MinnFlyer:

Yes, I agree with you. I would have loved to have an instructer out there with me. But I live in a rural town and it's amazing that we even have a flight club. The designated "instructor" for my club is kind of busy and would never have made it out when I wanted to go flying. Being impatient and wanting to try my "new investment" I tried flying my plane as soon as possible. The reversed aileron induced crashes were painful, but after I fixed that I was able to take off and land on my own without any further crashing. (On my first 4 or 5 flights I was forced to land dead stick because each time my engine cut out)

In retrospect I would say the route I took wasn't the best. I did buy a new plane aside from my original trainer (duraplane trainer 40). The original plane I had was the LT-40. It's still in working order but I had to make repairs from all those times it hit the grass upside down 3 seconds after takeoff. That was the price I had to pay for not being patient enough to wait until mid June or so to fly. I still do think that if a person has some determination, is relatively intelligent, and is a little more careful in checking what he or she is doing (unlike me in the case of the ailerons), he or she can easily learn to fly w/o help from an experienced individual.