"The R22 gets a slating for being a dangerous machine with low rotor inertia"
The Robbie used to get a slating back in the early eighties,Today all your kitset helis have way less inertia than a modern R22. Remember that Robinson have made over 5000 helis and every one that goes out the door now has 27 years of proven R and D, Safety courses, Good and bad experiences from all over the world which is taught and learnt about by todays pilots.
These R22s do not do tens or hundreds of hours like Rotorways but thousands of hours day in day out all around the world - If you have a problem someone else has had it too and you can get proper help to fix it, If you want to sell or upgrade it you can do it instead of losing thousands of dollars on a homebuilt project, The element of mystery is not present and all you have to do is fly it. Just look at the sales figures........money talks.
If I had 150k to spend on a budget helicopter the R22 would get it hands down.
