In article ,
(Stephen Austin) wrote:

This may or may not apply to the OH-58 but
why not?

I've always been told that it would be almost impossible to get an OH-58 into
the Standard Category because of the modifications necessary. The people I
have asked about this say that, while it could probably be done (one of those
never say never deals), the cost would be totally prohibitive considering the
number of 206's on the market. If I'm not mistaken I think the same holds true
for the UH-1.

It is for all practical purposes impossible to get a UH-1 into Standard
Category, to do so would require replacing most of the basic airframe
structure. Bell kept the military and civil 204/205 completely separate;
different production lines, different spares/component lines, and a
prohibition on the furnishing of civil components/spares to military
users. Of course, after making the aircraft conform, you still have to
get the serial number on the TCDS.

--
Paul Baechler