There was a German WW2 fighter that relied on something like that, not as silly as it sounds
The prop of a fighter is a different beast than the prop of a helo; in single-rotor designs, the torque effectively slows the rotation of the rotor (because the body in freefall is torquing in the opposite direction; remember that the tail rotor/equivalent is not turning either). Further, the lifting/aerodynamic surfaces of the fighter can be used to point the nose down in order to gain speed; helos can't do that; worse; if you actually manage to start the rotors, there is no guarantee that the plane of the rotor will be at a useful angle with the ground; if the hello flips over or noses down, it will not fly even if the rotors get up to speed.
Autogyro rotation? works only once the rotors are up to speed; if attempted with the rotors at a dead stop, they don't gain enough speed to be useful.
besides, with Airwolf, you just need to have the jet's going, it would totally work :D
I'd rather use Charlie's Angels'
Luck of the JediTM feat; jets or no, Airwolf has no useful control flat-flight surfaces; if it is pointed down, it might break the sound barrier in a terminal case of deconstructive lithobreaking. ::)