Originally Posted by
rudestuff
I wouldn't be so sure, there was a similar post recently about fixed-wing. The gist of it was that an EASA PPL holder got a 61.75 ticket, then bought an N-reg PA46 (which requires an EASA type rating, but not under FAA). The CAA argued that his underlying PPL would not allow him to fly a PA46, therefore his FAA ticket wouldn't let him. The FAA legal team came back and said they didn't consider the lack of a type rating as a limitation, since it didn't exist under their rules, and were quite happy for him to fly it on a 61.75. Using the same logic, a helicopter 61.75 should be legal to fly anything below 12,500lbs!
Unless there is official guidance in the form of a ruling or an interpretation from FAA council that you can refer to....I wouldn't be too sure.
The writing is black and white and FAA inspectors have been known to make mistakes too.