I agree that an instructor will help. In fact I have enlisted the help of someone I met on these forums to show me the more difficult stuff. Yesterday when I didn't just have one successful flight. I went through numberous fuel tanks throughout the afternoon, so I probably have half a dozen or so successful takeoffs and landings. I know that doesn't make me an expert or anything maybe just extra lucky. I think it was the sim that did it. When I fly I try to think of emergency situations and then put myself in them and see if I can get out, of course I am doing this at a high altitude where there is an extra saftey factor. Where I fly is out in the middle of a farmers field and mine is the only car around for a mile or so. There is an rc airport here but I am not good enough yet to fly around other people so I will stick with the farm field for a while until I feel comfortable with extremely controlled takeoff and landings.