[hawkman]

Height? I would go as high as possible....and do some steady descents followed by a nice gentle landing.....get this right without dithering and you are almost ok to try a real auto.....dither and you will ruin your heli....because if you spend too long trying to hover during an auto you will loose rotor rpm which will end in disaster....the heli will drop like a stone.

When you are ready, set your throttle hold...but INHIBIT it.....so this way you can fly about...get some height....flip the throttle hold switch....and make sure that collective is DOWN....because we want negative pitch....the heli shouldnt plummet out of the sky....a nice steady descent....push the collective up nice and steady as you reach the ground....slow that heli up....and land as gentle as you can.

By inhibiting the throttle hold you will program yourself into landing without thinking too much.....when you feel ready....activate the throttle hold and go up nice and high....flip the hold on while lowering the collective.....you will hear the engine idling.....and you should hear the blades making a nice swishing sound....you might even hear the rotor speed picking up.....the heli should drop steadily...but not plummet....you want about minus 4 or 5 degrees...too much will let the heli drop fast and can actually decay the rotor rpm.

Keep the heli slightly nose up....NOT NOSE DOWN....and keep it heading into the wind....let the heli drop steadily....if you chicken out then hit the throttle hold and get that engine back on line....climb away steadily and try again....

IF you have a failure...ie engine has conked....DO NOT PANIC....just let that heli drop nice and steady....and as it gets close to the ground raise the collective but not too much....let the heli settle down onto the ground...DO NOT LOWER THE COLLECTIVE TOO FAST ONCE YOU LAND!!! doing this can induce a blade to strike the boom.....you will hear a 'crack' and the heli will end up on its side.

Low height? if you are zooming about and the engine conks out its all down to judgement...and split second timing.....you will be low but should have a good headspeed....just aim to land as quick as possible....keep that collective lowered....but not too much....fairly heavy blades will hold a lot of reserve energy.....good practice is to zoom about....and then land without hesitation....take it easy though beacuse if your field is rough you can end up breaking the heli for no need.

I would get a simulator....I cant stress this enough.....I good way of learning to auto on this is to set your fuel level/time and zoom about....ignore the timing.....when the model runs out of fuel you have to auto....chances are if you can crack auto on the sim then you have a far higher chance of success in real life.

Another bonus of autos is that if your tail rotor fails.....and the heli just spins like a lunatic....you can climb out and then hit throttle hold.....do this at height and you can then steady the heli down with the cyclic....using small movements and then land the heli, hopefully keeping it in one piece.

What heli are you flying?

Rob