My first flight.... My instructor didn't hand over any of the controls until we were about five minutes in to the flight (had to go to a specified training area) and then he let me have the cyclic first for a bit of attitude training, then the collective and finally the pedals.. in flight it's not that hard.. it's the Hovering thats the tricky part...
The best description I've ever heard for learning how to hover "it's like trying to stand on top of a basketball, that's sitting on top of a wet bar of soap, and trying to keep your balance"
He also did a demo auto .. let me see how long the machine could go with the low rotor horn on and did a cool confined.. had a blast.. was totally hooked.. not that I wasn't before but..