This brings up another point. Strictly my opinion, but I think that the learning curve for heli's is a lot steeper than it is for airplanes. When I am teaching somebody to fly an airplane will have them do a "stunt" on their very first flight. I'm talking about a loop, which we all know to be pretty easy to teach to a student. Pull back on the elevator stick, hold it, hold it, hold it, and release. They've done their first trick on their first flight, and they will have an ear to ear grin on their face for days to come. And before everybody picks me apart, I do show them how to properly do a good loop later on in their training, but I just want them to do something on the first flight and this is on of the easiest things to teach to a new pilot.

Now when I've watched heli students it seems like they hover FOREVER before they even start doing other things, most often moving side to side. I'm not saying that learning one is better than the other, or vice versa. I'm just saying that from what I've seen it seems to take longer when learning to fly a heli before you can do any "stuff".

That's my 2 cents worth.

Ken