Original Message

that he lost tail rotor authority after M/R droop, tried to fly it out with what altitude he had, and got real lucky in getting back to the LZ.

Pretty common occurence with B and C model UH-1's in RVN.  You can pull it off if you have a runway to settle back down on if you don't get enough airspeed while in ground effect to climb out.  Swapping ends was not uncommon followed by a hovering auto and another attempt.