Geoffers
I presume then that there is no quoted maximum IAS for arming the floats on the 139? Unfortunately on the S92 its 80kts, and I'm sure you wouldn't be encouraging pilots to bust a flight manual limitation?
I don't think we know whether its 80kts for the S92 because that's all they bothered to test it to, or whether they found that it was the maximum before loss of controlled flight (probably the former).
Either way its a significant limitation, that does have an impact on safety, compared to other manufacturers (AS332L max 135, EC225 max 150).
However in this case it seems it would not have made any difference whether the floats were inflated or not.
HC