I agree, the risk of downdraft throwing up a bit of burgee line into the rotor head seems rather high.
The owner has also been spending a bit on a new nav system in New Zealand.
A Ryan 9900 BX TCAD identifies surrounding traffic and reports their movements and differential altitude on a high-res Moving-Terrain MFD. This MFD displays full-color original chart material and graphical non-stop weather information from the European Radar Network. Other features include terrain warning, high-end sound system, noise reduction head-sets and extra strobe lights.