The weird thing was, all the old-timer B-model pilots who later popped up to say, "Oh yeah, those Bravos used to nose over quite often, we never worked out why."
Quite a lot of time in the
B and neither heard of, nor experienced the tendency. Urban myth or beer talking?
The idea that he had 12 seconds to escape in a freefall from 1200' is ridiculous
Assuming they were in level flight and subject to zero "g" (actually accelerating under the influence of one "g") following rotor separation it would take a fraction under eleven seconds to reach the ground from 1,200 feet (8.6 seconds if one assumes no drag).