In threads about entry into autorotation and the time available for the pilot to react, the subjects of low rotor inertia and the Robinson R-22 inevitably come up
Lu mentioned on an earlier thread;
" It has been brought to my attention that on the R-44 the pitch horn extends beyond the cone hinge by approximately 28mm.". I believe that the design of the R-44 hub and the R-22 are basically the same. An exception to this similarity is that the pitch horn on the R-22 is inline with the cone hinge. This raises an interesting subject for consideration.
When the pitch horn is on the leading edge of the blade and it is beyond the coning hinge, the rotor has a Pitch-Cone coupling. This coupling causes the pitch angle to reduce as the coning angle increases. One cause for an increase in the coning angle is a reduction in rotor speed. This Pitch-Cone coupling characteristic serves as a type of rotor speed governor, since by removing pitch it reduces the rate at which the rotor looses speed.
The implication is that, all things being equal, the pilot should have more time to react in an R-44 than in a R-22. Might this be true?
Related info on the Groen gyroplane for anyone interested
[Groen added]