I have been to the Robinson factory at least 5 times. I have had two full tours of the facility and I have ferried two new Robinsons away from the factory to Canada.
The first new ship had 5.2 hours on it and my memory is the second was around the same. As stated above; that is 5.2 hours of testing in the air. During the Robinson Safety course I flew for 1.1 hours with a Robinson test pilot. We actually used Frank Robinsons own ship as the course was full and a one hour flight was part of the deal and they were short of helicopters. It was the same as all the rest.
After touring the factory I have even more confidence in the Robinson product. The pace is state of the art or better, clean and organized. If you have not seen a 500,000 square foot CNC precision factory before it is worth the trip alone.
I have no idea what brought down that R-44, if you have the knowledge you say you do then just tell the story.