hours in rain, and the water was everywhere, including the boot. (2) The heating also turns on a ventilation fan, but I couldn't find any way to have the fan on its own, which is a bugger when you're flying in tropical rain and you want to defog the windshield without cooking your passengers. And (3) the warning light which tells you if a cowl has been left open is only triggered by some of the cowls. So even if the warning light is off, you can't be sure that all of the cowls have been secured.

Thanks Unhinged, nice reporting.