Sick of R22 Bashers
In the 20 yrs that I have been flying R22/R44 I have always noted something about the people that knock the R22, they invariably fly for others, mostly larger types and turbines. They fly for someone else their whole career. They never put their hand in their own pocket to go flying. In fact they get paid (and whinge its not enough) to go flying. The guys who would never get in a Robi have never had to make the choice of fly a Robi or nothing!!
I know of dozens of guys who would never had a license or gone on to bigger helicopters if they hadn't got a start mustering a 1000 hrs in a Robi.
Well for the last 2,500 hrs Ive paid for every hour, in 14 different Robi's with never a problem. The problem with R22 accidents is that people can't read and stay within the boundaries of the flight manual, and or persist in doing stupid things like to the ground auto's. Have a look at the low accident rates for those who do the safety courses, its all to do with application of knowledge.