Originally Posted by
Flying Bull
And I would go for the Cabri cause it gives you more fun, due to a greater movement envelope available, giving you more reserves in turbulent condotions or when you need to avoid a bird/ other aircraft seen late i.e.
Evenso I haven‘t flown a Cabri yet, I‘m following its development for quite a while, actually from before cerification - and I would jump into a Cabri without hesitation. But wouldn‘t do a ride in an R22, even when free.
Then you'll never know which one is more "fun" from personal experience, will you? Having flown the 22, 44 and G2, my (very limited) experience is that the 22 is the most "fun", with the 44 a very, very close second because the hydraulics and extra power are a worthy trade-off to the sheer nimbleness of the 22. The only thing you can't do with either are low-G maneuvers, i.e. pushovers, which, while arguably fun in the G2, is the only thing the G2 does better in the "fun" department. Most notably, the Teflon tape used in the G2 control system vs. the bearings used in the Robinson control system gives the Robinsons a much more positive, lighter and precise control feel. To be fair, that makes the G2 easier to fly, but not as "fun".
Just recently I had the good fortune to fly with a very experienced Robinson instructor (>10,000 hours in Robinsons). I asked to do something "fun" in between things that were "hard" and we found a nice place for him to demo and me to learn about agricultural type turns for spraying operations, which he also has quite a bit of experience in. I even got to try some myself. Quite fun! Not ready to go out and spray fields or screw around with this sort of thing by myself, though
Most important: this speaks to the "who cares about fun in the first few hundred hours" point Hot and Hi made. This should not be a factor in choosing your training machine. But the fact is the Robinson helicopters are quite capable of having safe, enjoyable "fun" while remaining inside their allowable flight envelope.