thanks for the replies. pretty much settles the argument in favour of the popouts. The additional weight differential is about 15 lbs (50 for the fixed vs 65 for the popouts). But the real revealation for me was that both are meant for emergencies only, and not planned water landings. any issues with removing the popouts and its accessories for 4 months of the year to get more useful load (I understand the skids are longer for the Clipper than the regular R44, and also that some kind of weight balancing needs to be done) ??