I suspect that in the words of a wise man of a former era, "The death of the JetRanger is greatly exaggerated".
Sales of a machine have little direct effect on its life as a useful contributor to aviation. After all, reports of the "death" of the DC3 upon closure of Douglas' production line in 1940-whenever would have been hugely premature, not so?
So although the venerable JetRanger is as old as the Austin Cambridge and a closer relative than most realise too, it is far from dead. It remains the worlds most numerous, most reliable, most trusted and most popular of light helicopters.
The EC120 is a fine machine for sure but only time will tell if it sells in numbers that approach a hundredth of the B206s made. But what competition is a "Hydraulic 44" fer chrissake???? Thats like comparing a Lada thats been inexplicably fitted with with power steering (can you imagine???) to a Jaguar.
I reckon the good old 206 will be with us for years to come, as was its honourable predecessor the B47, and probably long after the flimsy, unforgiving and unloved Robbos are gone where they belong. What else could ever be as reliable, as affordable, as repairable, as practical and as long-lived as a Bell 206?
Apart from a DC3...
And I love 'em both. SO?
[This message has been edited by piston broke (edited 19 September 2000).]