You know, I hope I don't come off harsh here to anyone because I certainly don't intend too. My intent is to help people have a long, happy love affair with this hobby. I just don't understand though why people always want to ignore certain guidelines when learning to fly. Trainers are called that for a reason. Certain planes are recommended as good second aircraft for good reason too. I see a lot of people figuring they can get a Giant Scale P-38, a turbine powered F-18 or high performance Yak-54 for a first or second plane. They are just inviting disappointment and frustration. There are plenty of good resources such as your list, web sites, manufacturers recommendation, etc. that can help someone choose a good airplane for their skill level.

This information is compiled from a lot of people with a lot of experience. People new to the hobby should trust and follow it. Yes, there are innovations and things can change but the general progression of learning to fly exists for a reason.

I also don't understand the reliance on a simulator and the false sense of confidence it can cause. I can fly any of the jets in Real Flight pretty well. Does that mean I'm ready to go out and fly a $15,000 turbine powered F-15? Of course not. If I didn't soil myself on the first 200MPH pass, it would end up as a fireball on the edge of the runway eventually. Give me a few more years of experience though and it will hopefully be a different story.

If people followed sound advice on flight training and progressing to different planes, they'd probably save a lot of money and frustration by not crashing as much (that's not to sy crashes won't happen of course). I even see it t my own field. People will ignore the advice of very experienced, very talented pilots & builders. I suppose they do it because they don't want to hear what they are being told. They almost always crash their plane due to ignoring the advice they were given. Go figure.

When I was 16 and got my drivers license, I wasn't handed the keys to a 427 Cobra for a good reason. When a full scale pilot does their first solo, they don't tell him or her to go tear up they sky in a SU-31 or hit Mach-2.4 in a F-22. You have to progress and learn appropriately so you don't damage machinery, yourself and others.

That's not to say that no one can ever fly the wild 3-D planes, scale war birds or turbine powered planes. In fact, I'm saying just the opposite: learn to fly right so you CAN and WILL get there. Sure there are exceptions. Every now and then someone comes along with remarkable ability and aptitude. Those people are few and far between though.

My point is that people need to really listen to those with the experience and use the wealth of resources out there to learn how to do things the right way. Trust me, I've figured this out the hard way.