With any single engine helicopter having an engine failure, the top priority must be to lower collective.
Then check your other parameters, height, airspeed, suitable landing spot. For example if you are cruising at 1000 ft or higher at 110 kts, why immediately reduce speed to 65 kts.( Assuming that is the recommended auto speed ) if you can not now reach a good landing area ahead of you. Maybe you will need max range speed of 90 kts with minimum rrpm to stretch your glide to reach a good field past the 200 ft trees or buildings.
After t/o you basically land straight ahead, so you don.t have so many options other than to establish auto with sufficient rrpm to cushion the landing.
Too many pilots always want to do a big flare at the bottom and then level and hopefully make a slow run on. Great over a flat area and if you are in current practice. Over hilly or forest terrain, I used to teach a vertical auto so that you could let yourelf into a hole in the jungle. To fully demonstrate this point, I used to flare at any height, 1000 ft or more, and drop vertically into wind at the wind speed which meant no ground speed. Initially of course most pilots found this tricky because it was against their ab initio training but soon realised it was a life saving technique in certain conditions. I also found more pilots who weren't in current practice did a constant speed auto better than trying to do fancy flares and low level leveling.
