I have had a few thoughts as I was reading the replys. and I rember when I was first getting intersted in helicopters , I had never used anything rc, except cheap wallmart cars. I was a flight sim junkie and I knew the basics of how real helicopters worked. I was in my LHS one day , and the guy behind the counter was flying this little red counter rotator all over the store. it was the coolest thing I had ever seen, I knew rc helicopters were soposed to be one of the most difficult rc toys to control , so I wanted to know what the deal was with this thing, I asked him how hard it was to fly , and he said not to bad... I asked him if I could fly it, and I said , if I could get it off the ground without breaking it I would buy it right there and then. he told me to just keep it very low and just try a few short hops to get a feel for it. I asked him what controls did what , and I am sure that scared the crap out of him. well it wasn't the best example of controled flight but it flew and I was hooked. what I am trying to say is that certainly our heli's are expencive and I am not telling any one to risk there own funds or prized helicopters on newbees, but keep in mind in most cases the reason they ask , is that they are interested. by all means protect your investments , but also be friendly and answer questions about how they work , how hard they are to fly , what they cost , and what your experiances have been. if the guy behind the counter had been the least bit rude he wouldn't have gotten a sale, and I wouldn't be flying helicopters now. he went above and beyond by showing me how to fly it. and wouldn't have had to actualy let me fly it . but there really is rarely any need to be more than firmly polite that its difficult , its expencive, and here is where ya can get one of your own that I would be very willing to share my knowlage with you on your own heli.