Count me among the self taught. I had a few lessons 20 years ago, but life got in the way and kept me from continuing...

Then I bought a GWS cub and learned how to crash it more gently each time I took it out. Once I had mastered crashing, I was able to figure out sustained flight. I went through a couple more cheap electric foamies, then built an electric balsa aileron trainer and re-joined the local club. Once I could fly the electric aileron trainer confidently, I built a Kadet LT-25 and hung a Fox .40BB on the nose. I did have a club instructor maiden that plane for me. After he trimmed it out, he handed me the Tx, watched me fly for about a minute and walked away. He said, "you don't need me. Think you can land in one piece?" I did.

Important caveat: Learning on your own is not for everyone. I tried and failed several times to learn how to fly r/c, and that's with full scale aviation experience and years of building simple free flight gliders and rubber-banders. Learning to fly with help is the smartest thing to do, but it is not the only way.