yeah, the effect goes away when you are up in the air over the diameter of the rotor blades, so about 2 to 3 feet.

if your friend has flown it and done quite well at it, and he didn't say anything was off, then you're probably good to go. If you need to keep it on the ground to learn, just live it some right cyclic and then when you get more comfortable lift it up a bit more. =) just whatevre works so you can get it in the air