If you want to fly, you can. But the reason you need someone close by that does, is the NEWBIES always try to fly in the next town, while they are still home, more planes have been lost to them being to far out and cant see what the bird has done before it finds the good old brown stuff. Or when you are doing a low approach and you want the bird to go left and it GOES RIGHT, because you feed the wrong control into the bird.
I did learn to fly on my own...... I had a bird that was strong at staying together. I landed on top of a barn, into the side of a hanger, through a tree more than once, in to a tomato field but I learned to fly by my self. this only took 3 months to do. Just have fun and take your time at this and you will be alright After all I SOLO-ed on my first flight. LOL