Robinson Helicopter Co held a ceremony on Thursday 10th November for local press and dignitaries to celebrate the production of the 10,000th helicopter at their Torrance factory.  A press release is reportedly forthcoming.  Until then, these are the pertinent points gleaned from local press reports

• Employment is increasing, with 200 new jobs in 2011 taking the total to just over 1,100 (peak employment was 1,300 in 2008)
• There is a backlog of 350 orders for the R66 – 65 have been delivered to date
• The milestone 10,000th aircraft is going to a customer in Brazil
• Production is now up from 7 to 10 a week, with aims to ramp up further to 15

Plus, of course, track back a whole year to this HeliHub.com article when we predicted the timing of the 10,000th helicopter rather accurately.

Jeremy Parkin – HeliHub.com

The company later issued this press release –

Torrance, CA — On 10 November 2011, Robinson Helicopter delivered R44 S/N 13217, the company’s 10,000th helicopter to come off its production line. A celebration was held at the Torrance factory. Company employees along with representatives from the city, the FAA and many of Robinson’s vendors were in attendance.

Frank Robinson, the company’s founder, spoke briefly to a packed room about the company’s humble beginnings. The company was founded in 1973 and the first Robinson helicopter was delivered in 1979. Today, Robinson Helicopter manufactures more civilian helicopters than any other helicopter manufacturer in the world. Robinson thanked the City of Torrance stating that it was the city’s unwavering support in the early years that convinced him to keep the company in Torrance. He went on to describe leaner times noting that unlike other helicopter manufactures, Robinson has never received a dime of government money or relied on government contracts.

Kurt Robinson, the company’s president, also spoke thanking employees for making “what we believe are the highest quality helicopters in the world.” Robinson noted that based on statistics provided by the AIA (Aerospace Industries Association), Robinson has, since the early 80s, produced more civil helicopters than all other U.S. manufacturers combined. The company’s current production rate is ten helicopters per week and Robinson predicts the company’s total aircraft production for 2011 will more than double last year’s production.

The keys to the 10,000th helicopter were presented to Robinson’s Brazilian dealer, Audi Helicopters. Audi has been a Robinson dealer for 25 years and is one of two Robinson dealers in Brazil. Foreign orders have consistently represented more than 50% of the company’s total sales.

Robinson Helicopter Company is the world’s leading manufacturer of civil helicopters. For additional information about Robinson, visit the website at www.robinsonheli.com