It'll take another Frank Robinson
Making money, making helicopters is difficult. In fact in almost all first-world countries engineering in general is not really very good business (in relative terms) - ask any venture capitalist or investor...(and I quote)
"Tell me CRAN, if you were sat where I am with this big pile of money would you (a) invest Xmillions in property development/insurance and double your money in a year, or (b) give you Xmillions to you to develop a new unproven helicopter for a tiny market with little growth potential, which you will have to gain at least a 50% market share to make any real money and even if you did we would probably loose it all again through product liability suits..."
The real problem is actually even worse than that...
The problem with contemporary light helicopters is actually not the helicopter, it’s the engine. Simply stated, contemporary reciprocating engines are far too heavy to allow a good helicopter to be designed around them. Furthermore, much of the cost in light helicopters is directly and indirectly due to the deficiencies of the engine design. So if you were seriously going to design a next generation training helicopter i'm afraid you would need to start with the engine. We are all aware of what aerospace folk-law says about designing a new engine for a new aircraft! You just don't do it...
Therefore, if we really want a next generation machine then it is my belief that it will take a dedicated and capable individual to invest copious amounts of time and energy to design test and develop such a machine off his own back. Once all of this is done and a viable product exists, then and only then will the venture be taken seriously as a business proposition. Frank Robinson is just such a person, but unfortunately he is 75 and there is no technical successor amongst his children, so when his glorious reign finally draws to a close the Robinson helicopter company will become another Schwieser or Enstrom as their designs gradually becomes obsolete.
There are many projects around the world that seek to superseded the R22 and R44, but they all suffer the same problems; the chronic shortage of funding during development and then the massive cost of certification. I have a two-seat machine on the drawing board that would render the R22 instantaneously obsolete and would offer some serious competition to the R44 in the PPL owner-flyer market. However without a third party investment it will take many, many years for me to develop, test and certify the machine by funding it through my own business. So simply stated, if the helicopter community really wants a quantum leap in performance, cost effectiveness and safety then it will need to put its money where its mouth is and invest in some of the people that are working in the area. If it doesn't, well, it took Frank Robinson 20 years to get his first model of the ground, so you'll be enjoying low inertia, low performance and dubious safety for a couple more decades...
NOTE: The thread to which Dave referred was the 'Let's make a helicopter' thread by bugdevheli.
CRAN