It's definately possible to learn on your own as others have mentioned. I am another that tought myself to fly. BUT it did take a couple of false starts before I really tried to get it right. I started building kits before I ever though about learning to fly. My dad had purchased an old "red box" TF P-51B and gave it to me to build for him. I got it about 80% done and he lost interest so I traded it for some RC car stuff. Fast forward a few years and I'm in the Air Force stationed in England. One of the guys I was working with was rotating back to the states and gave me his RC stuff. A Goldberg Falcon 56 kit, and one if the old radio systems from Tandy or someplace. [8D] I built the kit, and did a really good job on it and the covering. At this point in time, the internet wasn't even a dream, and I had no clue about CG or ailerons being reversed. I just plugged everything in and made sure it worked. Alas, as what happens with MOST people that try without an instructor, the flight lasted about 5 seconds. It was tailheavy and the ailerons were reversd [:@] I got frustrated with myself and gave up. A couple of years later, still in the AF, one of my students mentioned he flew RC and had brought his "something" biplane with him. He said he'd show me how to fly, so I built a Goldberg Eagle 63. This time I had him check everything over and he determined it was good to go. He took her up and flew a couple of circuits and then flew it into a tree. I was heartbroken AGAIN. I gave up after that for a good 10 years. Now, a couple of years ago I picked up an old Goldberg Eagle II, built it and went out and flew it. My first take off was good and my first landing was decent. I practiced with it for a few weeks until I was too low and slow on my turn on final approach and stalled it. To get back flying quickly I purchased some unknown ARF trainer which still hangs from the ceiling in my shop.

In the begining, I tried without an instructor out of necessity because there was noone on base that flew. The next time I DID try with an instructor and he destroyed my plane. The last time WAS out of PRIDE because I KNEW I could do it. In the 10 years between tries, I flew many flight sims, and learned a LOT from the internet. After flying the ARF trainer for a few months, I was completely bored with it. The instructor at the club/public field that I fly at said I was more than ready to move on, and that's when I built a 4*40 from recommendations from people right here on RCU. Since then I've built a Something Extra, A Tower hobbies Fun-51, and I'm in the middle of a TF P-47 build. I will be building a Goldberg Ultimate this winter, or maybe a bigger gas powered Ultimate if I can convince the wife the cost would be worth it

One of the hardest thing for new flyers to learn is the correct control inputs when the plane is coming towards you. I had a little easier time from my experience with RC cars, but one of the greatest things I heard here on RCU made it very simple. To level out the plane when it is coming towards you, move the stick in the direction of the wing that is lower. That little bit of information made learning on my own much easier. When I first started, I used to almost think out loud to make sure I was controlling it correctly. Now, it's pretty much automatic. So, I have to thank RCU for being here. Without it my re-intrance to the hobby probably wouldn't have been as successful.