New Guy
I'll echo Fury's comment about them being like an airplane.
I got up the nerve to leap into real forward-flight with my new Caliber-30 last week (It was the 6th tankfull).
After getting past the first turn and feeling out how much rudder it took to be coordinated, flying the helicopter around in circuits was absolutely no different than an airplane. After a couple of full circuits in the pattern I reduced power/collective a little in downwind, let it glide around base to final, flared and added a little power to a nice hover.