Crab, I have to agree with you. Having been a QHI on Gazelle and Scout for many years I flew the R22 over here in Canada to have it included on my Commercial license. I found the R22 to be cramped, under-powered, EOL characteristics of a flying chunk of concrete and the cyclic set-up absolutely ridiculous.
If I had the choice of a piston helicopter for training purposes.......the Bell 47 G4..........not as fast as the R22, but who needs speed in the training environment???
For operational use........twin engined turbines are the only way to go for total safety over built up areas.