The rush of R66 orders from Canada and Russia following the relatively recent type certification in those two countries is all but over. At the end of October 2013, Robinson will reduce the production rate of their five-seat turbine from 12 to 8 per month – although we expect it will rise at some point in the future once EASA finally reaches a point of accepting the R66 for all 32 countries it represents. Quite when that will be remains a mystery….

Quoted lead time for orders placed at Robinson are currently 8-10 weeks on R22 Beta II, R44 Raven 1 and R66 Turbine, while the Raven II continues it’s fast progress – an order for this type today will not be fulfilled until early/mid February 2014.

Producing 4 R22s, 6 R44 Raven 1s, 16 Raven IIs per month – and an R66 rate falling from 12 to 8 from 1st November – we calculate there is a current backlog of 109 orders from the factory in Torrance, California. This is made up of 9 R22s, 14 R44 Raven Is, 64 Raven IIs and 22 R66s.

Jeremy Parkin – HeliHub.com