Nick,
In the meantime while you are evaluating the many excellent future developments suggested above, I have very simple requests from Bell!
- Build helicopters that keep rain on the outside!
- Fit wipers that work for more than a few seconds
- Have baggage compartments that accept more than hand luggage
- Don't put baggage bay doors in the middle of the bay restricting the length of items that may be carried to less than two thirds of the total length available
- Fit windows that don't look as if they were designed by the Wright brothers and break on a reglar basis because the doors slam due to lack of restraint in the open position
- Stop trying to improve the UH1 - start again!
- Don't consider liferafts and floats an afterthought (Look at Sikorsky and Eurocopter fits)
- Fit 3 point harnesses/seatbelts that don't strangle passengers
- Go back to the subcontractor who built the 212 Pilot harness and dump the one that makes the similar but cheaper 412 version (with the crazy twist feature)
- Publish RFM's with graphs that recognise that life exists outside the FAA.
- Employ someone who understands "streamlining" and drag
On a more positive and slightly contradictory note, don't stop building "Toyota Trucks" - don't fall into the Sikorsky/Eurocopter trap of building "sports cars" - we need trucks in many parts of the Globe. For all its' faults, the 412EP is still a Beast for relatively short range offshore work.
To re-iterate Sasless, find out who designed the 412 head and don't have him anywhere near your future team.
Trog