I've got RF G2, and I'm largely disappointed and bored by it. It doesn't model spins well at all. Straight and level? Sure. Loops and rolls? You bet. Sims have been doing those things since the '80s. Sims are a nice approximation of flying, but they're not flying.

I didn't have an instructor when I learned. Mostly because I was a stupid, prideful teenager. I'd been playing with model airplanes in one sense or another from a very young age on. Flew U-control at the park. Read RCM for years. I was familiar with glow engines from that. RC cars helped with the electronics and servo mechanics, and because of them the left/right reversal never gave me trouble. I spent a bit of time at a club field before learning to fly, picking up bits and pieces of knowledge. Built my trainer from a kit. I was very fortunate in my first flights, but in a very real sense I had spent quite a bit of time preparing.

It's all about what a person is willing to do. I think, for the vast majority of people, it's easier and more comfortable to get some help from people who have been there and done that. I would imagine everyone who uses this forum agrees with that. The more experience you get, the more you realize how many things can go wrong. When you're just starting, you don't envision any of that. You don't have any idea what problems are critical or not, or even if certain problems exist.

The other thing that a person doesn't know enough about when they're new is safety. Where is it appropriate to fly, and when? What kind of damage can this toy do if I'm not in control of it? What are the time-tested methods and procedures that are second-nature to those with experience?

The sad part is that sims can produce confidence out of proportion to experience. Logging dozens of hours behind the monitor just doesn't equate to dozens of hours of really operating a model airplane, along with all the problems and "oppsies" that attend that real-life time.

In the larger scope, sim-taught pilots can be very, very bad for the hobby. All it takes is for one--let's call him exuberantly inexperienced--fellow to harm or kill another person in a school yard, and what will happen to this hobby? Insurance rates (read AMA dues) for those of us who are "legitimate" flyers will go up. Certain companies may exit the market due to liability concerns. Some places will legislate or regulate the hobby to the point where it can't exists there. Flying fields will become harder to secure and keep than they currently are.

Large-scale ARFs and sims make the above scenario entirely too likely. There's a responsibility not just to ourselves as individuals, but to potential spectators/victims and the hobby as a whole. Please keep these things in mind.