407 Pilot said...
" one being the structure of the cabin area."
I have no 407 time but considerable 206, 206L, Lama and Astar experience. My experience makes me more confident in the Eurocopter design.
1. The Bell design has a much weaker floor. There are only the skids and a thin layer of honeycomb between you and the ground/stumps/stobs/rocks.
2. The transmision mounting of the Eurocopter design is much stronger. In almost every instance of a 206/407 wreck the transmission becomes displaced. The mast and transmission of the Eurocopter design becomes a roll bar that the Bell design does not duplicate. I have never heard of the transmission/mast becoming displaced in a survivable French wreck.
3. The Bell design has three fuel cells in the passenger compartment. They are, again, only protected by one layer of honey comb and their own integrity. They are ony isolated from the passenger compartment by another layer of honeycomb. Not to mention in the 206L/407 I'm sitting on one!
4. There is a structural, cantilever deck extending past my feet in the Eurocopter. The first structural member in the 206/407 series cabin is behind me at the broom closet. The fiberglass around me in the 206/407 offeres scant protection. My personal favorite in this area is the Hughes 500 but that is another story.
5. This is pure personal preference and off the subject of structural integrity but I will take a Turbomeca engine ANY day over an Allison.
Jim