The Puma started off with, starting from the nose:
A Bell205 lookalike nose, changed to a streamlined one after the first three.
Two engines designed for railway tractor units.
Renault van door handles,
An autopilot based on a Sikorsky version.
A gearbox built by FIAT,
Metal Rotor blades with hollow main spars pressurised with a BIM system.
A Barbeque Plate. This was a piece of kit that absorbed the excessive vibration from the four bladed rotor which should have been strangled at birth and replaced with a five bladed version as with the 225.
Underneath was a fuselage which at an early stage required doubling up of the engine mounts, gearbox mounts and pylon attachment brackets.
Loads and loads of decibels.
This shambles resulted in a fantastic aircraft to fly of which I managed 12,500 hrs without a moment of concern.
Last edited by Fareastdriver; 24th September 2015 at 08:44.