Grey .... Everyone is entitled to their opinion !!!! I don't know if you own a helicopter or are going to own one ...but I ask you this question . Is the performance , reliability and cost more important than the looks ?
I admit I may be bias because I am buying one , but I am going from what I think is a beautiful helicopter ( 109) to this one ( which has grown on me but I don't think it is anywhere near as pretty as the old 206 which I also used to own ) . The reason is that if you are actually buying a helicopter , the looks are right at the bottom of the list of your requirements . If you are just a driver ( as most are here ) I think you would be happy to fly a helicopter you think is ugly . If you are an operator , you are only interested in payload , comfort and cost . There are very few people who ever buy a helicopter based upon looks !!!
If you take the price of a good vip spec 505 you are looking at $1.35 -1.4 . With a 1000 hour 3 year warranty you are looking at very cheap flying indeed . Then , if ,( and I think they will ) they go up in price you will then sell at cost or a small profit after a few years .
I have owned and operated Bell 206 , MD500 , AS350 , Enstrom 480 and A109 and I think this will be the best bang for your buck . I may be wrong but I will let you know when I get it in July !!
I still think it is the best value machine out there by a long long way ......