Trying to make sense of light aircraft accidents and statistics is a black art, assuming you get a definitive conclusion notwithstanding the large differences in accident investigation globally. There will be little conclusive information until we see light aircraft with lightweight, affordable and crash-resistant cockpit recorders
The technology today wrt CFD analysis and modelling is far better than when Robinson looked at it the ages ago.
If I recall correctly, when Bell had issues with the 407 tail rotor excessively flapping they couldn't reproduce the issue either but yet the pedal stop was introduced and the issue ceased.
I am certain the Robinson phenomenon is a culmination of factors from design through operation.
It is after all a machine that is popular due to it's cost-effectiveness and cost comes with compromise. I suspect the machine could be improved quite significantly with an articulated head (ala Cabri) and conventional control systems but then that would cost a lot of cash making them somewhat less attractive.
Last edited by Bell_ringer; 12th Oct 2017 at 17:50.
Reason: A fault in front of the keyboard