I personally dont think its ugly! Its not a great looking helicopter but there's certainly uglier heli's out there, I personally think the Mi's are damn ugly but I bet there bleeding great at what they do!
Like this will be, ideal for the private owner who wants that bit more power and extra seat they didnt get with there R44, what does every owner say about the R44? "I wish there was a little more power and an extra seat would be nice" Thats exactly what Robinson has done and I can't fault him.
Its gonna give new cpl(h)'s a cheaper way of gaining turbine hours, I also think it will be able to do some proper commercial work, slinging etc... I see people have done slinging with R44's well the same ship with lots more power and payload is a winner if you ask me, all as long as the price is kept down!
Thats going to be its down turn, if it's not priced well below a 206 ad 500 I can't see how it can compete in a commercial world, private and training maybe, as there gonna be readily available at schools in a few years (just my predictions).
It does look sleeker, notice the line down the bottom of the windows lines up with the bottom of the windscreen, put the 44 next to it and you'll see, I think it makes all the difference.
The one thing I would say and can't for the life of me figure out, is why Frank Robinson didnt put a FADEC in it, he knows it's going to be use by students all over the world, just cant get my head around it. I would also do a real tricked out model with Glass cockpit and FADEC, it would be a good dtepping stone onto a bigger machine. just my 2 cents anyway. I think the Police model if and when they bring one out would be nice too. and probably sell a few in the States where they dont require twins.