Originally Posted by
hargreaves99
Yep, that’s the one. Only seen one machine with it installed, and the owner trading it in at the factory late 90’s for a new R44 resulting a 15k USD cut in the pre-agreed trade-in price, due to the installation.
I do wonder if not being able to follow through on the controls closely (either with your arm in the air or holding the centre upright) has been a factor when mast bumping has destroyed the aircraft during autos and PFLs when converting FW pilots to RW - an engine failure in a FW normally elicits a forward control movement in a FW, not what you want in a teetering head RW when the lever is dumped.
I am more concerned about the MR head design, where instead of one teetering hinge like on the Bell and Hiller models, you have 3 that can cause the 2 blades to flop around independently from the MR main hinge in a low G setting such as turbulence.
Having had the questionable pleasure of training an ex F104 pilot in the R22, I know how close you want to be on the controls and how low the RRPM actually can get without ending up as a black mark. Thankfully many years ago….