I got my PPL(H) in 43 hours including the exam, in about a month from start to finish - flying often is good, just not more than an hour or so at a time in the beginning because you'll be pretty brain fried. This was in the R22 in the late 80's before the SFAR...
It also probably helped that I had about 800 hours of military enlisted crewmember time, so being in a helicopter to begin with wasn't new. I also was familiar with radio usage & could read maps pretty well
