Originally posted by jon.emmons
There is an interesting thread going on elsewhere on this site about teaching without the buddy box. From what I understand you overlap thumbs on the stick with the students. You manuver while they relax and feel the inputs you make, then you have them try and you feel exactly what they are doing. It seems like it might help Bob et. al make the connection between inputs and what they see. As long as you are willing to sacrifice your personal space for a while.
How I was taught was having my thumb on top of the aileron/elevator stick and my instructor's thumb and forefinger was underneath my thumb. As far as invading any space is concerned, he stood next to me close enough so I could hear him give instruction. BTW, it was only about 5 minutes that he was this close, after those few minutes, he stepped back a couple of feet and more or less simply made "suggestions" as to which way I should move the sticks.
On my very first lesson, I made several landings and takeoffs; with no previous RC flying experince nor sim time. I've also seen him do the same with spectators.
To show me how stable trainers are, he laid the tx on the ground and stepped back for approximately 1 minute. After that, I realized just how easy learning to fly can be.
nascarjoe