Originally Posted by
AMDEC
The EC130 fenestron is derived from the EC135 one by symmetry. Aerodynamically it should behave similarly....
That may be so but they 'feel' very different, the fact that the main rotor spins in opposite directions notwithstanding. The 135 has autopilot intervention in the tail and you are often working the pedals to get the semas into range, the 130 doesn't have any intervention at all and feels in my opinion very dead. I found that you could fly the 130 with just one foot if you wanted as you merely need to modulate the amount of power pedal in use, much like a 500. In terms of the 130 gimme a conventional tail rotor squirrel (preferably a B3, the Swiss army knife of helicopters) any day, much more precise, intuitive and predictable. I just found the 130 an answer to a question that nobody asked.
I spent all of last week in a B2 and flew our 135 today, I'd walk past the 135 to get in the B2.