180 Autorotation

28 Apr, 2026

Purpose and Objective

A 180 autorotation is an essential maneuver in every helicopter pilots toolkit. The maneuver allows a pilot to safely and controlled take a helicopter, experiencing significant loss of engine power, down to the ground with a turn into the wind or towards a suitable landing site.

Maneuver

1. Setup with 70 KTS and 850 feet AGL. Conduct a pre-landing check, and brief the autorotation and who has the appropriate controls.

• Example: “We will be doing a 180 autorotation. I will have all three controls, including the throttle, throughout the entry glide and flare.”
  
• Do not enter the autorotation without these entry requirements met. If the setup is not good, initiate a go-around.

2. Reposition your left hand into an “underhand grip” position on the throttle.

3. Once we are abeam the spot (90 degrees to our left/right), hesitate slightly and call out: “Entering Autorotation in 3… 2… 1…”

The hesitation is dependent on the tailwind experienced in the downwind. More wind means shorter hesitation.

4. Smoothly, but deliberately, lower the collective full down, apply right pedal, and aft cyclic to maintain pitch attitude.

5. Roll the throttle off into the idle position and raise the collective about 1-2” as appropriate (pitch-pull). Then perform another pitch-pull.

6. Begin a smooth turn towards your spot using a lateral cyclic input, keeping your eyes outside and dragging the compass along the horizon.

• RPMs should be stable throughout the turn, as long as our nose attitude is stable.
• The airspeed indicator is unreliable in the turn.

7. After turning 90 degrees, quickly check your spot and determine if you have to make any adjustments to the last 90 degrees of the turn.

8. Roll out of the turn by applying smooth lateral cyclic, while lowering the collective slightly. Level-out no lower than 300 feet AGL.

9. At 200 feet AGL, conduct a “200 foot check”. If we do not pass the check, initiate a go-around.

1. Rotor RPMs stable between 97% and 104%. (Low RPM horn is off)
2. Airspeed is between 60-70 KTS.
3. Over centerline.

10. Between 40-100 feet AGL begin cyclic flare.

1. Level the nose attitude.
2. “Baby”-flare.
3. Check RPMs, if high do a slight pitch-pull.
4. Flare.

11. At around 8-10 feet AGL, the engine RPMs should be married with the rotor RPMs and power recovery completed.

12. Raise collective while simultaneously applying forward cyclic to level the helicopter, and apply left pedal to prevent yawing.

13. Keeping efficiency and vibrations, walk the helicopter down to a hover.

Common Errors

• Dropping the nose during the turn.
• No secondary pitch-pull.
• Overshooting or undershooting the spot due to not factoring in wind.
• In a left turning 180 autorotation, nose high attitude, causing low airspeed and high RPMs.
• In a right turning 180 autorotation, nose low attitude, causing high airspeed and low RPMs.

Performance Standards

Private Pilot for Rotorcraft Category Helicopter Rating ACS, Area of Operation VI, Task C.

Highlights

• Establish power-off glide with the helicopter trimmed and autorotation airspeed ± 10 KTS.
• Maintain RPMs in normal operating range.
• Roll out no lower than 300 feet AGL along the flight path to the selected landing area.
• Initiate proper power recovery.
• Terminate autorotation to a stable hover within 200 feet of designated point.

#maneuver