froggy pilot and victor papa,
You rightly ask "So what's the point?" about the "new" 225 being, under its skin an old helicopter. You also ask, "So what does that make an S76, Chinook and 737"?
Answers:
1) "So what does New mean?" - The newer airframes that meet the latest regulations are safer, as defined by the national authorities. Like a car with anti-lock brakes and other safety features, these helos are simply better for you and your passengers. If you do not value these features, you help turn the manufacturers away from innovation and safety improvement. If you follow, sheep-like, the notion that a new name means a new helo, you help the salesmen blur the distinction, to the harm of future passengers and crews.
This is NOT a US vs Europe argument, even though you want to make it so. The real "new" helos meet the regs, plenty of truly New European helos are in the mix. In fact, helicomparitor has NEVER answered the what I think is my strongest barb - Eurocopter has put the fuselage strength and safety features into its truely new helos, in spite of hc's apologia that such technology is worthless.
2) "So what does that make an S76, Chinook and 737"? It makes them old helicopters, about as old as the 225, and therefore makes a competing new helicopter comparatively safer. It is a goose/gander argument, and not a "what can I do to slam that helicopter" argument, unlike hc's arguments that compare window size to how easily the engines fall through the cabin roof and land in the passenger's laps.
If YOU, the customers, do not support better, safer helos, the national authorities won't push as hard to improve them, and we all will find the same old LTE, post crash fire, crushed-cabin helos for our grandchildren. That is a crime, gentlemen.