"I do know that they tried logging with a Puma once and the bbq plate failed with fatal results."
In CH we were logging with the first AS332c/c1 700-800 hours a year from mid '80s to mid-late 2009. Logging has tapered off. We did have our share of broken bbq plates in the early years. 1 or 2 of forward tangs are what usually broke. (I also had 2 AS332c models with broken plates in Nfld.) While logging in CH we were visually inspecting this area at lunch and in the evenings. Working rivets under the attachment points of the bbq plate were repaired as required at the 400 hour and later 500 hour inspections. Westland produced the bbq plates intially. AS brought the plate manufacture back in house after the Super Puma was lost on Vancouver Island. The new plate was stronger and there was new attaching hardware at the bbq plate airframe interface which was tq checked at 50 hour intervals. The transmission/bbq plate hardware was on a 25 tq check cycle. How AF cycles were counted was much clearer defined while logging: 20 cycles/hour. We had no more broken plates after that. Our logging machines were and are very well maintained.
A very strong, reliable well built aircarft IMHO that I was very happy to work on and fly in.
Marcus