Not to be argumentative, but...
skidbiter2: "So I'm not sure how far aft you could safely leave the cyclic?"
Light or not, I would at least leave it high enough that it wouldn't whack me own head off! (Is it a red light? I've got at least two amber caution lights illuminated in my B-model when I'm at idle.)
I've never flown the 407, but is the mast tilted forward more steeply than a 206? I thought the S-76 was bad!
Fareastdriver: "Actually, which has been proven many times, a Sioux can take a Puma landing beside it as long as the Sioux is under control."
Apparently not!
Control? What control? Again, at idle rpm in a helicopter with a teetering system there is NOTHING that a pilot can do but hang on. At idle that baby was goin' over! Teetering rotors have *NO* control power on the ground at idle and flat pitch. The only thing that would have saved the Sioux is if the pilot ran it up to 100% and was prepared to lift off. Which he couldn't do because he wasn't in attendance at the moment - oops!
I'd bet that there was some wind "helping" the downwash and outflow velocity of the Puma.