Excellent helicopters
For:
- Safe handling, easy to fly
- Very good safety record - nothing to catch you out
- Well built, robust construction
- Proper sophisticated, fully articulated rotorhead
- Very effective tail rotor
- Big energy absorbing undercarriage and cabin protection
- Very stable and comfortable, especially in windy/turbulent conditions
- Spacious, versatile cabin - but best as 3-seater, bit cramped with 5
- Normal cruise 100-110 kts
- Fuel consumption c.160 lbs/ph (3hrs+)
- Developed as a Trainer for the US Army - in use with several other military around the world
- One of the best entry level Turbines for private owners
- Enstrom has a long history and now owned by Chinese parentage so receiving big investment
- Good value, esp used (and earlier 480 even cheaper)
- Excellent Factory support
Against
- Limited number of Enstrom engineers and instructors/examiners in some places
- Not the fastest turbine (but safe)
- Er, that's about it.
Quite a lot of Enstrom pilots I know have trained on the S300, and it's a logical step up from piston to Turbine - you have a similar rotorhead, electric trim on the cyclic, oleos on the undercarriage, pic in the l/h seat - all fairly familiar.