I generally agree that the Ragland technique seems to work better for most people. Personally, I learned on the old "gimme the box" method. It worked, but I wouldn't suggest it

Some of the other ideas about holding the airplane and showing how it responds are great, wish I thought of it (I don't have any difficult to teach people right now, but had one years ago that I still remember). I wonder if something like the AMA's little table top plane would be useful in this area.

I think part of that is that the Buddy Box is frequently "mis-used", and Ragland tends to compare his technique to the worst of the BB, not the best. (though as I said, I do think it's better than the best BB). I don't use Ragland myself, though, my club has a rule that all beginners have to use a BB, beleive it or not. And I don't feel like fighting a political war over it. Too much BS, not enough flying.

Here are some common "mis-uses" that I've seen, and ways to make the BB work better. (IMHO)

- No groundschool/understanding. It's really easy to let the beginner on the box before they really actually understand what those sticks really are doing, and how things interact. I've been guilty of this myself, not taking enough time prior to starting the engine to make sure the beginner knows how the controls should be used, and why. Common problems include the things mentioned above like understanding throttle vs elevator, and other things like "boxing" or "jabbing" the controls (pumping in "jabs" of control input, not the proper smooth "feed and hold"), or "binary control" (full stick or no stick). I try to tell guys how to move the sticks, not just which stick to move in which direction.

- Taking over too soon. A lot of instructors take over so quickly and so often that the beginner never learns how to recover, or even what they did to get there in the first place. If the plane is upside down, and you have altitude, let the beginner get out of it, just talk to them. I only take over when I have to avoid a crash.

- Allowing the beginner to become instructor dependant. I've seen beginners who were really fast to say "take it!". I only take it when needed as above, and then for only as long as necessary. Though I do allow newer students to ask me to take it over so they can catch their breath here and there. Guys closer to solo don't get breaks while the plane is in the air, you want a breather, get to level flight, then relax.

- Communicate. Someone else pointed out how important it is to say "I got it" and "you got it".

Anyone have some others?