One piece of advice I got here on RCU while looking in the beginner forum was that you do have a choice in who trains you...you don't have to be forced into someone you don't like or don't think has the skills. I'm going to be spending probably quite a bit of time at my local field meeting people before I have the funds to get my radio/club dues/ama so I'm sure I'll have a good idea which instructors are good, which guys are dopes, etc. Some people are just cocky. Personally, I don't even like the idea of having the responsibility over someone elses plane. I doubt I'll ever be an instructor just for that reason...too bad you got suckered by an idiot (no less took your clip and left his, he was obviously rushing). It's just plain disrespectful and cowardly for whomever that was to leave after crashing another persons plane!. Not even a 'sorry,' I hope you never see him again, but if I were you, when I did see him he'd get a piece of my mind...and my foot, for sure (no not really, just getting upset thinking if it'd happened to me)...better luck next time.