The fact is that there have been far too many hydraulic system related mishaps in the AS-350 series. Having been checked out in only the B2 and B3 models my experience is some what limited. But my experience tells me that any extended flight in the AS-350 with the hydraulic system inoperative can be very fatiguing to a point where control may be compromised. While attempting not to sound sexist I cannot help but believe that most women pilots would have difficulty controlling the aircraft after experiencing a hydraulic failure. This may have been evident in AS-350 mishap in Apache Junction Arizona in 2005. The following was copied from a previous post on PPRUNE concerning hydraulic servo transparency. Something has to be said about an aircraft design where even the hydraulic system is not capable of over coming flight load in some situations.
I am really surprised that the AS-350 series was successfully certified with published control forces so high. Even after a single system failure (Hyd or Servo transparency) the resulting control forces must not exceed those outlined as Arm strength N (lb) Design criteria levels in Chapter 14 of the US Federal Aviation Administration Human Factors Guide. Table 14.5.2.1 of this guide clearly states the maximum force for a right hand, lateral control motion to the left should be no more than 6 to 8 pounds. This is far in excess of what is published in the AS-350 RFM. US designed and certified aircraft are required to meet these requirements. These standards were applied when Sikorsky included viscous cyclic control dampers in the H-53 Series to insure that in the event of a control damper bind it could be easily over ridden within the force limitations of the aforementioned table.