Ken,
That seems to be an arbitrary decision of the FAA and perhaps in question for a couple of reasons. My 2006-2007 Janes states in the Schweizer entry that the 300 series has a Schweizer Engineering designation of 269, (its piston powered antecedent), not Marketing designation. Further, the 300 series are substantially larger and after the 300C are all turbine powered such as the 330, 330SP and the 333. Seems our FAA is mixing apples and oranges together, my opinion. You are correct in stating it doesn't sound right.
There are a lot more 330s and 330SPs out there. The San Antonio, TX police use 330s, the US Navy RQ-8A Fire Scout Northrop-Grumman VTOL UAV is based on the 333; ditto the proposed armed MQ-8A for the US Marine Corps. Chesapeake Bay Helicopters of Virginia uses a 333, as does Aero Optics in Wisconsin and multiple 333 buys by the Dominican Air Force are in use.
I suppose you are constrained by the FAA classification, but would it make more sense to call it Schweizer 269/300 series for searching and accuracy?
