Rotor Pilot
'What one want over the sea is a helicopter that will not go to the fishes if one engine fails'
Yes the EH101 has successfully put itself with the fishes, following a modification by the manufacturers, when the rotor brake went on in flight. And, but for the grace of God, The Merlin would have totalled an airframe and crew when the RN aircraft at Culdrose shed its TR blade if it had not happened in a low hover over a flat surface.
Is the Merlin/101 safe following a single engine failure throughout its whole flight envelope? - I doubt it but how many single engine failures have brought catastrophe to twin engine helicopters in the hover? Not very many compared to the number of hours spent in the hover.
Westlands have made a great deal of this extra survivability in their marketing but their premise is flawed - if the twin engine aircraft has strong reliable engines (as most are nowadays) then the number of failures are greatly reduced. Why then sacrifice payload and range (massive fuel consumption with 3 engines running) to cater for an event that is outweighed statistically by TR malfunctions - why not spend the money on a decent TR hub in the first place.