Nick
Can you clarify...
When we're practicing "settling with power", climbing to 2,000 Ft, slowing to zero airspeed (sometimes needing to induce a descent), raising collective and watching the VSi swing to indicate a descent of 1,200 fpm or more - are you saying that the initial indications are not VRS? From a safety point of view, isn't this a moot point, as we're trained to recognise the onset? Or is "real" VRS more perilous than what we actually practice?
I have heard that in some types - such as the schweizer, you're not really in VRS until the tail "drops away" behind you.