sierra-papa (" mountain-potato" translated to spanish)
I haven't said that flying R22 for training was a waste of time, I just said the machine has a tendency to develop nasty habits in pilots, (I guess like flying any other helicopter good habits too) If you ask me the reason why soo many people fly the "thing", its because its cheap, and easy to mantain, I think the Hughes is a far better trainer it just hasn't been properly marketed, big schools like HAI are switching and that is no coincidence, I think its because a lot of their students go straight to Pro Pilot Jobs in turbine helicopters and their transition was more difficult coming from the R22.
You say its up to the instructor to correct things like overcontrolling, most R22 instructors have a couple hundred more hours than the student, they think stirring the cyclic is normal!
As for the transition course anecdote, that might have been the case there, but its usually not like that.
Makes me wonder if basic training is the same why doesn't the US Army, (and other armed forces of the world) do their basic training in R22's or similar types? Its just not the same.