I have all the checklists of course.
We usually use "abreviated" checklists and I am sure I can get you some. And then there are always the pages out of the POH. Let me know what you want.
How much detail are you looking for?
About the torque thing:
It's usually a transmission limit. All the helicopters I fly (Rangers and AStars) have some sort of a hover limit (5min or under a certain speed and so on...) and that's usually 100% torque but not always.
That limitation would be the top of the "yellow arc" on the gage.
For forward flight we have the "green arc" with the limit being called "maximum continous power" which happens to be 85% on the Jet Ranger. So your friend is right, it flies quite nicely at 85% torque.
In the Ranger if you would pull the power (collective) in forward flight (above 80kts) past 85% you would get into what they call "mast bending" (pretty much self-explanatory) due to the high speed and torque forces on the mast.
So, it should be avoided. (actually MUST, not should)
In a hover (and I am now talking about the Ranger only) you can pull 100% torque for 5min (sling loads, high performance take-offs, and so on). If you overtorque the aircraft then (and I have seen it done) you will most likely start making metal in your gearboxes because you're stressing them past their limits.
There is a lot of other things to know and watch out for and I am guessing that a simulator, even a good one, probably won't take all that into account.
And why isn't there a stop on the collective that would keep you simply from overtorquing?
Any good guess?