those of us who fly these wacky machines on a routine basis are still very much test-pilots, much more so than our fixed-wing counterparts.
That is a sobering thought.
Sobering, yes ... but also somewhat to be expecetd given that the acft our fixed wing counterparts are flying have several more decades of practical cumulative development experience - about 100 years for FW vs about 60 years for RW (give or take a few). And, a similar but even more exaggerated experience gap in terms of cumulative units produced. The next 40 years will likely see considerable advances in most aspects of helicopter safety and reliability.