When is heading hold turned off?

• A. Swivel to steer
• B. when pedals are engaged
• C. CD release
• D. above 40 kts cyclic / trim switch

Answer: (A)

Heading hold keeps the helicopter pointing in a selected direction by using yaw control, but it intentionally steps back when you actively steer with the cyclic. When you swivel the cyclic to steer, you’re providing a direct, manual steering input, and the autopilot recognizes this as a request to maneuver, so heading hold is automatically disengaged to give you full control of the turn. Once you stop moving the cyclic and settle into the new path, the system can re-engage heading hold if configured. The other options don’t describe the typical trigger for turning off heading hold in this setup: pedals are a separate yaw command, a CD release isn’t related to autopilot disengagement in this context, and a high-speed/trim condition isn’t the control being described here.