Er, I think you might be mistaken actually.
My R22 study guide (don't have access to the FM anymore) has the rotor diameter as 25 ft 2 in. It also quotes the height from groundline to rotor hub as 8 ft 11 in. By my calculations that put the 3 ft skid height at just about half the rotor diameter, which would be IN ground effect still. (you would guess this intuitively anyway).
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Another day in paradise