Lone wolf, the interest on the US side had to be real. In 1974 USN CAPT. Bill Stuyvesant ( RIP-Bill had the reputation of being Mr. Helicopter in USN circles ) and I were sent to Westland to fly the prototype Lynx and report back on what we found. We each flew it separately on a very rainy day in Yeovil and with weather at 300 and 3/4 *with Asst. Ch. Pilot Roy Moxam, who flew the first part of my flight as a vibration test flight. Some VFR on top, some in cloud. This was during development. It was certainly a very limited opportunity, as we each got about 45 minutes to fly the machine. It was 1974, so there wasn’t any simulator to practice in, nor did we have the clout to tell Westland we’d prefer to wait for nicer weather. Actually, doing an eval-cold, in not so hot weather perhaps said more anyway.
What we reported to our respective constituencies was that other than fixing their N/rev vibration signature ( which was Westland priority uno at that stage ) the Lynx had all the other necessary attributes to be a viable candidate. There were a couple of nits, but they were being worked on and not major issues.
* Westland had their own radar and they had arrangements with the nearby Yeovilton Royal Navy field control as to airspace etc, and so were able to perform certain types of test flights IFR, a huge advantage. I was impressed and with the approval of my SA Ch. Pilot contacted the FAA about setting up a similar arrangement in Connecticut. I can still hear them laughing. At least they didn’t call Oklahoma City to schedule me for a psych eval.