to the nr fairy, if you trained in australia and were not taught to do touchdown autos you were not trained to the c.a.s.a. sylabus as it is a requirement to do this training and most companies do heaps. you must have been taught to fly in a r22 or with an instructor who was not up to speed,that seems to deter a lot of instructors. you have to realise that autos in nearly all types of helicopters are not a problem for most pilots even more so for pilots with experience, and an experienced pilot should be able to get his machine safely to the ground in an emergency. as long as you maintain the right forward speed for the machine you are in till flare height and slow the helicopter down you should be able to walk away with you, your pax and the machine in one piece. this should not be a problem. the problem is what is the surface like that you have approached to. anything but a reasonably flat hard even surface will give you a very difficult time believe me. the r22 has so many variables in auto that life can get tricky at the bottom and it is extremely fragile in the skid area. pilots roll them up regularly on prepared surfaces more than any other type let alone to an unknown clearing. it's great to be able to auto rotate successfully and cream them on but it is getting it into that position correctly at the flare at the right speed that counts. the reason that some countries don't have a high accident rate in training is because they don't do touchdowns. r22's are extremely expensive to buy and maintain and insurance is off the planet. losing a machine is a massive cost to a school.one school has wrecked 4 machines in twelve months 3 practicing autos. go to a flying school that has a machine that is a little more forgiving and i am sure they will let you throw it at the ground. good luck.