On October 25, Robinson Helicopter entered a new phase as a manufacturer of turbine-powered rotorcraft when the FAA handed over the new R66’s type certificate to founder Frank Robinson and his son and company president Kurt.
The event was clearly of great significance to Frank Robinson, who started the company on his kitchen table after the major helicopter manufacturers rejected his ideas for building a light low-cost trainer.
Robinson Helicopter has grown beyond even his wildest expectations into the most prolific helicopter manufacturer in the world, with 4,492 R22s and 5,190 R44s sold thus far and a backlog of orders (as of October 25) for 96 copies of the Rolls-Royce-powered R66. Just before receiving the type certificate–and also a production certificate amended to include the R66–Robinson Helicopter completed an addition to the company’s Torrance, Calif., campus, another 134,000-sq-ft building that brings the total to 600,000 sq ft on 32 acres.
More In Rotorcraft
