Yes, there is a common theme when anybody talks about teaching themselves to fly. And that theme is Get an Instructor. If I had to venture a guess I would say that it's about 1% or so of people can successfully teach themselves to fly, and out of those they ALL have to repair/replace their planes at least once. I can't urge enough to get an instructor to learn to fly. It's probably the MOST important factor in learning to fly.

Ken