Originally Posted by
Agile
Intresting points you mentioned in your post, it ilustrates the reason this is such a distressed asset.
I would assume that the Enstom PISTON F-28F & 280FX and the TURBINE 480B are not part of that vision you are calling for.
1st: because indeed more modern tech is needed; (aka: composite, modern avionics as part of the design, and yes engine modernization). I am not talking all the way to Hills helicopters but more like a Cabri.
...
Assume that you had the few millions to acquire the Enstrom organization, I would have to sit and think quite a bit to figure out the new business course.
Enstrom has already embraced modern tech inside the cockpit. The put the
G1000 avionics suite into the 480B back in 2014, effectively before Bell did it with the 505. And while I've never personally sat in a late model Enstrom, I've read that the quality of the interior fit and finish is quite high, nothing like the older machines.
Nevertheless, it would take a clean sheet of paper to make them competitive. Dump the pistons, concentrate on a successor to the 480B. Lose the grease gun and nitrogen bottle, add some real luggage space and 4 conventional seating positions, and add hydraulics. Keep the rotorhead and blade system, obviously, since that's the crown jewel of their engineering portfolio. Add a pilot operable blade fold kit so it can fit in the same space as the competition. Keep the flat floor of the 505, the high level of
standard interior finish of the R66, and the superior full fuel payload and range of the R66. Avoid anything inelegant like the 505 tail weights.