I agree whole-heartedly with the hard-liners that say that helicopters should be flown two the book 100% of the time. In an ideal world this would be the case and this would be adequate for safe operations.
However, let's consider some human factors and the type of people that Mike Smith will spend most of his time teaching and examining - UK PPL's. These guys typically will not necessarily have any special aptitude for helicopter flight (though of course some will), just the desire to fly or surplus money!
For low time inexperienced pilots I feel that confidence in their ability and the machine will be low (compared to that of more experienced pilots). This in turn can be a major contributing factor in events leading to accidents - 'trying too hard', being tense and uneasy in the air, distracted by trivial details etc, etc.
Flying with someone with the supreme level of confidence of Mike Smith and other such characters in the UK and overseas can significantly improve the confidence of low-timers and hence allow them to relax more at the controls and be safer pilots.
Okay - so what happens if the engine did fail? Well it wouldn't surprise me that with MS at the controls if he were to put it on the deck without a scratch but if the worst comes to the worst from 4ft with zero ground speed you going to have a controlled crash and walk away.
Considering the unlikeness of an engine failure without warning and then the fact that an engine failure with this pilot won't be as bad as it could be then I feel that the benefits outweigh the dangers.
I believe a different more formal approach is necessary for commercial check-rides, but given the unique nature of helicopter flying in the UK and the PPL students it attracts, I think this is a justified pilot development approach under the circumstances.
CRAN