John,
A very succinct appraisal of the Cabri although I had to admit that your comment about de-selecting the cyclic trim sent me scurrying for my POH in case I had missed something.
Rule of thumb for the trim when reducing power and speed on the approach is 2 secs down and 2 secs right. Your movement of 2 secs up and 2 secs left re-set the approx trim condition for forward flight in climb or cruise which does indeed make life easier.
Just made a rough and ready look at G-INFO and could not see a new R22 registered here for at least five years which makes the UK sales of the Cabri all the more remarkable.
In addition to the huge leap in safety offered by the Cabri it is not only more enjoyable to fly but in the longer term will cost less to operate. True, insurance may be more as it is related to hull value but there is no 12 year general overhaul requirement except for the Lycoming engine. At 2,200 hours only the two gearboxes and engine need to be overhauled. As service history builds it is the intention of the factory to increase the gearbox TBOs to 4,400 hours giving a further reduction in operating costs.