Really, no kidding?
Thanks for the info there Captain Obvious.
The point was its Airbus. Marginal engineering with government support. So even if they have a bad design (composite tail assembly) they just keep making them and ignore the results.
You have fun on that Airbus egg beater, I’ll pass......
The AS-350 is a far better helo than the Jet Ranger. Bell suckled at the US Govt teat for so long they got lazy. They could not even be bothered to move the fuel filler cap up the side of the fuselage 9 inches so that the fuel tank could be filled completely. That created a cottage industry for "Range Extenders", 4" aluminum pipe elbows that would raise the fuel filler cap the 9" and give you another 45 minutes range. $1000 each back in 1981, with a 5 month waiting list!
Bell was talking about a wider-fuselage replacement for the Jet Ranger way back at HAI 1982. The Bell 505 is "expected" to be certified by the end of this year.