Bell needs to quit using their belly buttons as peep holes....and throw the old Jetranger/Huey plans out the door and start from scratch and build a real helicopter. Despite the Bell handicap, maybe the AB-139 might prove to be a fresh breath of air.
If you ever sat a BO-105 next to a Jetranger and compared the difference in engineering.....you would understand my disappointment in the Jetranger series. Small insignificant things like seats, hydraulic systems, rotor blades, shafting, gearboxes, transmission mounts.....strength of structure.....in every case the Bell product is inferior.
Need I get too involved in suggesting the Bell 204/205/212/412/214 series has had a good run but it is time to move on to a new design. The 50's technology worked fine for almost fifty years but really....isn't it time for a new set of blueprints....things like decent pilot seats with a tilt feature....pilot doors that are worth a darn....transmissions that stay put when the aircraft crashes....remember the UH-60 rolling down Mt. Hood...would you like to have been in a Bell when that happened?
Wouldn't it be nice to see instrument panels centered in front of the pilot....air conditioning and heating systems that work....stabilization systems as standard.....true Cat A performance....tail rotors that will stay on the aircraft....tail booms that don't crack....a real four/five/six rotor system instead of the use of multiple two rotor systems. Heck, just to have a door latching system that will actually hold the door open ....jettisonable doors that actually work....windows that are big enough to be of some value. The list goes on....independent engines....enough of the combining gear box concept....love the old PT-6 but not the common gear box. I will take my BK or BO over the Bell line....at least I know the thing will stay together.