A Robinson has a 2200 hour life from new and has 12 years in which to use those hours. If the 2200 hours are not used by the end of the 12 years, then they are lost and each hour you have used has cost you relatively more. It is like insuring your car for the year - the more miles you do, the less your insurance has cost you per mile driven. The difference is, that in the helicopter scenario, you are paying up front for the hours you have left to fly because the more hours the helicopter has remaining, the more it is likely to cost. It is for this reason that you should decide how many hours per year you are going to use before selecting a helicopter. That way, you will not be paying for hours that you are not going to use.
The Enstrom has component life (different timings for each component) but no time limit by when they have to be used. This means that you do not have to decide how many hours you are likely to use in any year because any you don't use one year are still available to use the next.
