Late comments:
- Those two Turkish MD 600Ns were actually delivered in March, so it's disappointing that the ALEA release didn't mention any additional deliveries
- Even with the inertia of the congressional approval process, the Army, Boeing and MDHI all hope the Little Bird contract gets signed before 2007; 2005 if things go smoothly, 2006 if they don't.
- The Phoenix PD have reportedly been wanting to expand their MD 520N fleet for a number of years, but are - like many operators - frustrated by the impact of spares availability on their operational readiness rates.
- Re: 520N hot & high ops, see previous thread on the 530N
There will doubtless be more discussion on MDHI's future when it releases details of the "strategy to improve current financial and operational circumstances" referred to in Kaman's Q2 report.
I/C