An embodiment rotorcraft includes a main rotor, one or more flight controls connected to the main rotor and operational to control flight characteristics of the main rotor by pitching a nose of the rotorcraft upward, and a flight control computer (FCC) operable to determine an attitude command and to generate an adjusted attitude command by adjusting a magnitude of the attitude command according to an above ground level (AGL) altitude of the rotorcraft. The FCC is further operable to control a flight characteristic of the rotorcraft by sending the adjusted attitude command to one or more flight controls.