Notar Fan, from what I am seeing in your writing, you have no real flight time in a NOTAR. You are saying all this wonderful stuff that is straight from the
PR department at MD.
MD600, has the right to comment about the 600 as he ownes and flys one. While I do not always agree with his opinions, I respect them due to this. NL is very well respected for his knowledge on helicopters and the mechanics of them. Plus he has the experiance to back it up. I while I do not like the NOTAR and my regular bird is the 500E (soon to be a 350B2) due to the altitude/heat I operate in, I have 1,000+ hours in the NOTAR.
Our NOTARs spend more time in the hangar, and have more maint. You need to talk to some mechanics about the fan and the trouble with them.
NL the YSAS is not a required item on the 520/600, although it is helpful. It is turned off a lot if we are doing a lot of manuvering due to us having to fight the gyro.