K77,
A year or so ago, I was in a position similar to yours: just getting started with helicopters (but with 40+ years in airplanes) and planning to fly the R22. I was concerned about the R22 safety record and did estensive research into accidents, reading all 400+ accident reports on the U.S. NTSB website, the special report published by the FAA about 1996, and also doing the Robinson factory Safety Course via DVD. Frank Robinson has staed that the R22/R44 are safe if flown within the approved operating envelope. My research seems to confirm that statement to be correct, however, it also suggests that the approved operating envelope is so narrow that inexperienced pilots have difficuly remaining in the approved envelope, even with an instructor in the left seat. After flying the R22 for about 25 hours, I concluded that, for me, there was a sufficient level of concern that I stopped flying the R22 and moved on to the Enstrom 480B and Bell 407, both of which are considerably more forgiving, and wildly more expensive. Each must make his own call on this issue.
EN48