I own a helicopter school in the USA exclusively using Bell 47's. I could operate R22's much cheaper than the Bells. However, I am not convinced that a helicopter that requires extraordinary reaction times to lower the collective in the event of an engine failure, or that requires a special chapter in the CFR's or requires CFI's to have special training is completely safe. There are other reasons, my instructors and I are not slim. I say muscular and toned but the result is we are all about 200 - 230 lbs. We have no problem at all with weight with full fuel. In fact we have one or two students over 300 lbs and that is still within limits.
We routinely train our students full touchdown autorotations. I suppose our instructors do 5 to 20 full touchdowns a day. In 22 years doing this at my school never had a problem, never damaged anything.
If you think the R22 is safe, I'll make a bet with you. You fly alongside me in my Bell 47 in your R22 and we will chop the throttle together. I bet you drop the collective first by a long, long way! We'll do it in the climb to make it more interesting if you like.
We think the Bells are safe and we like them. They always cause a stir when we fly and I will operate them as long as I can but in any event we won't be operating the R22. My personal choice.
Good luck to you if you like the R22, that is your choice.
Regards,
Chopperpilot47