I did learn to fly a collective pitch from scratch on my own as my introduction into RC due to necessity of not knowing ANYONE down here who flew helis at the time I moved to Christchurch (didn't even have a sim at the time), I have since joined a local club and started to fly planes.
What that has allowed for is useful input from other (more knowledgeable) members, and helped with moving quickly into my 2nd plane after an earthquake a few years back totaled my old trainer. While I had thumb memory etc from the heli, being able to have someone work through the initial steps of getting to know my plane has been invaluable going forward.

While it may sound like I am playing the devils advocate, I have been on both sides of the solo/'mentor' (instructor) fence debate, and I can say that the 'mentored' way of doing things is a LOT better.
That said, I am also a HUGE advocate for including a GOOD simulator into the mix, those things have saved me thousands in heli repairs over the years!!