The first flying turbine-powered Robinson helicopter arrived on Thursday at the George R. Brown Convention Center for Heli-Expo 2010 with Robinson Helicopter vice president Kurt Robinson and chief test pilot Doug Tompkins at the controls of the experimental R66. During the two-day flight from the company’s headquarters in Torrance, Calif., Robinson reported that the helicopter consistently achieved a speed of 120 knots and had an average fuel burn of about 23 gallons per hour.
Robinson flew the helicopter for the first time a week ago, “just to check it out and to do some practice in it and some autorotations. It was really nice. The transition from the R44 into this is extremely easy. The start-up procedure is really simple and once you get under way, except for the fact that you are a little smoother and a little faster, you feel like you are in an R44,” Robinson said.
