torque spikes are caused by numerous factors, i will assume we are talking about clockwise rotors based on first post. we will assume we are traveling at 80Kias. at this airspeed, the rotor is tilted forward and has some coning angle. because of this, the front half of the rotor disk "sees" a relatively horizontal(clean) flow of air. the rear of the rotor disk sees a more vertical airflow(or induced flow). so in straight and level flight, more induced drag exists over the rear of the disk. when we command a RIGHT cyclic input, the blade over the tail increases its mechanical angle and AOA. the blade over the nose does the opposite and reduces its angle. because the total drag is higher in the rear AND we commanded a larger amount of lift(and Drag) in the rear. the total rotor drag INCREASES. this is sensed by the governor as a droop and fuel is increased. now, for the the LEFT cyclic... first we must discuss blade efficiency as it relates to drag. as angle of attack is increased the profile drag increases in a parabolic manner. for twice the angle, you get four times drag(give or take) so when you turn LEFT you are actually reducing the angle over the tail(in the high drag zone) which means if you cut the angle in half you cut the drag by 4. you still have increased drag over the nose though, and because of this, the torque will decrease but not as much as it increases. factors that affect this are GW(coning), DA, Airspeed, and the RATE and Magnitude of the cyclic movement. ok hands hurt. im done!