Originally Posted by
aa777888
@Torquetalk please confirm that by "low cost" your meant "more easily accessible and affordable" as opposed to "poorly designed or incapable"
aa777888, I was simply talking about cost. The Robinsons are what they are and perfectly capable aircraft if flown properly.
The R22 is very light and there is very little energy in the main rotor and little authority margin in the tail rotor. It‘s a bit like a metal gnat. But gnats bounce of things harmlessly when they hit them, R22s don‘t.
The R44 is as different as it is similar. There is much more energy in the main rotor. R44s accidents are often performance related, with pilots clearly flying into situations which are just accidents waiting to happen. Many will have done a lot of autorotation training, but generally neglected the skills and knowledge needed to fly in performance limited situations. Exactly the kind of situations they are likely to find themselves in because it is a four seat helicopter, whilst training is generally done with 2 on board...
I have also flown an R22 in high winds, but I think you need to be very careful about when and where and why you would do this. Also had LTE through sheer niavety in an R22. Might have happened in other light types, but I reached and passed a limit very quickly in that case.
One of our fellow ppruners was killed ferrying an R22 back from Spain some years ago, encoutering CAT on the lee side of the Pyrenees in high winds causing the aircraft to break up mid-air. They clearly didn’t see that coming.
But Robinsons are not reasponsible for bad decsions to fly. At least one of the pilots involved was quite experienced in that case, but clearly failed to anticipate the danger. A counter example would be the Gazelle accident in NE England on a high wind day some years ago. In that case, it also involved a pilot flying in the lee of hills on a high wind day and completely lacking the skills and experience to be in or cope with the situation he put himself in. Nothing to do with the aircraft, he was just too cocky. Sadly not around to learn the lesson.