And the winner is!..........(cricket.....cricket)
Hey! I just spent a good deal of time enjoying this thread. Where's the happy ending?!
If you made any purchase, ika, I suspect you're thrilled. To own ANY turbine heli would be awesome. So what did you choose? What advice can you give?
In your very first post, you said the MD500 would be the hands down winner: "sadly no 5th seat else others are no contest and I would buy one." By the time you learned it does have 5 seats, you were mired deep in various arguments. It's fun to watch because you don't NEED a heli or have to run it profitably for a business, you just WANT it. Everyone seems to agree the MD-500 is the most FUN in the bunch. It might not be for five adults but it sounds like it would fit your kids and small wife just fine...and...although people buy for worst case ("best" case here) of the entire family onboard, most find themselves flying alone or with one other person the majority of the time. For sheer joy of flying (what I think you're after), the MD-500 seems the best choice, all things considered.
If you favor instead the utmost practicality, most appear to agree the 206 would bring happiness...unless you buy one bearing gifts of unscheduled maintenance. TT strap replacement seems to me an issue for a low flying private owner but, as noted, if you're concerned about something like that, you can't afford to be in this market.
The 480B, despite ardent fans, seemed to take heavy hits for maintenance and potential discomfort if seating five. I may be grossly oversimplifying but it didn't seem a front runner for those two stated opinions.
That leaves the R-66. Certainly not as sexy as others but is it the sleeper? Those who have actually flown it seem to think so. Has time revealed answers to concerns surrounding initial fatal accidents? Did any dreaded SBs or ADs materialize? (Legit questions; not sarcastic). For the aspiring private owner, is it a wolf in sheep's clothing? In other words, is it a very strong practical choice if one's ego doesn't preclude that option?
So? Happy ending?