Hello OlliBlue,
In my opinion, Alouette 2 are also good when the weather is not perfect, wind, poor visibilty or night VMC.
Althought I have never experienced this myself, I have heard that sometimes, at cruise speed and close to maximum weight, when flying in strong turbulent wind, we might encounter a non controlled smooth nose up together with a right bank. To recover from this, it was advised to gently reduce the power.
This was explained as beeing a momentary retreating blade stall.
I also find that, as on most of helicopters, handling caracteristics vary a lot with the weight.
I personally prefer the "aztazou" engine version (SA 318 or 3180 ) , althought the engine is more fragile than the "artouste" , it's less thirsty in regard of fuel, the clutch on this version allows you to keep your rotor stopped with engine on iddle.
High skidds are a good option, since the tail rotor is a bit low to my taste.
Also, pay attention to maintenance and spare parts since I believe that a fair amount that should have been discarted are still on the market.
Before buying an Alouette myself I surely would make it expertized by an expert.