True story ... eh ...
The US is currently in the process of purchasing 130+ new helicopters to replace some of the older ones we have. The competition is basically between the US company Sikorsky and the AugustaWestland EH101 (renamed US101 after Lockheed and Bell joined in to give it a bit more US flavor ... and political backing).
So anyway I'm at a conference where Augusta brought in an EH101 from the CDF to demonstrate the aircraft's capabilities and discuss the airframe. Part of the demo was a Q&A session with a CDF pilot who had more time in the 101 than any other pilot (don't know if that is true or not, but the guy did have a couple thousand+ in the airframe, so close enough for me). The EH101 is a very good aircraft, so we were looking forward to talking with the pilot and learning more about the aircraft.
Now, keep in mind, if this had been a Sikorsky sales pitch (and lets face it, we all knew this basically was a sales pitch), they would have brought in one of their 6-digit a year test pilots who knows how to spew the party line. Unfortunately for Augusta ... they brought in a CDF pilot who really didn't have a dog in the fight.
So the Q&A starts and one of the first questions asked is "What's the top speed?" (pretty basic softball stuff here I figure).
The CDF guy responds (I paraphrase) "Well they say 170-som'thin, but if you go above 145, it shakes like a banshee." Chuckling a little, we all steal a glimpse at the Augusta rep as he is starting to squirm a bit.
Next question ... "What's the advantage behind the three engine design?" (again, imho, a softball question).
Realizing his last response drew a rather positive reaction from his listening audience, our CDF 'sales rep' announces ... "Outside of eating up more gas, not much."
Serious laughter did ensue.
About then, the Augusta guy had had enough and started to provide most of the answers and the session became rather dull.
Needless to say ... the CDF pilot didn't have to buy any drinks at the bar that night. We thought he was great.