Aucky - you sound like my wife (God bless her) in that "you don't understand me darling":
I am not denigrating Uncle Frank - he has transformed private helo flying. Without him, it would still be seen as a dream for the majority of mortals. In fact I am not actually rubbishing the R22.
I am flagging up the fact that when Frank built this meccano kit, he built it with the bare minimum of everything: metalwork, horse power, systems, performance, TBO's, etc etc. He did it to keep costs down and to be able to build on a mass scale. He either forgot, or purposely ignored the key element: The squidggy soft fragile component that sits inside making it work.
92% of all R22 accidents are due to pilot error compared to the global average of 72%. This is where I come in. I am commenting on the fact that the Robbo is very unforgiving in the wrong hands. And if we can't reduce the number of squidggy soft fragile control modules wanting to fly helo's, then perhaps the next best option is to remove the Robbo?
In support of Frank and his mates, try this for a fast ball:
Robinson R-22 Accident Analysis 1979-1994
It states the Robbo is the safest ever light helo
But it can't get away from the fact that the NTSB hate robbo's with a passion (don't know why
).
Now this comes with a warning: The guy authoring this is also a rep from the
R22 & R44 Pilot & Owners Association and is an avid defender of the types.
Finally there is always this from an old buddy of ours (original Ppruners), who has sadly passed away now:
http://www.pprune.org/rotorheads/189...inson-r44.html
Lu absolutely detested Robbo's with a passion - however unlike me, he hated them because he genuinely thought they were unfit for purpose
Food for thought ...........................................