Anyone recognise this heli?

[clan]

... of course upgrading extends the life.....

Upgrading avionics tends not to extend structural life limits.
Nothing wrong with there structure, the avionics were the problem

...A 1975 Ferrari, will out perform a 2008 S2000...

On a once around a track maybe. But will it out perform an S2000 on a trip from here to the south of france? How many clutches do you think you would need replaced?
One the one that was in the car unless you cannot drive, and if you cannot drive you will also burn out he clutch in the S2000 except you will burn it out quicker then the ferrari, an older car you will find has a much more robust clutch then a new car


Old does not mean useless. This is quite true.
But old usually means more expensive to maintain. And having a fleet with a few of this and a few of that increases your operating costs. So at some point you say "screw it, lets just sell the old ones and be done with it".

Yes it can be more expensive, depending on how it is maintained, if it is maintained well the cost should be no different.

[Pink Panther]

Here are a few more photo's.Post #36 onwards.

http://www.pprune.org/forums/showthread.php?t=315161&page=2

[Tempest]

Agree with Buran, and with the White Paper and decision to move towards a proper military capability rather the utility/ATCP role for the IAC pretty much everything had to go. 

Incidentally there are now several videos on the ex-IAC Dauphins available to view on You-Tube.  And when you consider the transport costs and time and effort involved in getting them to the USA, then a fair price probably was paid.  Even keeping the last 1 or 2 Dauphine going for the last few months was excessive for what they gave you.

[clan]

Agree with Buran, and with the White Paper and decision to move towards a proper military capability rather the utility/ATCP role for the IAC pretty much everything had to go. 

Incidentally there are now several videos on the ex-IAC Dauphins available to view on You-Tube.  And when you consider the transport costs and time and effort involved in getting them to the USA, then a fair price probably was paid.  Even keeping the last 1 or 2 Dauphine going for the last few months was excessive for what they gave you.

Seems like the rest of the free world agrees with me,