Obviously, as tecpilot pointed out, the actual auto entry that you will use depends a lot on which flight regime you're in.
Helicopters like the B47 and such have cruise speeds that are only slightly above their autorotation speeds, so it's not surprising that inexperienced or low-time pilots like What-ho Squiffy are confused as to auto entry techniques.
However, if you're in a faster ship and you're cruising along, fat, dumb and happy at a speed above your "best auto" speed when the engine quits, then it is proper to make an aft cyclic input either slightly before (if you happen to be tuning a comm radio with your left hand) or simultaneously with lowering the collective. PHI trains this technique and only half-jokingly calls it "graduate-level flying." The idea being: don't just simply slam the collective down when the donk bites the big one.
This gives you the advantage of TIME, mates. As you decelerate to best-auto speed, you can look for a spot, turn into the wind, crap your britches, or make a mayday call on the radio.
Lowering the collective alone at high a/s has a tendency to make the nose drop. At high a/s, lowering the nose and the collective will produce a very nice sink rate, indeed! This is obviously not desireable.
At lower speeds and altitudes (at or below best-auto speed), it should also be obvious that making an aft cyclic input would be wrong. In this case, all you can do is lower the collective as expeditiously as possible and land right underneath where you are. Good luck. And if you have enough altitude, you *might* have time to lower the nose to pick up "best auto."
A worst-case-scenario for any helicopter would be an engine-failure during a high-power/low airspeed take-off. It seems that the R-22 is particularly unforgiving in this area. For this reason, it would probably be wise to avoid such a technique in a Robbo unless absolutely necessary (e.g. people shooting at you, or no other alternative).
In cruise flight, R-22 pilots can probably tune their radios, fold their maps or pick their noses with impunity, safe in the knowlege that if they do run out of gas and the engine quits, the rotor won't come to a complete stop in the time it takes them to get their boogery fingers from their mouth to the collective.
But on take-off, HOTAS at all times!
Last edited by Flare Dammit!; 10th July 2002 at 15:27.