Okay Rabidcat, if I read this right, it seems like you had two separate problems: 1) Too slow response to a throttle chop in one auto; and 2) Allowing the RRPM to get too high during a 180 auto. Both events caused the examiner to take the controls and apply corrective action. With that in mind, he quite appropriately busted you. Face it, your RPM control is...well...weak.
You keep harping on the fact that you were "tired." Aww. Hate to repeat what you already know, but the helicopter doesn't care. And frankly, being tired is no excuse. (Someone should have mentioned to you that your checkride was not going to be a simple cakewalk in the park.)
A lot of people (not saying you, specifically) think that helicopter flying is just a lark - that it's just oodles of fun!...much more so than that boring ol' so-easy fixed-wing flying. Well guess what: Helicopter flying is fatiguing. It takes intense concentration, 100% of the time. If you perceive yourself to be tired, you step up your game and compensate for that. If you allow yourself to use "I was tired" as an excuse for poor performance either on a checkride or in your general, post-certification flying, you'll end up being a poor pilot.
We who do this for a living understand. We make sure we have enough stamina to do the kind of jobs guys like Gordy do. I've had plenty of 16 to 18-hour duty days (legal in the part-91 world) when my last landing was to our uncontrolled airport out in the middle of nowhere which has such pathetic lighting - and then I have to put the helicopter on the dolly on the dark ramp. And you know what? At the end of such days I'm tired too.
So. Get some more practice with your engine-out landings (sounds like you need it). Then go back and retake the checkride and kick some examiner a**. Show him what you can do! THEN come back here and proudly announce that you're one of us now. We eagerly await that p
I agree with most of what you said, just don't confuse my "tired" comments as being me crying or making excuses. It is what it is... I was tired. As a pilot do you not accept being tired as a factor? I actually think my RPM control is pretty good most of the time... I just got a little sloppy on that 180. It has been awhile since I had any RPM issue during entry and descent in an auto, usually more of a flare issue for me. Anyway, I am trying to keep a good attitude, trying to recognize my mistakes and flaws as well as correct them. I don't claim to be a great pilot, but I strive to be a good student and pilot. Not sure if anyone here can claim to know the pilot who was born knowing how to fly a helicopter, with the perfect pilot personality, and physically ready to go out and fight fires and whatnot for 18hr shifts. I try to get a grasp of my strengths and weaknesses every time I fly. I feel a bit lost in the woods a lot and don't always know how to correct some of my weaknesses, but that probably comes with more than 75hrs of experience. It's a work in progress (hence the term training)...
Where are your shortcomings as a pilot?
How did any of you build up the stamina to fly the hours you currently fly?
Do you by chance have the fh1100 pilot blog?