I'll take credit for encouraging "baby steps". 500 million years of vertibrate evolution has proven it to be the best system of starting out when you're new at something.

Yes, you can learn to fly with a hot P-51

Yes, you can eventually go from a cheezy S.P.A.D. to a plane that flies on the wing instead of just the engine.

Yes, you can crash 'em and walk away with 75% of your investment still intact (the airframe is only 25% of the value of most R/C set-ups).


But, sometimes it's good to have someone tell you to not move the prop on an engine after a "figure 9" until the carb has been flushed of dirt so you don't ruin the cylinder/sleeve (which can cost as much as a new engine).

But, some clubs will (rightly) boot your butt out if you crash often and are unrepentant. That's just dangerous.

But, a S.P.A.D. wil lget you bad habits that will cost you "real" planes if you don't compensate. When the engine dies at take off on a scale bird and you have a background of jumping a S.P.A.D. into the air, you're in a world of hurt and re-kitted balsa because you have no idea how to prevent a stall.

But, sometimes you want to advance, and being self taught you don't know jack until you figure it out by trial and error. That's darned expensive in this hobby. Lots of dead ends, lots of gear ends up in garage sales because frustration won over bullheadedness. I was self taught 25 years ago, but not well. And that was comming off years of free-flight and control-line. I gave up and sold everything. I got back into it in my second childhood and found an instructor with a buddy box. WORLD of difference. Getting help or just talking to other fliers teaches you things you never dreamed of. Different approaches to improve engine performance and flying equipment/methods. The self-taught have only one viewpoint . . . and that's looking up from the bottom.

I guess I'm just a dinosaur from the time when airplanes needed wings and horsepower couldn't make up for technique. Some of us here made a lot of costly and painful blunders and we are freely offering tips on how you can avoid them. If you're the personality type that needs to go your own way and make your own mistakes, fine. You can torque roll the box the plane came in for all I care. Just don't belittle those that ask and those that try and answer. Some people appreciate a variety of viewpoints to absorb . . . not just their own.