TheMonk
Sorry it takes me so long to get back. The fuel cost at $5.50 gallon is an average of what I was paying last summer. I paid up to $6.15/gallon! I use 85 gallons/hour as a rough estimate on fuel usage for the aircraft, i.e. a standard UH-1H with a T53-L-13 engine. Of course if you do a lot of OGE hovering the fuel flow is much higher. The problem with going to a -703 or -17 engine is that the fuel flow is higher and reduces range, endurance, etc., though the high altitude hover performance is better. You have to make up for the loss in time by carrying more fuel in an aux tank or just refuel more or carry less.
Tail rotors on standard UH-1H's are pretty weak and anyone who flies or has flown one much has had some not so pretty experiences,especially at high DA's with a load. The original Bell 205's had this problem and were all retrofitted with a tractor arrangement and then later a 212 tail rotor system. I don't know what the AB205 has on its tail.
The Temsco/Dyncorp project uses a Bell 205A with the 212 tail rotor and more importantly a P&W PT6C-67D single engine. The engine uses around 15% less fuel and holds the power better with increasing altitude. The engine is FADEC controlled. I flew a UH-1H with the P&W engine and a tail rotor enhacement kit for quite a while a few years back and it was a real horse! The Border Patrol has one now as well as the Georgia Department of Forestry.
One last thing that needs to be said; the differences in the UH-1H and the Bell205(and presumably the AB205) are pretty well documented in their respective flight manuals. They are not the same, and the most dangerous difference in my opinion is that the UH-1H has no WAT(Weight Altitude Temperature) limit chart which leads one to falsely believe that their is no problem with a standard Huey at altitude - the chart is not a Mil requirement. If you operate a standard UH-1H or one that has a bigger engine or better tail rotor, you ought to look at the Bell 205 manual and the WAT chart contained in it. It's a real eye opener, severely limits the (WAT) altitude for take off and landing, and indicates that once an engine fails that the chances of making a successful landing at high altitude gets to be pretty bad. As a Huey driver with a lot of test experience, I would advise taking a hard look at the Bell 205A WAT chart and it associated HV diagram.