chopperchav
I work from the same location as Helipod NZ as a flight instructor although am not involved with the company.
Over 700 Helipods have been manufactured to date, for both R44's and R22's. The last container-load sent to the USA sold within 10 days of it's arrival into that country and there are now over 100 in use in Canada.
The R44 Helipod is FAA certified and the company is currently processing EASA validation for Europe. By all accounts and from what I've seen here, the pods are very strong and well built although still light. Aerodynamically there is minimum effect - to the degree that relatively low-time pilots wouldn't even notice the difference in flight characteristics from a 'clean' profile.
They definately seem to be the answer to the age old question "Where do I put all my gear?" I too am hesitant about putting too much crap under the seats and thereby compromising the ability of the seats to do their job absorbing impact forces.
E-mail the owner at the following address if you need more information as what I've written above is about all I know!
[email protected]
Regards.
PS - Helipod website is a bit dated now so a few things have changed and more Helipod versions are available.
PPS - helicopter-redeye;
R44 Clipper version of the Helipod is currently under development so not available just yet