...is SOP in the Robinson (piston) helicopter world. Unlike fixed wing, no flywheel effect to keep the motor running if you accidentally overlean, or descend without releaning. Engine is more likely to just stop stone dead, than "run rough" but keep turning, which can be a big deal in a heli, so we're told not to lean at all. Doesn't seem to cause any harm, despite my own very real experiences of plugs fouling in aircraft engines that have been run too rich. And it's moderately easy to forget, thus upping fuel burns, when you're just learning.
Re 10540, I couldn't agree more. Why suffer? Course, your passengers need to be close friends not business clients you're trying to impress, and it's far more complicated for women...but yeah, I treat fuel management & bladder management as separate issues
One final thought, on fuel reserves. The other reason I think it's unwise to use a 30 minute reserve, apart from simply giving yourself more options at the other end, is that of calibration. Until one REALLY knows one's aircraft, it's hard to know exactly how much fuel you're burning. You have to be very accurate on fuel burns, if, say, you've got a 5 hours-to-dry-tanks endurance, and you're trying to land with exactly 30 minutes in your tanks. I think it requires quite a few flights in any given aircraft, at different altitudes & power settings, doing the 'post-flight wash-up', to be really accurate. I'd guess that a lot of the fuel exhaustion accidents happen when people thought they, had, say "30 minutes to go", (30 minutes? Too short. Just cos it's legal don't mean it's safe!) or were just cutting into it a little bit, so still had a safe "20 minutes" to go. Fat reserves = no sudden silences.