I'd expect this poll to point out one important fact for beginners. First, consider that people responding to this poll are still in the hobby. Without checking I'd guess some of these people are still beginners (this is in the Beginners Forum after all). As number of respondents increases you should find that most people that stay in the hobby are taught by someone else. This is because, if you are self-taught, you're likely to crash several times before you bring a plane down in one piece (unless you've at lleast used a simulator). After the first 2 or 3 crashes many beginners get discouraged with the hobby and give up. If you're really interested in this hobby, get someone to teach you. If there's nobody around to teach you then get a simulator. I've started to teach my son to fly on Realflight and he's 4 years old. This should give him a good start before I take him out to the field.