arraitch,
I am with you on the EC120. Do NOT buy one in sunny climes without an airconditioner.
Although I am really trying not to keep adding to the list (why did you limit it to 5 Nick - in the hope of getting the REALLY important ones?) I will throw another vote into the ring for cowl latches as per above - this prompted by recent thoughts about another accident.
As I had mentioned on the S92 thread a while back, I think that any new helicopter MUST have a foolproof cowl latch system as far too many machines and people have fallen victim to an open cowl. The EC120 has a system that automatically latches when the cowl is in the closed position, and I have flown a BK117 that has a modified system to achieve the same result. It appears that most of the cowl accidents are caused by cowls that are closed, but not latched. Thus to overcome the obvious and reoccuring human failure by designing an error tolerant system, I think that all new cowl designs should incorporate a self latching mechanisim.
Last edited by helmet fire; 19th July 2002 at 01:48.