Originally Posted by
Bell_ringer
And that is the crux of every discussion on these topics.
Must be cheap, cheap, cheeeeeap (anyone else hear birdies?), because cheap = better.
The only real downside to the Cabri is that it's useless at high density altitude.
Chasing away a few punters who can't see beyond the nickels and dimes, seems like another pro to me
I realise some of what you said is sarcasm, but really, the downside in the US is indeed price. We gave up on R22s after our second rollover, and have been exclusively R44 since then. However we aren't in the competitive and very price sensitive professional track training business ( although certainly some of our students are professional track). We mostly cater to wealthier people who will buy a 44, 66, 206 or similar after they complete their training. So, they aren't as price sensitive as the kid who is borrowing money for his training.
If we tried to be competitive against pro track schools operating R22s we would quickly be out of business. Like it or not, the first, second, and third most important questions you get asked are "how much?". If you can't be within $25 to maybe $50/hr of the competition, you won't get that student.
I realize the economics in Europe are different, and it might not be so black and white, but trying to do a pro track school here with anything except R22s is extremely difficult. More specialized training, maybe, but standard private/commercial/instrument/instructor training really requires the R22 for you to not be at a huge disadvantage.
If it was just a "few punters" it would be different, but at least here it's just the opposite... A few people have the means to train in a "better" helicopter, but the majority of the potential student base is price sensitive enough that only the R22 works economically.