This is not the first time that this subject has been raised and I'm sure not the last.
In some respects the R22 has ended up as the trainer because it is the supposedly cheapest to operate out of the small choice list.
Justifying this, training schools have indoctrinated the students to believe that if you can fly the R22 you can fly anything. Which is not really true.
I agree that a training helicopter should have the inbuilt degree of forgivness to provide firstly a confidence moral and secondly the chance to learn by trial and error. Few students get the hang of the flight techniques at the first attempt.
I learnt on the Hiller12B/C, Bell 473B1 and Skeeter. All had ungoverned throttles and I have accumulated about 5000 hours on these and about 300 hours on the R22 with governor. I prefer to control the ERPM myself so that I know what is happening. The automatic control of the R22 provides the student with the confidence aspect but takes away the control. That together with the icing 'carb with the barb' problems and you take away the confidence boost that was provided for with the govenor.
The landing gear is too basic and any small error has proved to end in an accident. The simpicity of the start sequence is great and allows more time to be given to flying. While flying in anything other than 'best conditions' the student has to have in their mind that any unintentional pitching moments of the fuselage/disc could end in disaster, eroding the confidence level again.
As someone has already pointed out that the 300 is a better training machine and costs are almost similar. So I wonder why budding pilots are still fighting the R22 when they could enjoy better.