Sure, a guy with good social skills and a skill for putting things the right way can avoid coming off as judgmental when asking questions like that. Of course, that only describes about 10% of people who get into RC. My point is that the instructor is volunteering his time to you, and asking questions like that can be tantamount to looking a gift horse in the mouth. If you're paying the instructor then a thorough questioning is certainly in order, but hardly anybody does. The instructor I originally worked with wasn't very good, and would have lost interest in helping me had I scrutinized him. Then I wouldn't have had an instructor at all because he was the only one who could meet me when I was able to come out to the field at the time. The new pilot has to remember that everything the instructor does is a favor to him, so if it's not perfect that's just going to have to be ok.