VF
VF, I respect your experience and I can sense that you are raw as hell about your dead friends.
I sympathise with you: I too have several dead friends, especially from my microlighting and hang-gliding days.
Some of these deaths were from designs that didn't have enough safety margin (these was in the 70s and early 80s) some of these deaths were caused by us pilots putting them together wrongly or modifying a design, but even then most accidents were from inexperience, flying in conditions beyond the ability of the pilot or just plain bad luck.
I don't think that any Robinson model has ever been grounded by the FAA or CAA, despite all the ADs and SBs that have been applied over the years. The only certified rotary aircraft I can recall being grounded in recent years was an Air Command Gyrocopter. If I'm wrong, I'm happy to be put right.
So this must say something about the Robinson? Never grounded, thousands sold, millions of hours flown, and hundreds of improvements made over the past 35 years.
One last thing: I completely agree with you about the AS350 -- its a great aircraft and very capable in all respects.
Big Ls.