My thoughts exactly... my demo was faster than that and was very smooth up to 115 kts IAS and when we got to 127kts, it felt about like my last ride in a jet ranger at 110 kts or so.... that was in the front left seat of the 505. I got to ride in the front left and back right seats... back right was awesome ride and hardly any vibe at any speed. Just the front seemed to be shaky north of 115.
...Said the Bell salesman. And salesmen always tell the truth, don't they!
So far, we've had a number of written reports (two of them published) that the 505 gets really rough above 110 knots. Then we have Nigelh, who denies those reports and believes that they must be wrong. Nigel's (so far) uneducated opinion is backed-up by a Bell employee.
But wait! I know that y'all accuse ol' FH1100 pilot of being totally biased and anti-Bell (and perhaps an idiot). But that's just not the case (well, except for the idiot part - of that I must plead guilty).
So in the interest of objectivity, let's give the 505 the benefit of the doubt. Maybe all three reports of a rough ride above 110 knots...maybe they all flew in the same demo aircraft? And maybe that aircraft did/does not yet have the extra Frahm damper installed in the fuselage? And maybe Hermann Frahm's damper works exceedingly well in the 505? Hey, stranger things have happened.
On the other hand...Bell would have to be insanely stupid to give people demo rides in an aircraft that was not representative of what's coming off the assembly lines. Unless that Frahm damper is *optional*...