Had an hour in VVB's G2 at Elstree the other day, "auditioning" flight schools near me to continue my training.
Having had 16 hours in an R22 in South Africa (Rand airport, 5300' ASL) all I can say is I'm impressed.
The hover was difficult at first, not used to the amount of right pedal the fenestron requires at liftoff and hover.
The pedals also seemed quite "sticky" to me. Not many hours on the aircraft so it could still be a "breakin" period compared to the multi-100 hour r22's I've been on.
Easier than I though to make the transition to right pedal for collective power (being an opposite MR rotation to the R22)
Cyclic very stiff in comparison, but good in limiting exaggerated rookie pilot pot stirring. Not as stiff as when your check the R44 controls with hydraulics off. Maybe half that. Definitely not as floppy as a well used R22 that behaves like it's got erectile dysfunction. (apologies if that triggers anyone)
Once I got the pedal sensitivity, I found the hover not too hard (in comparison), but still tended to yaw left if I wasn't on top of it.
At cruise you didn't notice and it behaved as expected.
Loved the stability at cruise. Found it much easier to hold a steady alt/speed. Plenty of time to look out the window and enjoy flying considering it was my first hour in it.
I also though the lack of vertical bar in the screen would hurt my ability to hold attitude visually, but the pin holding the string is just as good.
The glass cockpit is gorgeous. Odd that it dims to almost unusable level when you turn on navigation lights.
Flapback wasn't as prominent as I expected, but ETL vibration was obvious in the taxi. Not disconcerting or affecting control, but an obvious marker as to when ETL was occurring. An obvious "jiggling" feedback to the cyclic.
I thought it was a lovely machine, great for training.
Definitely a challenger to the R22. With the overhaul lifespan on the robinsons, this brand has a lot going for it for schools.
I've done a £ breakdown and while the instructor at VVB was trying to tell me the G2 was more expensive than the R22 (maybe at their previous R22 prices) it's still cheaper per hour (once VAT is included) at the other schools at Elstree and Denham.
Flight schools might like to brag that the Robinson is "raw" flying, but I think that pilot progression will accelerate with this aircraft.
The reasoning that it takes typically 60-70 hours to become proficient rather than the 45 minimum (EASA) may face a challenge with this ship.