Robinson distributor Aerosoyuz has announced that the Interstate Aviation Committee – Russia’s type certification authority – has approved the Robinson R66. The company says that the issue of type certificate ST337-R66 has been delayed by at least a year due to the hydraulic issues that has delayed approval by key authorities including Transport Canada and EASA.

The original FAA certification of the R66 included the granting of an exemption from the redundant control valve regulation. Russia is one of the countries who do not accept exemptions, so Robinson elected to work with the FAA to establish an Equivalent Level of Safety (ELOS) agreement to remove the need for the exemption. Robinson has now received the ELOS, which removes the exemption from the R66 hydraulic control system – and this move has opened the way for Russian certification.

Robinson has already seen good success with the R44 in Russia, with approximately 300 aircraft sold. A market of approximately half that is likely to be the R66 target over the next few years. Canada is expected to follow Russia’s lead in certifying the Rolls-Royce RR300 powered helicopter in a matter of weeks.

At 1st January 2013, Robinson had already produced 289 R66s, including 191 in 2012.

Nikolai Vanesev – HeliHub.com Moscow correspondent