I pulled a current one-pager comparing Airbus H125 and Bell 505 for hot/high missions: H125 holds HOGE margin at 7,000 ft ISA+20 with roughly 2,200 lb useful load in common utility configs, while 505 comes in with lower DOC and simpler scheduled maintenance… On the market side, pre-owned 505s under about 1,200 hours are trading quickly this winter, and new H125 slots are tightening into late 2026. If you want the sheet or have alternate performance data, I’m happy to swap sources.
We run H125s at 7–9k’ DA in July; swapping to a light hook and flying with 50–60 min fuel kept HOGE where the chart said — ‘fuel is payload.’ The 505’s DOC is great, but an IBF or hot afternoon can eat margin, so you’ll want first-launch loads at dawn if you go that route.
Quick data point from July at 8,000’ DA: our H125 with an IBF and hook still HOGE’d with two crew after we set 45 min fuel, while the 505 in the same air was temp-limited OGE unless we did a short into-wind running takeoff. DOC on the 505 is great, but budget the H125 IBF hit at about 2–3% (roughly 40–60 lb) and keep a hard fuel stop; @markV23 is right, gravity doesn’t do discounts.