Robinson R66

I don't know anything about them, but I found a good video on a short flight in one around the Los Angeles area.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gf4ccJPTEhk[/ame]

 

go find a lama, 206b, or 500 for the same or less money.

 

The problem with a used helicopter is that most of them are pretty much used up and the cost of maintenance will eat you alive.

We looked a potential candidates for re-engining and what we found was that most old helicopters, by the time the engine gets to the point where it makes sense to put in a new, more fuel efficient engine, that the rest of the aircraft was getting so expensive to maintain that it wasn't worth it.

The main rotor, gearbox and tail rotor drive system get old and so expensive to maintain that you can't justify the expense.

If you are looking at a light helo, and don't want to have a full time mechanic on staff to keep it up a newer aircraft makes sense.

 

I own and fly a R44 Raven II and look forward to owning a R66 in the future. I have researched most of the turbine engined heli's in the same price range and so far think the R66 is the way to go. In the Robinson safety school that I just completed out of 72 students more than a quarter of the class has already purchased one or is waiting for delivery. Most of these people are from a foreign country and have stated they have done quite a bit of research and decided to go with the R66. I believe cost of repair and maybe ease of conversion is the main reason for this decision. Let's wait a couple of years from now to analize the accident rate and how many SB's and AD's there will be. Hopefully not many.

 

fpcars -

If you absolutely must have an R66 check out controller.com. There's a stack of them listed.

Personally, I'm with savoy6: if I'm spending $1m (or thereabouts), I'm more likely to go with a nearly new JetRanger or MD500. Operating cost won't be much different - Robinson always low-balls its DOCs - and the main cost driver, the engine, is pretty much identical across all three. You're also getting a real aircraft for your money. Not to say the R66 is bad, but the performance advantage over the R44 RII is minimal for twice the money, and the 100LL availability argument is usually overplayed - most countries have a healthy community of 100LL fueled Cessnas etc.