If I remember right, Igor made the decision for the american helicopters and Heinrich Focke for the french.
The french company SNCASE used parts of a Focke-Achgelis FA-223 to build there first own helicopter. The FA-223 had two main rotors and they used the right one. During this time it was just technical question. I do not know why everybody sticks with "their" solution but apparently that is something people really believe in. I think most pilots who fly both kinds of helos have not problem to switch, but I know one pilot who refuses to fly an H300 and a AS350 on the same day. Probably he must shut down his brain and reconfigure the ini-files.
Focke-Achgelis Fa 223 "Drache"
