Chopjock, 5 seconds for the cyclic to respond AND gain some airspeed. Of course I am aware that entering auto is a recovery technique. However, it still takes time and height to gain some forward speed in auto and to then bring the power back in and arrest the significant ROD. You can't just enter auto and raise the lever again with zero airspeed can you? Entering auto does tend to improve the cyclic response though, I have found.
The point I was trying to make was I think it is crazy to think that 100 feet is enough to allow for a recovery from any form of VRS.