There are a million different techniques for starting 206's, depending on so many things (location of starter button, stiffness of throttle, etc.). You'll quickly learn which technique works for you. Yes, Bell says that c.b.'s are not to be used as switches, and therefore should always be in, but many, many, many pilots start a 206 with the Caution and boost pump breakers out. Reality: IT DOES NOT MATTER. But do it by the book anyway
On the other hand, do not sit there for 20 minutes with the battery on, the boost pumps pumping, the strobe light strobing, and the gyros humming while you go through the million-item pre-start checklist. The battery is way up in the nose, and the cables that go back to the starter are loooooooong. Can you say voltage drop? I knew you could. 206's do not have voltmeters, so you cannot predict how good your battery is before hitting the button.
When you roll it up to 100% for takeoff, *ALWAYS* hit the Caution Light Test button before pulling pitch. This will alert you to the fact that you forgot to push the Caution and boost pump circuit breakers in after starting the engine with them out. Trust me on this.
206B's hover a little nose-high when it's just you inside. 206L's hover a *LOT* nose high when it's just you, especially if you're a 170 pound skinny kid. With two people in the front seats a B-model will hover fairly level. (All models also hover a little left-skid low all the time.)
With two people onboard, be careful when hovering downwind. The cyclic will be back in your gut. And the bigger your gut, the further aft the cyclic will be. When air gets under that horizontal stab, it wants to lift the tail big time. Don't say I didn't warn you.
Do an actual c.g. calculation and see how much you can carry in the baggage compartment when you're solo. Your "most-aft c.g." does not include having passengers onboard. Some day you WILL find yourself in a situation where someone wants you to carry a big, heavy, oily
something and you don't want it on the back seats or on the floor. They'll ask if they can put it the baggage and you'll go, "Derrrrrr..." Easy solution: Find out now.
Finally, use some friggin' cyclic friction! The 206 pre-takeoff checklist only calls for the friction to be "set as desired." Many pilots take it completely off, which in most 206's give you an extremely sloppy cyclic. Put just enough friction on to give the cyclic some "drag." Otherwise you'll be making all kinds of extraneous and unnecessary inputs as the fuselage gets jostled around in the wind. (The fuselage will react to a smaller gust of wind than will that big, heavy rotor. And if the rotor doesn't move, the fuselage *will* come back without you having to make it.) Even *tiny* cyclic movements impart a "roughness" to the ride that is noticeable to the passengers even if it is not noticeable to you. Every 206 pilot thinks *he* is the smoothest guy to ever strap on a 206 since 1966. Trust me on this. Think about it: If you move the cyclic even 1/8th of an inch when it doesn't
need to be moved, the swashplate *will* move a proportionate amount. If the swashplate moves, the rotor *will* move. Now you've just introduced a little PIO. And no matter what you think (or what you've been told), you CANNOT hold the cyclic steady enough with zero friction. Bottom line: Use a little cyclic friction. You'll look like a better pilot than you actually are - unless the air is glass-smooth.
DO NOT PARK DOWNWIND!!! As soon as a passenger pops the door open (and they will, even if you told them not to), they will lose their grip on it and the door will come around and slap a) the front door, or b) the bubble. Breaking any of the "glass" on a 206 is an inconvenient, expensive proposition. Those wimpy straps and/or little hydraulic struts are not guaranteed to keep the door from coming around. For loading and unloading, don't set down downwind. Don't say I didn't warn you.
Finally, leave the anti-collision light switch on ALL THE TIME. This way, when you shut down and you're in the FBO enjoying a nice cup of coffee, you can look admiringly out at your JetRanger and go, "Damn, I left the battery on. Again." Don't say I didn't warn you.