Snobird - I've read somewhere that rotorcraft (in general) are 8X more dangerous than general aviation aircraft. Gyros don't nearly have as bad a safety record as EMS or Logging Helos. I you're going to fly rotorcraft, you're going to take more risk. As for rotor blades, today's modern epoxys simply must be better than the glues available on Bensen blades in the 1960's and I've never heard of Bensen blades delaminating in any significant quantities. With wood-specific epoxies it's usually the wood which breaks 1st instead of the bond. Wood is also not life-limited like aluminum. This is why many helicopter flight schools in the 70's & 80's used wood blades instead of aluminum. They would get 3X the life out of them. However, wood takes more care and inspection so lifetime is based solely on condition. Assuming condition is good, you can place every bit as much faith in them as other materials. The reason you don't see any wood rotors around anymore is because the process for making wood rotors does not lend itself to modern mass production techniques (like extruded aluminum). Wood rotors require far too much eyeballing, sand finishing, and sealing to be mass produced by todays standards. But for someone wanting to spend $200 instead of $2,000 it might be just the ticket.