R66 Utility Helicopter: Latest Upgrades
The Utility R66 Helicopter is full of great specs. We wanted to feature the R66 today on the blog, so you can gain more knowledge on some of the new features this model has to offer.
In the image below, notice the wire strike kit on the nose and in front of each of the skit tubes. The wire strike kit is designed so that if a pilot inadvertently flies into a wire, the kit will guide the wire to a place where it will be cut. This will provide benefit to those operators that spend most of their time operating by wires. Some commercial contracts require a wire strike kit be installed on the helicopter.
R66 Utility Helicopter Bubble Window
In the picture above, you can see the large bubble window for vertical reference and the cut out in the door. This is a great feature so that you can see back inside where the instruments are displayed under the collective.
R66 Utility Helicopter
As you see in the photo above, The R66 Utility helicopter has a few updates on design. The new design upgrades include;
- The left seat operation capability
- Cargo hook installation
- The cargo hook release
- Load weight meter
- MGT
- Torque Meter
- There is also a light switch which comes in handy
In this configuration, the pilot is able to operate an external load from the left seat of the R66. This is of advantage to the pilot as the helicopter naturally will fly left skid low during a hover and lead to greater visibility from the left seat. The load weight meter, the second set of engine gauges are located under the left side collective. This allows the pilot to monitor engine operations while keeping an eye on the external load.
Onboard keeperless Cargo Hook
Robinson Helicopter Company chose to go with the Onboard keeperless Cargo hook for the R66. This set up is approved for 1200 lbs of external load. Not bad for a light turbine considering the empty weight of the R66 can be close to 1200 lbs! Do you know of any other helicopters that can lift its own weight? The R66 max gross weight is normally 2900 lbs but with the R66 Cargo installed the total weight with external weight is now increased up to 2900 lbs.
Window Fan
The fan on the bubble window is a great feature to prevent your window fogging up.
The new R66 Utility seat?
In the picture above, do you know why there is a different color in the middle of the leather seat? Hint…it isn’t for fashion. Like most Robinson design changes, it is for function. When a pilot is operating an external load, there is a tendency to slide across the seat away from the window. The middle part of the R66 cargo hook seat provides grip so that this doesn’t happen.
Thanks for checking out today’s blog post. We hope you gained more knowledge about the R66 utility Helicopter. My passion is to share the insights and education I have learned along the way as being a pilot myself.
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– Luke Yanik