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March 08, 2022

Polk County Sheriff Buys 2 More Robinsons

After One Year in Service, the R66 has Earned its Keep

After a year with the department's first Robinson R66, the Polk County Sheriff's Office has purchased another pair of the aircraft to add extra redundancy and capability for their busy flight crew. The lightweight, turbine helicopter is well suited for the Sheriff's mission that sees around 1,100 hours a year providing air support over its 2,000 square mile jurisdiction located between Orlando and Tampa. Last year, the office's freshly painted, show-ready R66 was displayed as an example of the design's law enforcement capabilities to departments across the country.

The Instructor Had To “Push The Nose Down And Add Power On Several Occasions.”

On January 12, 2022, about 1427 eastern standard time, a Piper J3C-65 float-equipped airplane, N88509, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Winter Haven, Florida. The flight instructor and pilot receiving instruction sustained serious injuries. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 instructional flight. The flight instructor reported that the airline-transport-pilot-rated pilot receiving instruction was already seaplane rated, so he viewed the training flights as review.