Down here in the GOM we seldom top off, and it's a luxury when we can. At night, I often am empty or close to it, so I can often top off, and always do if I can. I ain't gonna head out over the water short on fuel, no way, nohow. I agree with you Head, that the capacity should be there if possible. If I have to fly a 412, then I'm always short on fuel, because it's so slow, and burns fuel so rapidly. The S76 actually holds less fuel, but it goes much faster and burns less, so the cruise time is much higher. The S76A++ holds 3 hours nominally, but you can get more if you go high, because the burn is less and you have to reduce power to stay below Vne. The 412, OTOH, has about 2.5 hr fuel, and you have to really watch that. But that half hour of fuel difference translates to about 140NM difference in range. It's not really as much about the endurance in time, but about how far you can go on the fuel you have.