I, like many experienced UK pilots on this forum, have been following this thread with interest and have refrained from entering the discussion. In the past I’ve had a reluctance to display my experience as it’s no different from many others. But to support the following statement, I am an ex military QHI and civilian TRE/IRE, have been instructing/testing in the military and civilian world for over 30 years (including N.Sea and police aviation) and have therefore engaged in countless auto rotations – as many others here have. I comment here because inexperienced pilots on single engine types who have been following this thread may hesitate a little to assess parameters before reacting to an engine failure.
I agree with Rotor IP and TC. Lower the lever – immediately. Simple. Think about everything else after that action; most times, instinct will drive cyclic inputs, but it won’t help at all if the NR is irrecoverable.