RE: Recommendations for those new to RC Flight
I can assure you that the clubs I belong to, formal, and informal, definately adhere to all AMA guide lines where we fly. One of our "informal" flying fields is at the local Senior Center and those of us who fly there are all AMA and we fly there like it is a formal club. The longer I am in this hobby, the more I get attuned to things. There are simply some folks that will be able to learn the way GBLynden suggests, and there are those that won't. For those that won't, the club/instructor thing is the way to go, although I have seen some that don't get it even with an instructor.
The bottom line is, nowadays, with all that the current technology has to offer it is possible to learn "on your own" without spending a ton of cash. I did it, and so can others. There are so many awesome possibilities in this hobby that it staggers the imagination to think that 15-20 years ago, this hobby was pretty much an elite realm, and I don't mean that disparagingly; maybe that's what makes the "learn to fly by yourself" idea so abhorrant to the old guard, I don't know. To be honest, without the VI software and stabalization built into the HZ Firebird Stratos, I may have failed. I will never know because that was the first non-helicopter RC aircraft I flew and I did it successfully the first time. Sure I crashed her a couple of times, but repairs were made and she flew again.
I do admit that I bought more than my share of trainers, but I enjoyed all of them. Money wasted? I don't think so. They gave me pleasure and that is all that counted. Like I have mentioned, those trainers are in the hands of select family and friends now and those planes continue to do their job well for those untrained folks. I love this hobby and will continue to recommend certain trainers based on my experience, but, I will also continue to recommend getting help from a club/instructor. That just makes sense.