don't you think that engineers could have programmed new helicopters software differently such in a way to add precision to the approach without trading it with flight safety somehow?
Well its reasonable that the system has to know the final approach track. I suppose that the system can derive it once its been on the loc for a while, but there is no radiated information from the ILS to allow it to get it right at the start. One way to deal with the problem would be to lock the course bar (or the information derived therefrom) once coupled on the loc, but that runs the risk that the pilot set the wrong value to start with and is now unable to change it. I will try to remember to try it on the 225 - if there is no change to the heading I will suspect that the software ignores changes once coupled, but I know its important to set it correctly from the start.
Although you say "flight safety", surely the system designers could expect the pilot to take some responsibility to make the correct settings. The days when all the flight controls are locked out once the pilot has started the approach are not yet with us!
HC