Thanks, SBoyer. I think when you say, "the collective design ...... allowed us to get by with a built in friction of about 5-6 pounds as opposed to the 10-12 that the 212..." this means also that the for and aft movement of the Pilots collective meant that you only needed the friction for the CP collective, and thus could get away with half the "normal" value.
Makes good sense. I always liked the 222 collective.
BTW you guys were the enemy back then, I was the chief pilot and demo pilot on the S76! I recall the emergency exit story we test pilots swapped back then!