Just want to say Thanks - Big Time. This is a great thread.

I have been instructing for about 10 years or so. And I have found a number of tips and hints here in this thread that I will be using to improve my teaching techniques.

The key I am seeing to being a better instructor is Communication - Communication - Communication. Too often I am saying things to my students that I know what I mean, but thinking back on it, I am not sure that my students did. Also, there is the case where my student is asking a question and I am answering the question I think he is asking, but it may not be the answer to the question that he really thinks he is asking.

Now my $.02 is that the simulators and buddy box have revolutionized the art of RC instruction (I learned in the days of the dinosaurs). The first gives practice in an idealized situation. The second gives training in the real world with all its warts, while letting the instructor step in (usually) before disaster strikes.

Thanks for letting me rant on.