The job I was on is complete, so as promised Cropduster here is a summary of how the R44 went - excellent. They certainly are a very good machine, & the only problems we had were with already known faults.
Magnetos - I understand that the threat of litigation has kept the piston aero engine in the stone age, but I am very quickly losing my patience with failing magnetos. 4 failed mags in 3 months is not acceptable, giving me a total of 7 magneto failures in 2000hrs of flying R44's. Not a Robinson fault as they are on a lycoming engine, but when a machine crashes people don't report it as a "Lycoming crashed". I wonder if the engine bay in the 44 is too hot for the magnetos, even with the piped cooling air??
Blades - it is common knowledge that the R44 blades are extremely lightweight, & we suffered damage from flying objects being recirculated in the rotorwash while landing. In the sandy/dusty environment we were operating in it was impossible to keep the paint on the blades to the minimum spec as stipulated by Robinson. 1 1/2 days after the leading edges were painted by the engineers while doing a 100hrly it was worn off again. We tried repainting them in the field which didn't work. The paint either didn't dry in time or peeled of in sheets. I honestly believe that if Frank doesn't come up with something better than "keep the paint on them" to prevent delamination then it will be the downfall of the R44. CASA is getting pretty tough on enforcing this which will have a lot of operators running scared if they need to paint the blades a few times between 100hrly's.
Hydraulic System O'rings - These seem to be made of an inferior product as we had 4 cases of hydraulic leaks on the fittings between the resovoir & pump. I have many years experience maintaining caterpillar mining equipment so I know that expecting a full life out of an o'ring shouldn't be too much to ask.
Those are my 3 main gripes, but if you pay attention to these areas above & beyond the stipulated requirements you'll have many hours of troublefree production out of the R44. It is a pleasure to get in & out of a machine every day for months on end & have no airframe or flight control problems to contend with. I don't miss the grease-gun out of the Hiller 12e toolbox, that's for sure!!! The R44 is very "lightweight" in the fuselage & cockpit area, so if you had a pilot who didn't pay attention to looking after the cosmetic aspect of the machine it will quickly deteriorate, but will still be a safe & functional helicopter. I hope that helps with any dealings you have in the future with the R44, Cropduster, & PM me if you need more detailed info.