just a Q about buddy boxes.

are they only/most common in the USA?
IMHO it restricts the radio choices of the newbie as the MUST have the same as the instructor.
they also seem to be unnesesary for a lot of the World and IMHO add nothing to the training and confidence of the learner.

I'm prepared to take some flaming here as IMHO they are a restrictive nusance to the Newb and do not help with training, i much prefer the Ragland technique or a good stable trainer plane and letting the newb control everything with an instructoe close by