Originally Posted by
Ascend Charlie
The B206 is easily certified, and with glass screens and autopilot they are a pleasure to fly inside the clouds.
Well, I'm not sure about the "pleasure" part. Granted all my Bell IMC time was in a L3, but I inevitably got wet because all 206s seem to be designed to drip on the pilot, or more precisely the pilot's instrument approach plates and crotch - which could be difficult to explain to people at the end of the flight. Perhaps all helicopters leak, but Bell perfected that attribute in the 206!
But also, slogging through the sky at 110 knots into the inevitable headwind is great for adding hours to the "actual IFR" column of your logbook, but not so great for actually getting anywhere! ( ok, I've always flown on high skid gear, and have been reliably informed that with low skid gear the 206 can blaze through the overcast at an astounding 115 knots ).
I love many things about the 206, but it's not exactly a stellar IFR performer. But I reluctantly agree, it's fun to go in the clouds on a day when you don't have to be anywhere specific.
