Originally Posted by
SASless
But the 225 was the greatest thing since sliced bread according to some at Bristow....far better machine than the very inferior 92 as some told us at great length.
Brand loyalty is fine up to a point....then reality has to be considered.
Did Bristow Engineering not ever raise questions about the possibility of Gearbox issues in the 225 in light of the earlier problems or did they just enjoy the EC/AB Tea and Cookies and sign on the dotted line?
How did that turn out for them?
I mention BHL as they were the Operator with the largest fleet of EC/AB aircraft but the question applies to all of the Operators.
The 225 was the greatest thing since sliced bread according to virtually all the pilots (we did have one weird one who preferred the S92). Right up to the point, after 100s of thousands of hours, where one had a rotor head fall off. Yes that is a pretty serious achilles heel which unfortunately ruined the type, but in every other respect it was fantastic.
Bristow engineering did what they had to do and more. I don't know what the culture at the other operators was but from where we stood, it did sometimes seem as though they only did what the had to do. HUMS downloads being an obvious example.