just remembered
ifresh, as well as my normal daily (extensive, blades and all) I used to pick on a particular area of the machine every day as opportunity permitted and look / feel very carefully at that spot for abnormalities. It really pays off to talk with others as you have done here. A few other points come to mind, such as lifting your collective right up and moving the cyclic so as to give you good access to the underside of the swashplate, get used to what is supposed to move and what isn't. The ball and slider hardware can become loose in the housing. Also another good check is to to put the collective in about the cruise position and frictions off move the cyclic around just aft of neutral and mix it around a bit gently, this can sometimes show if the ball is becoming worn or the teflon is wearing off the slider and you might feel the controls grab a bit and jamb up. Should this happen in flight dont continue to force it through but back off the control input and it will usually free up and then reintroduce the control inputs seperately and have a quiet word with your engineer. This usually just means changing the ball and slider. I hope you have been shown correctly but when checking nearly all components (rod ends a good example) make sure you place a finger across both items while you manipulate one section with your other hand so as to feel directly the movement.