EOL's to the ground
Apologies for the thread creep and note that the following is submitted firmly on the understanding that I am touching wood and am not tempting fate in any way.
IF you choose when and where to do EOL's in the R22 they are very straight forward and you can re-engage even right at the last second if the instructor doesn't' like what's developing. Go to experienced examiners who fly the R22 a lot and you will learn that they can be done perfectly safely when appropriate. There is no need to do them in unfavourable conditions or complicate them with unnecessarily difficult entry points - 500' downwind off airfield etc. all that can be handled with in power recoveries. The point of an EOL to the ground is to give the student a confidence booster that they can do it if they have to but there is no point in habitually throwing helicopters at the ground at every opportunity in all manner of conditions. We can't simulate every possible scenario and landing surface and would certainly bend far more helicopters if we tried. The important thing is to get the helicopter down to hover height with minimal forward speed and rate of descent with straight skids - after that your touch down surface is in the lap of the gods - but if you have confidence in the surface integrity, why not put them on the ground when conditions are right.