You seem happy to accept everything Hill says at face value despite how far to the right all his time frames have shifted already - and yes, I'm sure there are plenty of excuses as to why.
Keep in mind, I’m assisting actual HX slot-owners so my comments are based more on 1st hand experiences of people personally involved vs simply watching videos and reading posts here. And considering it takes 10 years to certify a conventional aircraft, their view on the time frame changes tends to remain neutral with one slot owner jokingly stated he’s still waiting to ride on the AW609. Perhaps in 5 years their views may change if there’s no tangible results with the HX? But who knows, as you imply time will tell.
BTW, I was offered the option to pay for the 51% (not just the 49%) of an aircraft build so I know there are ways round the rules.
Interesting. So maybe under UK rules there is a way? In the US there’s not unless you violate the rules. And those who have tried have lost their E/AB eligibility and ended up with an E/Exhibition classification at best or a pile of expensive parts at worst.