Surprise! You're AW negative again....
AW 609 while not perfect, will be the FIRST. It will have an impact to the civil market not seen since the first civil certified helicopter because it will forever change civil aviation with a new category of flight besides fixed and rotary wing. Yes its small, but like the V-22 it will change conops and bring new capabilities in terms of range and speed never seen before to the civil vertical lift paradigm (think EMS, Offshore, SAR yes SAR, and even corp). Optimization of capabilities and design comes in versions v.2 and beyond.
Perhaps that's why a company as forward looking as Bristow chose to get involved with the 609 already......
