No, I think its because so many of the upper echelon of the FAA are
inept and not professional pilots. Why???? Because 20 years ago the FAA
in its weird way was hiring so many brand new inexperienced pilots as
part of the "affirmative action" policy and hired a lot of barely legal
commercial pilots as general aviation ops inspectors. Over the years,
they have risen to the upper reaches of the FAA and are now in policy
making positions. That is rearing its ugly head in dumbing down
requirements for pilots because the rule makers don't know what in
phuck they are doing!
Shall I tell you what i really think and not sugar coat it?
As for the R-22 and high density altitude lack of performance, I guess
that speaks for itself? Sure as hell didn't have much to do with pilot
performance...or did it? The R-22 is popular in SoAfrica and
Johannesburg sits at about 5,000'msl. I haven't heard of any particular
problems there? I spent a couple of years flying in that area some 30
years ago with both piston and turbine helicopters and airplanes.
Arrrgggghhhhh
Best Regards
Rocky