Robinson R66
By comparison, the R66 is Robinson's first
turbine-engine model. FAA certification
was received in 2010, and production
continues today. The R66 is a five-seat
helicopter with increased reserve power
compared to its R44 stablemate, increased
altitude performance, and a larger
baggage compartment.
At the time of writing there were 769
Robinson R66s in operation, 755 of which
were wholly owned, and a further 14 in
shared ownership. There had also been 27
retirements from the R66 fleet. North
America was home to the largest
Robinson R66 fleet percentage (44%),
followed by South America (21%) and
Europe (19%).Helicopter Usage Comparison
Chart A (top, left) shows the usage of the
both helicopters broken into four groups:
Business, charter, personal and other. Both
helicopters have a majority of usage in
business operations. Charter accounts for
the next largest percentage for each.Payload & Range Comparison
The data contained in Table A (left) is
sourced from Conklin & de Decker and
JETNET. Potential operators should
particularly focus on payload capability as
a key factor, and the data shows the Bell
505’s Available Payload with Maximum
Fuel (at 826lbs) is less than that offered by
the Robinson R66 (924lbs).Cabin Comparison
According to Conklin & de Decker, the
Bell 505’s cabin volume measures 61cu.ft,
which is more spacious than that of the
Robinson R66 (50cu.ft). Chart B (left),
depicting data from UPCAST JETBOOK,
offers a cabin cross-section comparison,
showing the Bell 505 provides marginally
more cabin width (4.8ft vs 4.5ft) and
height (4.41ft vs 4.33ft) than the Robinson
R66.
The cabin of the Bell 505 is also slightly
longer (7.17ft vs 6.67 ft), though not
depicted in the chart. Both helicopters
offer 18cu.ft external baggage space.Powerplant Details
Bell’s 505 is powered by a single
Turbomeca Snecma Arrius 2R engine
offering a 459shp transmission rating. By
comparison, the Robinson R66 is powered
by a Rolls-Royce RR300 turbine engine
with 240shp.Bell 505
Robinson
R664 1%
41%6 %
10%(^6) 5%
15%
10%
Business
10%
Charter
Personal
Other
Chart B - Cabin Comparison
Chart A - Helicopter Usage Comparison - June 2019
Table A - Payload & Range Comparison
Source: Conklin & de Decker; JETNET, LLC
Tanks Full
MTOW(lb) Max Fuel(lb) Range (nm)
3,680 2,700 493 1,417 924 314
Max
Payload
(lb)
Avail Payload
w/Max Fuel
(lb)
544 1,370
1,312
1,334
1,334
826 305
Bell 505
Robinson R66
84 Vol 23 Issue 8 2019 AVBUYERMAGAZINE http://www.AVBUYER.com
Bell 505 Jet Ranger X
Source: UPCAST JETBOOK
8
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