RotorBoy- Awesome post. Thanks for taking the time.
I am posting to challange what SASless says. I tend to disagree. I considered that myself and a good friend of mine that has over 8000 hrs RW said something that made a lot of sense to me. He said, "if you want to fly helicopters, learn in a helicopter, it will make your instinctive reactions to an emergency situation that much more sharp." Sure it's more expensive but...we all know that a split second decision can be the difference between life and death.
Just IMHO
Fly Safe...
P.S. I recommend HAI personally.